What next?

I have never met a dog that ends up in the odd situations that ours does. From eating through his crate to running away in a foreign place; from unfortunate treadmill experiences to kissing a skunk - we sure have seen it all!

This stoic, confident labrador has had quite the week. After last Monday, complete with 1-mile walk, 3-mile run at a fast pace, and 1 hour swim he developed a limp. His front left paw seemed to be hurting and it ended up that he probably stepped on it wrong at some point and strained or sprained a muscle. Within 3 days he was back to normal - jumping, leaping and running.

Last year at this time, Ransom was super itchy which we learned was allergy problems. Nothing a dose of Benadryl can't fix. It has started up again and we neglected to give him his dosage on Saturday night, on in to Sunday. Sunday afternoon I looked at his paws and this is what I saw:

Normal, right paw:

Mutilated, left paw:

Yes, he ate his paw. Ate the pad right off of there. It itched that bad. Can you imagine something itching so bad that you eat yourself?

So, being the good owners that we are, we did not take him to the vet again. We bandaged it up ourselves. Don't judge us for this - most times we go to the vet he does exactly what we would have done, expect in a more expensive manner. I love and respect our vet, but 2 times in 1 week is a bit much. Besides, I think it turned out kind of cute:

The itching got bad again this morning, so the pups is officially on a Benadryl regimen, which helps him so much. When I left this morning I had no doubts that this wrap and tape would be chewed off. What I didn't expect however, is that he would eat it all. Just chewed it up and swallowed the whole thing.

Can't wait to see that come out in a few days...