My four-legged friend.

Ken C.

Ken C.

Jack of all trades, master of none.
Staff member
Super Mod
Joined
Jun 14, 2000
Messages
15,399
Yesterday evening around 9:15 PM my Chocolate Lab, Remington was struck by a vehicle. Evidence points to the landscapers not closing the rear gate as they have been instructed to do when they blow the leaves out in the dog run. My wife let the dog out assuming that the gate was closed as it always is. They have opened it and closed it before and are very aware that it is a dog run. Anyway, while my wife and I are in the house right outside not more than 100 feet from the house my best friend was lying in a cold roadway. He ran right out of the gate and got whacked pretty hard. My neighbor knew it was my dog and he came to get me. My wife and I ran out to him and when I saw him lying there I thought he was dead. But my wife tells me wagged his tale when he heard me next to him. He was breathing but banged up pretty good. The tough little bastard walked to the curb before passing out. The police where on scene as was the person who hit him (I lay no blame on him). They called Animal Control and within minutes we had him loaded into the van headed to the animal hospital. The staff was top notch. They cared for my dog and saved me from having to do what I didn't want to. The said he has a shot at a full recovery though it is going to take time. He suffered no internal injuries or broken bones or fractures but suffered some pretty major head trauma. He has ocular swelling and a hole in his right cheek as well as some minor brain swelling. This morning I moved him to our local vet and about 30 minutes ago I got a call saying that he was doing remarkably better. He is in some pain but responds to his name, recognizes everyone at the vets including the Doc. (The Doc and I go hunting together with our dogs). He is up and about but needs to stay overnight again for observation. My bills are running into the + $1000 range but the landscaper has agreed to help with the bills. I hope he does the right thing and covers them all. In short because of the medical attention he received, his sheer size and strength, and will to live I won't have to tell my little girl that her dog is dead. He will hunt another day.
 
glad to hear that all is not worse and sorry to hear it happened in the first place. My dog is my best friend. Always a shame when they are hit.
 
Ken I had a Shepard that during a thunderstorm climbed up 18' of an extension ladder, out on to the flat roof of a 2 story converted Fire house in Perth Amboy, jumped and fell more than 40' to the street below, dragged himself with a broken shoulder and a broken hip, a half a mile away, down to the waterfront and lay and wait during the rain, in the tall grasses till I found him 4 hours later.

$4,000 and 9 months later he was almost back to normal, big dogs have a better chance than small dogs in traumatic injuries, he'll be fine, he learned one valuble lesson though, going past the gate can be extremely painful.

BTW that shepard lived to the ripe old age of 13, in human years. :cool:
 
That's good and bad news. :( Sorry to hear about the accident, but glad your dog will be okay.
 
Very sorry to hear that Ken :( I hope he makes a full and fast recovery :) I hope that the landscaper does the right thing too.
 
Hope he recovers soon.

My yellow lab jumped out of the back of my pickup going about 40mph when he was a few months old. He recovered rather well, and one of the best hunting dogs I have ever had. They truly become a part of the family don't they?

Nice name for a lab by the way.
 
KEN! :(

I'm so sorry for this terribe experience. What happened to your dog is my worst nightmare. We live on a very busy road, and when we first moved here I used to sit up at night worrying about it. I'm not kidding. I always worry about some idiot leaving the fence open accidentally. Now that I've heard your story, I'm determined to put a lock on the damn thing. :grumpy: I think I'd fall to pieces if one of my beloved dogs got hit by a car. I'm really sorry that you had to see him suffering like that too. :( I am so happy to hear that Remington is going to survive. The poor boy. :( Please give him a big kiss on his big black nose for me. PLEASE KILL YOUR LANDSCAPER. :mad:
 
In 1982, my son was given a black Lab puppy by a dear friend of mine. Rob named him Kip and, though he was nominally Rob's dog, it was up to me to see to his training and to his care. He was really my dog until we adopted Teresa from out of the war zone in El Salvador. She wanted him to sleep in her room with her to keep the night monsters away and we would frequently look in on her in the morning to find her curled up on Kip's bed with him. Teresa was 3 yerars old when she came to us in 12/89 and Kip was almost 8 years old. But he was her guardian and her mentor.

You may have read about how adult wolves discipline the the cubs in the pack. They don't bite them, for their jaws, after all, can crush the femur of an elk or moose. They growl and swing their heads to smack the pups with the sides of their jaws. Well, when Teresa would come running into the room and throw herself upon Kip in ways that would hurt him, he would jump up an do just exactly that to her. And he would watch over her like a hawk or, more appropriately, like a protective mother.

He never once bit anyone but me and that was my own dumb damned fault. I would toss his heartworm pills up into the air and he would catch them, and gobble them down like a piece of doggy candy. Well, once I tossed one straight up and it came down soi close to me that I instinctively grabbed it. Just as Kip was grabbing it. His mouth closed on my hand and it even drew blood. He was so guilty looking you would have thought that he had committed the ultimate crime. i guess that he had, from a dog's point of view. He had attacked the Alpha dog in his pack! I felt awful, but I had to at least tell him that he was a "Bad Dog!" for doing that, even if it was my fault. It is not acceptable for a dog, especially ons the size that Kip was, to think that he can get away with biting family.

When he was put down at just over 14 years old, Teresa asked that she have his coillar and that I bring the picture of him home from work. I did so and she placed the picture on a table in her room with the collar and leash rolled up in fron of it. It looked for all the world like a small sanctuary, which I guess that it was, in a way. I cried for a week and she mourned him in her own way for rather loinger. Hell, I still miss him!

Ken, I am sorry as I can be for you and your dog, but I thank you for giving me the chance to remember my dog, Kip. He was my friend in ways that very few people have ever been friends.
 
Wow, I'm sorry that happened to your dog. My father's dog was hit by a car when I was younger, she recovered but not fully. Glad to hear that your boy will be able to come back all the way. Hope you get the money out of the landscaper. Good luck.

Lagarto
 
Wow, Ken, I was set up for a bad ending, but I'm glad to hear that he's alive and doing well. I hope he recovers quickly, and I hope your landscaper comes through on paying.

The only pet I've lost to a road was a cat that we had for several years. It was Halloween night, and she jumped out onto a busy street through bushes and was hit. The worst part was that she got hit at my bus stop for school, and for the better of 2 months in the 3rd grade I had to stand there waiting for my bus with a large blood stain on the pavement until many rains and snows later it was washed away.
 
Ken,

I'm glad the story has a brighter ending that it could have. Let's hope that Remington heals quickly.

By the way, my brother has a chocolate lab named "Drake Wingmaster." Looks like you & he were in the same frame of mind for names.
 
Centaur said:
By the way, my brother has a chocolate lab named "Drake Wingmaster." Looks like you & he were in the same frame of mind for names.
Click to expand...
His full AKCA name is Venetian's Remington Chase.

My wife is going to pick him up tomorrow. She and Sophia are baking him homemade dog biscuits tonite for when he gets home. The thought of him being alone tonite is killing me.
 
She and Sophia are baking him homemade dog biscuits tonite for when he gets home
Click to expand...

He'll like the biscuits, but being home with his family will be the best joy for him. Dogs love their people. And that's why he's been pulling hard to recover and get through this. He knows you need him and he wants to be back. Dogs are like that.
 
What!? You need to have a long talk with that dog when he gets home! He should know better, he's not some dumb dog, after all ...

You guys should see Remmy, he is a big, smiley face. :D I hope he's smiling again soon.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
What!? You need to have a long talk with that dog when he gets home! He should know better, he's not some dumb dog, after all ...
Click to expand...

Oh no, don't you be too hard on him. All that matters is that he's going to be okay. ;) You just give him BIG hugs and kisses and lots of them. He doesn't need any silly speech, he'll probably never go near any nasty old cars again. :grumpy:

So, these biscuits... Are they the doggie equivalent of human chocolate? If so, you should make him an extra batch. Think about it. Wouldn't you want an extra batch if you were in his paws? After all, the poor boy needs all the strength that he can get. :D
 
I'm glad Remmy's gonna make it, Ken. I've lost more than one dog that way, and it never fails to tear me up. Maybe you should check into a gate that will close and latch automatically if someone isn't holding it open. I did that at one of the houses I lived in during college.

James
 
Glad to hear all is going well, Ken! Since Remi is getting all kinds of kisses & cookies from everybody else, how about you rub his ears for me & tell him how much you miss him! :D I think everyone was looking out for Remi since his Dad is an A-OK Firefighter!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top