So, Robin's been acting a little funny lately. We went to play with my mom's dog last weekend. That night we noticed Robin was hiding in her crate. I thought she was babying one of her back legs. I gave her some aspirin and leash walked her for a couple of days and she seemed fine. We also had so much snow, that she's had most of the week to rest.
A few days ago, we noticed her hiding again, and this time maybe babying a front leg? Hard to tell. I noticed she has some sores between the 2 outside toes of both front paws, one is worse than the other. We've been doing epsom salt baths and they might be getting better.
Yesterday, we took a leisurely walk. It was probably a mile and a half, maybe two, but not at a run or anything. More hiding in the crate last night. She didn't sleep with us, which is unusual, but she was better this morning-- snuggly and playful. Then about noon, she started wanting to hide out again. I checked her rear paws and noticed that one of her nails looks red at the bed and has a horizontal purple line across it-- like when a person bruises a nail. Does that happen to dogs, too?
She comes out of the crate for potty breaks and if she hears the others getting treats or for dinner time and play time. And we did just get her a new super plushy crate pad, so she may just be happy to be in there. We've kind of over-trained the crate-- she runs in there to get treats all the time, but she rarely hides in there. We also had her crate room closed off all week because our outside cat had to be isolated in there (not a great situation, I know
) so she could just be making up for lost time.
I tried to snap some pictures, but the camera was acting up, adn she kept shivering and getting more upset, so I stopped.
She's due for her yearly exam this month, so I'll try to get her into the vet in the next couple of days. We'll check for worms, ear infections, the usual stuff, plus foot/leg/joint problems. We'll take it easy in the meantime, and keep an eye on her. It might be nothing, but there just seems to be something "off" about the way she's walking and acting...I know a toe or nail problem can be pretty painful for them. Do they bruise in the nail like we do? Maybe that's a stupid question...
"In these bodies, we will live; in these bodies we will die.
Where you invest your love, you invest your life." --Marcus Mumford
--Amalie