poor old barkers is not having a terribly good 2007 so far...

it started on the 2nd of january when his mean mum left him at the vets and he woke up to find a certain rather delicate part of his anatomy had vanished!

he then had to put up with discomfort, wearing an upside down lampshade on his head, and nothing but on-lead walks for 10 days. this was coupled with needing to return to the vets to have his anal glands emptied (ouch!)
and finding out that his eardrums had both perforated.

three weeks later, all healed up nicely, his nose then reacted to something and grew to about two times its normal size.

cue another trip to the vet and a steroid injection... and now, two weeks later, we had to make our fifth trip to the vets this year as he has managed to cut open one of his paw pads.

it never rains...
so now i have a very down doggy, curled up on the sofa after not being allowed outside of the house and garden all day, with a very sore paw.

i know you shouldn't give dogs human emotions but he really does seem very low. i think he's only wagged his tail twice all day.

hopefully his paw will heal completely within the next couple of weeks but we've been adviced to try to avoid public places for another day or so, so it's more garden exploring tomorrow...
this on top of the recent issues we've had with him being scared by quite a few dogs and becoming very nervy as a result is making us feel very sorry for him. i'd been so looking forward to half-term next week as i was going to get him out exploring the downs link and surrounding sussex countryside... but i guess we'll have to see how his paw is...
spare some happy thoughts for a rather unhappy pup and his owner at the moment.