China

Oh, that dog! There she goes again! I peered out my window just in time to see China barking at the horses. I raced from the window to the front door to call her in; but it was too late!

(I love Cavaliers! But the herding dogs will always have a special place in my heart. Our newest member of the pack, an eight month old toy Australian Shepherd; was at it again!)

In the time it took me to get from the window to the door, a mere second or two, the horse must have kicked and made contact with her head! I sprinted to the pasture as I saw her reeling around. My adrenalin raced as I quickly raced through the gate; but I slowed myself down and approached with caution. A dog in shock can be unpredictable. Her eyes were glazed as she stared straight ahead, body ridged, mouth clamped down on her bleeding tongue. I gently scooped her up and headed carefully back to the house where I placed her in a crate near the woodstove. Then off for a quick shower, knowing I’d probably be heading to town.

The vet for us is a good thirty five miles and a forty-five minutes drive from home. I have learned over the years not to rush to the doctor for every boo-boo that comes our way and with my background in veterinary assisting I have learned to do much doctoring myself. “But she was kicked in the head”, you say. Yes, and unfortunately, we’ve had to deal with that issue several times with our big dog, but I was a bit more concerned because of China’s size and age.

When I checked on her after my shower, she was banging on the crate door. “Let me out!” “Why am I in this crate?” she seemed to be asking. I let her out and watched her for a few minutes and besides an obvious mud smudge of her face and excessive drooling, she looked pretty good. I called the vet and talked with her, trying to refresh my memory on what to watch for with a head injury. And decided at that point to watch and wait. But after observing her restlessly lie down and get up several times, with her eyelids at “half-mast”, I opted for a vet exam and professional opinion. Thankfully, the vet found no major injuries, or fractures of any kind. But did prescribe an anti-inflammatory and pain medications for a few days. Whew!

 Like any good herding dog, China’s instinct is to herd moving objects; other dogs, children or in this case; horses. Unfortunately, for her the horse in question got annoyed with little yapping noises at his heels and decided to do something about it.  She was very fortunate not to suffer any ill effects from her accident. Thankfully she is not as fragile as her registered name “Grandview’s China Doll” implies. And hopefully, she has a bit more respect for the equines, though knowing herding dogs as I do, I doubt it.