Unfortunately, Beau got injured pretty badly on his walk with Sue Saturday morning 06/20/20.

They were out in the woods on one of the trails when Beau started yelping loudly. He came flying over to where Sue was, and she said he just howled in pain.

She helped him back to the car, and when she got him home, we could see a huge hole in his skin exposing the muscle on the inside of his back right leg by his belly.

He must have run full force into a stick laying on the ground to cause that bad of an injury. After I called the emergency line at VCA Capital Area Veterinary Emergency and Specialty we helped him into Sue's car, and headed off to Concord, NH.

Not only was he in a lot of pain, but it was something like 96 degrees with a boiling hot sun to endure as we sat in the car in the VCA parking lot waiting for a call to come to the door with him.

Initial discussions with the doctor indicated a severe enough wound that they'd have to sedate him in order to do the necessary surgery. It was expected to take about an hour and a half, and so Sue and I drove over to Target to just kill some time.

Just as we were heading back to the VCA building I got a call that they had just finished a priority emergency on another animal, and that Beau was just then going into surgery. They said he'd been really good, just hanging out, but it would be another hour or so before he'd probably be done.

We drove over to Burger King, grabbed some lunch, and parked by the river at a park to eat. Since there was so much time left, Sue suggested going to the local BAM (Bookstores of America) to browse. That was nice not only because I just love poking around in bookstores, but because it was so nice and cool inside, and so very hot and muggy outside.

After about a half hour, my phone rang with news that Beau was out of surgery, doing fine, and was ready for pickup. We were only about 5 minutes away, and he was brought out almost right after we got there.

They had him in large cone around his neck to prevent him from licking either the drip tube that had been inserted into the wound, but also the stitches needed to close up the gash in his side. He was quite a sight with that cone, though he was really pissed off it was on him.

Despite obviously still coming out of the anesthesia, he was wobbling around from the drrrrrugs they had given him to calm him down. He was a sight trying to paw off that cone.

But as soon as we got going, he laid down in the back seat. It was so painful for him, though, that he whimpered with every move. It was a long drive home for The Beau Dog.

When we got him home, he was in really tough shape, whimpering every time he even tried to sit down. One of us was right beside him for the rest of the day. He didn't even want to venture out to help me cook some hot dogs for dinner on the grill. He really didn't even want a piece of them he was so uncomfortable.

Sue decided to sleep downstairs on the sofa next to him not only because we didn't want him climbing up the stairs, potentially tearing the stitches, but to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't lick the wound site as we had removed the cone from his neck because he was so uncomfortable with it in all the heat.

As a result, Sue didn't get much sleep, and I don't think Beau did either as they were both pretty lethargic Sunday morning.

As the morning wore on, Beau seemed to be feeling better, as he didn't whimper whenever he'd sit or lie down. Sue had him laying on the grass next to her chair so they could both escape the 100 degree heat that had made the house like an oven.

I worked a little on my blog post, but ended up heading out onto the screen porch to sip my final cup of coffee and read a book.

Tough day, so I just grilled up some hot dogs for dinner.

Beau lounging in the grass the day before his accident.

Not happy with the cone around his head.

Still not happy with the cone around his head.

Sue trying to comfort Beau as he struggles with the pain, and having the protective cone around his head.

Poor Beau — desperately hot and no doubt aching from the surgery.

Close up of the wound site showing just how badly he had been injured.

Hot dogs on the grill for dinner. Unfortunately, Beau just didn't feel much up for having even a small piece; he just curled up on the floor, and laid quietly in the heat.