When I got home the Thursday night from my last shift, Dad informed me that Hunter had been licking at his elbow all day and it was raw. Hunter had just recently had his orthopedic pin removed that Tuesday, so I was a little worried to hear this.
When I took a look at it, the seroma that had formed as a sort of 'cushion' on the point of Hunter's elbow had developed into an abscess and was quite swollen and infected. We decided that it would be best for the hospital to see him, and drove the hour to Canada West Veterinary Services.
The ER doctor looked at his elbow and took a culture swab to determine the type of organism we were dealing with. We were sent home around 11:00pm with strict instructions to have Hunter's cone on "until he dies, or at least until the infection is gone" and with antibiotics and pain medication.
The ER doctor warned me that Hunter's surgeon may not be comfortable with Hunter leaving town, with this new complication, and that I had to call the clinic the following morning before we left town.
The next morning I anxiously awaited a reply from Canada West's surgery team, deciding whether or not Hunter and I were allowed to get home; and thankfully, we were free!
After a long nine hours in the car we were home, thus beginning the Kootenay chapter of Hunter's life.
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I will admit that I was apprehensive bringing Hunter home with me. He hadn't been the most ideal house guest at my parents, and I was afraid his unbridled energy would be too much for our lives.
Hunter had already met our dog Buster when he came with Chris to the Lower Mainland for Christmas, and they got along alright.
Buster is very polite and prefers to just keep to himself. Hunter....well, Hunter is the exact opposite. But he'd decided that Buster posed no threat to him, his food or his collection of toys, and he was OK with that.
The first night went fairly smoothly. Hunter had already been crate trained by my parents, and knew his bedtime routine well. He adjusted to our house very quickly, locating his bed and the toy box instantly.
The first meeting with 'the neighbour' the following morning didn't go as well as we'd hoped. Hunter has decided that any person who does not know should be percieved as a threat, and he should scare that threat away with his big, booming bark. This dog was bred to be a working dog, so his bark basically says "I mean business"; and that is exactly how our elderly neighbour took it. The two of them are still deciding how they feel about eachother...
So far: our couches are still intact, he hasn't eaten a single candle, pair of shoes, baseball cap or TV remote. So all in all - I think things are going great!
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