Last, weekend, Branch sustained a laceration to his left hind leg/legpit, probably attempting to follow his little/big sister after some critter or scent. It wasn’t huge, but it was ugly–down to a layer of muscle that really shouldn’t be visible at the surface. To the vet we went, and $600+ later, he was 46lbs of groggy, stitched-up pup. He even got a certificate of bravery, which was hilarious because they gave him knockout drugs before they even looked at it–he’s one of those dogs they muzzle just to clip his claws.

My poor, sweet [born into a pack of semi-feral ranch dogs, housebroken at 6yo, late cut, growly, territorial] darling boy. ❤

At first, we tried a surgical shirt to prevent him from accessing and licking the wound, but it quickly became clear that the close-to-$50 shirt wasn’t going to do much to deny access to the surgical site. <Sigh> So, I headed back to the giant pet warehouse store and picked up one of these soft, inflatable collar attachments that kinda reminds me of the nursing pillow I used when my kiddo was a babe.

This is one of those great improvements to formerly accepted technology–that is, the dreaded doggie cone. Those might work for more…ahem…statured dogs, but for Branch and his li’l Corgi legs, the cone just tripped him up on every change of elevation–which is a lot of places in our multi-level home and yard. The last one I tried on him did not survive five minutes: he went into a beserker after hitting the coffee table and the stairs and what remained was not repairable without a large roll of duct tape.

This inflatable donut that attaches to his collar doesn’t trip him up or make him lose his mind. He can’t (mostly, intensely) access the incision site. Oh, but he does still get caught up on things, and it’s the most pitiful thing you ever saw. Yesterday, I had to “rescue” him because he was “caught” behind a clump of trees. And by “caught,” I mean he had five feet of clearance and tried to pass between, hit the tree on one side, then stopped dead in his tracks. I told him he had room, so he backed up, moved over five feet, hit the tree on the other side, and stopped dead.

Table legs, door frames, you name it. The donut catches a little on one side and he just stops and stands there as though he is going to have to stay there until he just dies. High drama for a little dude. I think he’s going to be OK.