…all walk into a bar, and…

No but seriously. These are the nicknames I came up with for this guy:

Who is now, finally, thankfully, back at home.

Before you ask, no I have no idea what happened to his leg. All I know is, it’s freaking gross. Like seriously, I change this bandage every day and at first I could barely handle it.

So as you know, The Dog ran away from home. He did this in the evening of January 18 which was the Seahawks second playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. I had been at a party watching the game and came home to let him out. Just in case you were thinking that he had been left outside all day, he wasn’t.

Anyway, I let him out and while he was doing his thing, I had to go to the bathroom too. I didn’t even think about the fact that everyone in the neighborhood was setting off fireworks after the game (go Hawks!), but I should have. I think they scared him and that’s why he took off.

So I was away from the back door for like five minutes, literally. When I went back to let him back in the house, he was just…gone. I went through the neighborhood, checked at the Kid’s dad’s house, checked with the neighbors, and no one had seen him.

As you probably also know, I posted a bunch of ads everywhere – Craigslist, lostmydoggie.com, HomeAgain, the local shelter, you name it. I posted signs everywhere I could.

It wasn’t until January 28 (!) that I heard anything. That afternoon, I got a call from the local shelter saying they had The Dog in custody. He had been picked up by some guy (who I would dearly love to thank) and brought to the shelter that day.  They mentioned that he had an injury on his leg and would need to see a vet.

Unfortunately, by the time I got the call, they were already closed and I wasn’t able to pick him up until the next day, the 30th, which was a Thursday.

He had lost over twelve pounds, and that little purple bandage covers an enormous gash as long as my forearm. Fully half of it had no skin to cover it, and was all just exposed muscle. Hanging out. Everywhere. At the time this picture was taken, he had been lost for over 10 days and the vet at the shelter thought he had likely been injured very shortly after escaping. Which means he spent most of those ten days with a ridiculously enormous injury going from his upper leg down past his “elbow”.

After picking him up from the shelter, I took him to his vet, where he got what seemed like a million stitches (but in reality was about 25) and a fresh new bandage to cover the open wound that couldn’t be stitched because there just wasn’t…any…skin…left. Which is so gross.

Also she had to put in a couple drains to help the wound drain out, which honestly were SO GROSS and leaked stuff EVERYWHERE. I spent the first week following him around the house with antibacterial spray and cleaning rags to clean up after him.

Serious, ew.

The vet loaded me up with antibiotics and eye drops and showed me how to do sugar wraps, and thanks to my mom and step dad for covering the vet costs, I was able to take him home the same day.

Since then, I’ve been changing his bandage every day and watching it slowly look better and better. He’s finally gained back the twelve pounds he lost (plus some additional since no exercise right now!) and this last Sunday he had most of his stitches removed! There are still about five left that will hopefully come out today or tomorrow.

I give him eye drops and antibiotics twice a day (cheese trick for the win!), and in an effort to tempt him to eat and regain his weight, I have been seriously spoiling him in the food department. Like, prepared meals. Seriously. He eats better than I do.

I still have to change his bandage every day, which involves removing the old one (ew), cleaning the entire area (which is goopy and SERIOUS EEEWWW), pouring a legitimate crapload of sugar straight on the wound, then wrapping it as quickly as I can before I a) get so grossed out that I lose my lunch or b) he gets so antsy that he moves and dumps the pile of sugar on the floor and I have to start all over.

Eeeew aside, though, I’m so glad that he’s healing up and the damage is getting better every day.

Having him home is such a blessing, and I am so fortunate that he was okay. The shelter said that it was due to the microchip he had in and they checked Craigslist and found my ad, which is how they got my correct phone number so quickly.

He’s been back for 20 days now, is well on the way to being fully recovered, and has gotten back most of his energy and all of his sweetness. I am so grateful to have him back!

Thanks to everyone that posted with concerns and well wishes. I appreciate it so much.