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Late Sunday afternoon I was out in the backyard giving Sonora, my black lab, some always-needed exercise. We were playing her favorite game (fetch) with her favorite toy (the frisbee). On one of my tosses, she tripped a bit and gave a little yelp. She caught the frisbee, but didn’t come back and was holding a paw in the air. Usually this means there’s a thorn and she’s waiting for me and my opposable thumbs to take it out. However, I don’t have any thorny plants in my backyard, and when I went over to check on her she brushed it off and ran back to my throwing spot, ready to retrieve some more.

I tossed the frisbee a few more times and we went inside. A few minutes later I noticed the blood spots every couple feet on the floor. I took a look and she had torn her nail pretty badly. It was broken in half yet still attached, and her quick was very exposed. Ouch!

I immediately consulted the finest minds of veterinary care (a.k.a. Google) and found all kinds of crazy remedies involving cornstarch, teabags, a bar of soap, and superglue. Deciding that perhaps Google wasn’t the D.V.M. I thought it was, I decided to simply sterilize it and bandage the wound.

Yesterday I took Sonora to the real vet since she was due for her Bordatella booster anyway. He recommended sedation, removal of the broken nail, and cauterization, which supposedly would have had her back to normal in 24 hours. He termed this the “Cadillac treatment” — perhaps because he wanted a shiny new Cadillac and was hoping I’d spend hundreds of dollars fixing a broken nail. Being on a limited budged, I asked for the “Yugo treatment” instead. This involved taking Sonora in the back “so she wouldn’t blame me,” pinning her down, cutting/yanking the nail off, and wrapping the entire paw in a sterile, antibiotic-filled wrap. They sent me on my way with some more antibiotics.

So now Sonora has about a week-long recovery with a dressing that I’m not supposed to take off until Friday. They said she could walk on it, but it’s obvious it still hurts–the poor girl has been limping around the house. I can tell she has energy and really wants to play fetch, but definitely doesn’t like chasing the ball around on three legs.

The token sympathy pictures:

Jason organized this trip to go backpacking to Havasu Falls. We drove up on Thursday, October 9th and pitched our tents in the dark at the Seligman KOA campground, which happened to be right next to the train tracks. That was fine–we were plenty tired from the long drive.The next morning we got an early start and headed to the trailhead, which wasn’t much more than the end of a dirt road with a small parking lot and a helipad. The view from the trailhead was breathtaking, as most of the Grand Canyon is. We could see exactly where we were headed by a few ants marching along the trail on the valley floor.

We brought three dogs with us: Wednesday (Laurent’s), Wally (Lucas’), and Sonora (mine). The information I had read indicated that dogs were okay as long as they were leashed–the Supai didn’t want dogs spooking the mule train. As you can see in the pictures, Sonora and Wednesday carried their own load of water bottles and food.Six miles later we arrived in the town of Supai and treated ourselves to some well-deserved ice cream, got our permits, and trekked on to Havasu Falls and the campsite. Pictures simply don’t do the falls justice. When you first see them in person, you realize you’re in one of the most amazing places on Earth.Our camping spot was fairly secluded compared to many of the others, was close (but not too close) to the port-a-potties, and even came with a rope swing! Cooling off after a long hike with a heavy pack was just the refreshment we needed. Also, I think this was Sonora’s first experience in water, and boy was it a good one. We had her fetching sticks and logs in the heavy current. Her true labrador instincts came out–she was happier than I’ve ever seen her. I think she was even trying to fetch us after we swung out on the rope!

The next day Laurent and I were up early, so we left the dogs with the others at camp and went to check out Mooney Falls. You can see Laurent being a goof in the photo. The rest of the day consisted of us swimming at Havasu Falls (you can swim up behind it) and tossing the football on the beach. Sonora, once again, couldn’t get enough fetching in the water. If there were a way to hook her up to some power cables and somehow harness her energy, I’d be able to power my neighborhood!Later that afternoon we walked the two miles back to town to have a hot meal (a.k.a. a burger) at the cafeteria in the Supai village. Disappointingly, they were closed. Why? Because it’s a different lifestyle that they lead there, and somebody probably didn’t feel like working that day. Fortunately the convenience store was open, so we were able to buy some canned food and take that back to camp.

On Sunday we got an early start, trying to beat the heat for the long slog out of the canyon. We learned that we could throw our packs on mules for a measly $20, which was very worth it. We only had to carry our water and some light snacks. Again, we set a good pace and the mules didn’t catch us until the very end–perfect timing.Yet another wonderful outing!