well where do i start!!!!

hi all sorry ive been away (again) for a while, my computer had a terminal status and i have been horribly busy at work (must try harder).

well woody has been up to loads of woodyisms and i'll start with the happy stuff.

we have leanrned to bring the ball back and actually hand it over
we have stopped destroying everything within our path
we have learned to come back when called even if something really exciting is going on (horses)
we have made lots of new friends but not pestered them when they dont want to play (especially when they are bigger than me)
we have learned than when its hot its ok to steal water bottles out of peoples bags

now for the bad.................. we nearly died this week

we went up to the beach one evening as the weather has been lovely, Woody was playing and sniffing around as usual and then i turned to say hi to my sister who was cycling on the top pathway, when i turned round Woody was clawing at his mouth. i thought silly boy has a stick stuck between his teeth. i then noticed it was fishing tackle with a spkiy weight dangling from his mouth. i went to remove it and couldnt the fishing wire was wrapped round his teeth. i managed to eventually free it (or thought i had) and we carried on with our walk - woody seemed his usual self. we came home he ate his dinner but then he put himself in his crate and stayed there all night.

when i got up in the morning i went to his crate and it was full of sick and blood and woodys breathing was really erratic,wheezing and gurgling. i managed to get him to the vets urgently and they admitted him straight away, they would have to sedate him as he wouldnt let them look in his mouth. they told me to go home and to be on standby in case they needed to call me depending on what they found, i managed not to cry at this point and off he went with them still wagging his tail.

i got home and sat crying...an hour later i hadnt heard so i rang them.....no news . my god it was the longest 3 hours of my life . the phone rang..the vet...i didnt want to answer in case they were telling me he was gone....i couldnt have coped .....what had happened..... woody had a fish hook and 2 inches of wire embedded through the back of his throat and in through his windpipe. it had taken the vet 2 hours to remove it and if had been any deeper or in a different position she isnt sure she couldve have got it out.

he was still sedated as his throat was really swollen and she would take a view as to whether he could come home when they brought him round. i was to call at 4pm to see if i could go get him. At 2pm she called me can you come and get him as he had woken up full of beans and the staff couldnt get anything done as he was pestering them for attention... she even held the phone out and said listen to this......woody happily piping up in the background thats my boy!

she cannot believe he carried on with his walk, she cannot believe he ate his tea -she called him a nutter! i cannot believe it could have turned out so different. im just glad ive got my little woodster back safe and sound

So scary for you, so glad all turned ok and you would like to think that they'd learn what not to pick up but I don't think they have a concept of what's good and not good for them!

*Karen* wrote:So scary for you, so glad all turned ok and you would like to think that they'd learn what not to pick up but I don't think they have a concept of what's good and not good for them!

dont think he will ever learn. if its lying around its to be had. i'll see if it makes a difference to his foraging next time we go out....we are NEVER going to the beach again though dont think i would be able to relax. luckily we have a nice nature park nearby that i can take him to

Welcome back,

><

so sorry to hear about woody but so glad he is on the mend, missed having updates on woodster, dont leave it too long next time

I'm so very glad that Woody is okay. You must have been extremely worried and stressed.

lynne wrote:Welcome back,

><

so sorry to hear about woody but so glad he is on the mend, missed having updates on woodster, dont leave it too long next time

i know im ashamed of myself Lynne - its times like this when you remember where you should be.

jstaff wrote:I'm so very glad that Woody is okay. You must have been extremely worried and stressed.

petrified jstaff, he is certainly making the most of it now though - little cries here and there following me round the house (even more than usual) and taking over the entire sofa ith that look of "but im poorly mum"

OMG can't really say anything else! So so glad he was ok poor little man ><

janey wrote:
OMG can't really say anything else! So so glad he was ok poor little man ><

hi janey, cant believe i nearly lost him! he sends hugs back

Wow, what an incredible story. Thank goodness you got to the vets on time and that everything is ok now. You must have been through seven kinds of hell waiting for that call. Just shows how uff they are.

Ty wrote:Wow, what an incredible story. Thank goodness you got to the vets on time and that everything is ok now. You must have been through seven kinds of hell waiting for that call. Just shows how uff they are.

vet said ".........only a staffy" if dogs have "lives" like cats thats certainly one of his gone!

Bloody fishing line should be banned

Very pleased to hear that Woody is now feeling better, sending big hugs your way >< >< ><

Good to see you back, we've missed you!

What a frightening thing to have to go through - so relieved he came through it ok, and I bet he still hasn't learnt his lesson!

Woody, do you have to give your mum heart attacks like that?

caryll we have just been out for a little gentle walk and he didnt try to pick anyhting up....fingers crossed - or it may just be coincidence there wasnt anything that took his fancy!

got the camera on charge and will try get some pics in the garden this afty.

yikes!!! glad he came through OK!!

far out !! how scarey!!!
I am so glad that it had a happy ending...Naughty Woody giving mummy such a fright!!
boy oh boy..ruddy fisherman discarding their fishing line willy nilly!
this is for you >< breathe a sigh of relief!

so many fishermen have had their ears chewed this week by friends/family even the receptionist at the vets went home and gave her partner a lecture!

thanks for the hug vanessa. my bank balance can heave a sigh of relief too as if i wasnt insured it would have cost me £340!!!

that is alot of money !! yes lucky you had pet insurance or else I reckon you and the Woodster would be living on baked beans for the next few weeks!!

vanessa wrote:

that is alot of money !! yes lucky you had pet insurance or else I reckon you and the Woodster would be living on baked beans for the next few weeks!!

woody would be getting the good stuff i would be going and pilfering from mums cupboard! poor little soldier needs to get his strength back 20 min walk today has pooped him out!

So glad he's okay, bless you that must have been so horrible glad hes ok now though, they're little fighters

OMG how scary for you both im glad he is ok.Only a staffy would carry on playing and eat dinner while having that stuck in the throat.They are great at hiding their afflictions.Hugs to woody ><

i cant believe he ate either

i asked for the offending item - here it is next to my key for size comparison

Welcome back but OMG ! So glad for you and the woodster! Frightening to say the least. Get well soon Woody! ><

i am so never taking him out of my sight when off lead again!

wowee that is some impressive hook!

I have a memory box for Jethro with his puppy collar, the add out the paper for him when he was a puppy etc..and also a little container of grass seeds that the vet picked out his ear drum during an operation years ago... !!

Time to start Woody's memory box?

Welcome back and flippin' 'eck! Look at the size of that hook!


I'm so glad everything turned out so well, the alternative doesn't bear thinking about. What a tough little cookie he is!

vanessa wrote:

wowee that is some impressive hook!

I have a memory box for Jethro with his puppy collar, the add out the paper for him when he was a puppy etc..and also a little container of grass seeds that the vet picked out his ear drum during an operation years ago... !!

Time to start Woody's memory box?

what a good idea Vanessa just hope there isnt anything else like this to put in it in future!!!

shontelle wrote:Welcome back and flippin' 'eck! Look at the size of that hook!


I'm so glad everything turned out so well, the alternative doesn't bear thinking about. What a tough little cookie he is!

hi shontelle yes the alternative outcome would have been devastating. just glad to still have him x

Just got a spare key cut in case im drunk in Blackpool and need a place to stay

So glad he is alright....no idea how you must of felt.

BlueStaffBlue wrote:Just got a spare key cut in case im drunk in Blackpool and need a place to stay

So glad he is alright....no idea how you must of felt.

haha luckily its an old one!!!

dont ever want to feel like that again!

Cost me 3 quid that

now you couldve saved yourself some money there am sure we do B&Bs for £2.50!

nicolalouises wrote:

That's one helluva hook!

doesnt do things by half does he!!!

Fleepin Eekers to think that some people leave this stuff lying around, thank goodness he is doing OK now

Oh my darling "Woodstar" what have you been up to......scaring your poor mum like that.

Glad the kind man at the vet could see you had 4 legs and weren't my fresh fish dinner tonight, lucky he threw you back (just to see what else you could get up to). I can see by this photo you are planning something



I really have missed you, but this is not the way to get my attention >

hi lee - glad he has been welcomed back by all.
yes he was a little peeved at me there as he was concentrating on a bee and i scared it off! didnt fancy another trip to the vets!

Nicola I so feel for you, what a terrible thing to have to go through.

Why do they do this to us.......

Years ago (1999) when Kita was nearly 3 and I still lived in Far North Queensland (where you check your dogs twice daily for ticks), I suddenly noticed one morning a really large lump in Kita's throat. Knowing full well it hadn't been there the night before and it wasn't a tick or imbedded "spear grass seed", I jumped on the phone to the vet. He made arrangements for me to bring her in the next morning which was a Saturday.

When he examined her he kept asking if I was sure I had not noticed anything before now...No, no and NO!!!!

He couldn't work out what it was by palpating it but thought a simple excision would be able to remove it and suggested he put her under GA to do so due to the delicate position. I had to go to work in an hour so I arranged for the ex to pick her up around 1pm.

I went for my break at 4pm and he hadn't heard from the vet and I was loosing the plot big time. This was 5 hours after I'd dropped her off already. I rang the only after hours number I could find in the phone book (remember this was pre Mr Google) which went to a voice mail and when they rang back they couldn't tell me much other than the vet had only just finished operating for the day.
My brain is screaming "what on my dog....?'

My next break was 2 hours later and I rang home not knowing what I might hear and the ex had collected Kita and the vet had said it was a "granuloma". Being a nurse I was like WT.......but jumped on the medical dictionary to see what it really entailed and I was still confused.
When I got home at 11.30 that night it was hard to see she'd had an op other than the corrugated drain thing that was in her neck.

When I questioned the vet over the next week he told me he'd been slowly cutting this growth out of her neck when he realised he had his fingers around her jugular vein and he nearly freaked out. This granuloma had totally encapsulated it and he was trying to cut it out. He was seriously struggling with this as much as I was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granuloma

So here we are now, almost 13 years later and all that is left is an amazing scar down her throat (little ratbag >
I'm not going into the next 72 hours post op as that's another Kita memory that I hate to think about but I seriously wonder if they are sent here to try us some days.

OMG Lee bet that was so scary not knowing or being able to get in touch with anyone.bet you still look at her and marvel at the fact she was strong enough - tough little beggars arent they

i am really lucky that work allowed me to work from home and sit here a nervous wreck and then be with him post op. balancing my laptop on the edge of the sofa answering e-mails whilst another hand was trapped by an 18kg sleeping staffy!

i really cant speak highly enough about vets and what they do to save our beloved dogs

Thanks hun, we survived many more days and nights since then, but they sure make your hair curl (or gray for me these days).

I just glanced over my right shoulder to check my gorgeous girls asleep on their bed, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.

How relaxed they have become, I want to know their secret

im sure ive got many more years to come of this from mr woodster - will need to keep colouring my hair to hide those greys!!!

its funny though cos i dont have kids and my mum has been like a worried grandma over the last few days!!!

good news woody got the all clear at the vets tonight. has he learned his lesson? has he heck he ried to eat the plant in her surgery!!!

Woodster, you gave mum a fright! Are you still being able to walk him, or is he due some Woody naughtiness

Which can I add does not mean eating a hook!

no he been out a few times - couple of really short walks and a coiuple of long ones although i am a bit tentative of taking him out now in case he picks soemthing else up. hope i get better too or his walks will suffer

You'll just have to be extra observant.

Woodster you need you walks stop eating things

i will force myself to but am on edge constantly!