Tito throws out his back

Yesterday morning Mary Jane found Tito crying in his little day bed.  Usually eager to get out for his morning pee, he hardly moved when when she got him to the edge of the lawn; obviously something seriously wrong with the little guy.  He settled in on my bed for the morning, ignored his water and when I offered him a bite of my scrambled eggs he raised his nose dramatically and turned his face to the wall.

Into the vet at eleven thirty.  Temp normal, guts feel normal, heart sounds good, weight fine; by mid-afternoon the results of blood work and chest x-ray came back also normal.  Vet thought it could be some arthritic pain and offered an analgesic anti-inflammatory med.  No idea what's wrong with the little dog, give the old couple some pills and milk them for most of the months grocery money so they can feel like they have done right by Tito.

In the mean time, he remains immobile in his bed.  MJ suggested a baby buggy, I'm having visions of those little wheel deals to replace a dog's worn out back legs; he could hardly stand, moves with great difficulty.  Only yesterday he walked between us down the street, head high eyes sharp ears scanning the horizon. Now this.

Improved today, took some food and his pain pill, pee and poo outside although hardly scampering around.  After a quick outing it's been laying still in bed.  We think he has a back injury just up from his hips, about the same place I experience lower back pain.  Think I know how he got hurt.

When we are hanging out in the yard or garage with doors open Tito gets to be with us, tethered to a twenty foot cable we got at the pet store.  On Wednesday afternoon he kept vigilant watch on our territory, on the lead while I worked on a couple furniture pieces under a show canape between the house and garage.  Suddenly he came jetting by at full stride, little dog from next door got out and came around the corner to bark at Tito and me.  Little dog took one look at Tito charging and ran back to his yard.  Unfortunately for Tito, his freedom ended twenty feet from the porch post where I had belayed the line. Sudden stop.

Six years ago when we were learning to work with Tito, walking on the extendable leash we saw him lunge and jerk to a sudden stop at the end of the line every time he spotted another dog.  Surprisingly athletic, he reaches full stride in less than half the length of the lead coming to an abrupt back flip stop at the end.  One quickly learns to anticipate things a bit better, keeping him under short leash although he used to be bad about jumping and flipping even when the lead runs straight down from my hand to the back of his harness.  Almost surprising he didn't hurt himself doing that before now.

Course he is several years older now at age twelve, roughly equivalent to a seventy year old man.  At age sixty eight, I can attest to the body becoming increasingly fragile with each passing year.  Minor twist puts me in pain for days on end, and my knee, oy....could go on and on but to what end?

Tito has been remarkably free from aches and pains, possibly lost a step but still able to sprint and scamper almost like before.  But time seems to be catching up, and I think the sudden stop on Wednesday did some damage.  Later, he seemed okay but got tired on our walk, and the next couple walks when we got to the front of our drive he headed in the direction of the short walk.  His choice which way we go.  Then next morning can't get out of bed.

Have to be more careful with him in future.  The four hundred it cost us at the vet could have purchased a nice portable fence system so he can be outside without the harness and tether.  See how sales go in the next couple weeks I guess.

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*Why not just let him chill outside with us without harness and tether?  He will chase after anyone who comes along the street with a dog.  Also, he will sneak off and go exploring on his own as well, pain in the ass to chase him down.