Too much fun at the dog park

Apparently, puppy energy was a bit too much for Chloe to handle. When we got home from the dog park yesterday, she started whimpering and acting like every muscle in her body ached.

Then I saw the blood. While she was darting around the cement-floored, fenced-in dog park, she scraped up her two rear two paw pads something fierce. But it was late, and all she wanted to do was lay down and lick her wounds, so I figured I'd reassess the situation in the morning.

The next day, she seemed sore, but OK. So I popped out for a few errands, and when I came back, there were bloody pawprints all over the kitchen and little patches of drying blood in her favorite spots. That's all I needed to see. We needed a vet anyway, so I called the one who helped me before I moved here when we thought we'd need to kennel Chloe for the holidays and they said I could come by in 45 minutes.

Unfortunately, it's 11 blocks away, so it was a hike, but Chloe handled it like a champ. But I knew she was in pain when we walked in to see the vet office's two resident cats wandering around and she barely even gave them a glance. Then I knew she must be in pain and nervous because she sensed she was at the vet's when one very brave black-and-white cat came up and sniffed Chloe nose-to-nose and she ignored it. She is a huuuuuge baby when it comes to messing with her at all - clipping her nails, taking her temperature, etc.

The vet said that the wound on her paw pad was like a callus that has been trimmed way to far. So he recommended that she get it wrapped with a soft cast. Other than that, he said she was healthy, but needed to toughen up because she's a New York dog now.

So she went in the back to get her cast and almost immediately, I heard yelping and yowling from my place in the waiting room. From the sound of it, they must have been drilling holes in my dog's head - it sounded that bad. Then the vet came out and said "You're right. She is a big baby. All we're doing is looking at it." Pathetic, isn't it?

So after 10 long minutes of hearing my dog yelp, she finally came out with a blue soft cast all the way up her leg. And she has to wear a baggie over it when we go outside and one of those lampshades if she starts picking at it. So while she's recooperating, I've been avoiding the other dogs in the building... for Chloe's sake.

I think she does these kinds of things on purpose because all I do is baby her. I give her extra treats and I'll make her favorite food and bring her dish to her while she's laying in bed so she doesn't even have to get up to eat. I don't even do that for Brent!

Now all I need is someone who will do this kind of stuff for me!