Injury!

After getting frustrated with erratic weather patterns (really hot early mornings and lots of afternoon rain), I declared stress and began searching for alcohol. It's been very difficult to manage time when I feel the need to keep shooting and keep ticking each box in our homework tracker. I think it's really just my kaartehan that makes me want to finish everything and have a complete submission tomorrow night. I'm not after the toy we could get from teacher on graduation day. I just want to fill the x's, really. It's like coloring a page on a coloring book where you don't leave any area uncolored. Oh my god, am I mentally ill?!

Our other classmates have also expressed frustration over not completing the homework, some admitting defeat after exhausting all possible outdoor locations. Doc Marose eventually had to step in and reminded us that the homework videos are not what the course is all about. What matters is making time to train our dogs and that we all have fun while we're at it. I just had to tear up upon reading that. I've been forgetting to have fun, and the exercises (especially tugging) were becoming more of a chore for me. I thought of giving Odie and I a few days off so I could refocus and be a funner, more productive human.

I didn't know that the universe would conspire and force us to have a break.

Last night, April, our household helper, was playing with Odie while feeding him dinner. She put his dish on the window sill so they could do more games. Perhaps out of so much excitement and hunger, Odie jumped pretty high to try reaching for his food bowl, and hit his right hind leg against the brick wall. One of his nails got chipped, he yelped and fell pretty bad, and started limping. I was inside the house having dinner with my brother when it happened and I didn't hear Odie cry because the TV was on. I had one bite of my spaghetti when April rushed in and said, "Pauline, napilay yata si Odie." I froze in my seat for a while. It's the first time I'm gonna have to attend to a lame puppy. There's a first time for everything, I guess, but it felt really weird to even just imagine Odie not in tip top shape at such an early age.

Odie was happily running when my brother and I went out to check on him. Happily running, but doing so with only three legs. He kept his right hind leg raised and I wanted to just hug him and carry him and put him in a bubble to be protected from all kinds of danger. April narrated to me what happened and kept telling me that he might have just overstretched a muscle, that it's gonna go back to normal eventually, etc. I refused any more talk because neither of us is a vet. We both do not have the right to declare anything. I'm really not a fan of believing what other people say unless they hold a certain degree of credibility. Just the other day, I saw an ad for a basic obedience class and wanted to find out the rate and the credentials of the instructor just to feel even better that Odie is in Pet Centrics. I got a response saying the course rate is more than twice the rate of Odie's class, and the instructor rambled on about how he doesn't have a Behavioral Science diploma but has years of experience in training dogs. That rate and a trainer with no diploma? You cannot be serious. Wait, I digressed in a major way.

I immediately sent a text message to Doc Marose to ask what I could and should do about Odie's leg. Waiting for her reply was one of the longest, most agonizing waits I had to endure. I've been reading Veterinarians Behaving Badly and tried my best to be a good human so I only allowed myself two text messages and zero calls. Although it was a long shot, I hoped that she could do a house call because there were no cars at home. I could swear I heard angels when I finally received a response. I was told that it may just be a sore muscle, and was instructed to apply a cold compress on the area (unsuccessful, he kept eating the ice) and to go to class early the next day so she could check. She also said that we might have to sit out some of the exercises at school. That last part saddened me because what about homework? I was planning to shoot homework before/after the class in an attempt to complete our outdoor locations! What's even sadder was how I was thinking of giving us a break, but I never wanted it at the expense of Odie's well-being. Doc seemed one step ahead of me by reminding me to get some sleep and to stop worrying about what happened to my baby boy. I cried it out, turned to alcohol to calm me down, and fell asleep by midnight.

Odie was still limping this morning and avoided the use of the affected hind leg. We reached the training venue at 8:30 (we were told to come at 8:45 but it's been a practice of mine to always arrive way earlier than the scheduled time). Doc checked on Odie who improved exponentially, walking on all fours and even jumping and running. She told me that it's just a bruise and it would completely heal in a couple of days. He's still being careful with his leg when he does sits and downs. Other than that, he seemed pretty okay. Doc even said she wouldn't have noticed that something was wrong had I not asked for her help. I was so shocked that he was up and running and doing all the exercises! I was told to just walk him through the recall exercise, but he seemed willing to run so we walked only during the first round and did the succeeding rounds just like the rest of his classmates. Odie did all the other exercises successfully, and even did very good demos of the place exercise! Not once did he lift his right hind leg while we were training. Oh, Odie. All in the name of being the demo dog.

I felt embarrassed to have appeared so paranoid based on my correspondence with Doc the night before. More than that, however, I felt really thankful that Odie is showing amazing signs of improvement! I'm also thankful for friends who comforted me last night, for telling me that Odie is a strong boy, a lot stronger than I think. I guess a bruise is nothing to a boy who just wants to play and train. I'm most thankful, of course, to Doc Marose for taking really good care of Odie, for understanding my immense panic, and for giving me peace of mind. Odie and I are so lucky to have the greatest friends (his titos and titas) and the most amazing vet.

I was loading the car with our stuff so I had to leave Odie inside the court for a bit. Whenever I came back inside, he just kept looking at me with a smile on his goofy face. Teacher was impressed that Odie didn't cry whenever I left him, a bonus point of happiness for me because I didn't even notice that he handles separation pretty well.

It was the best car ride home after class, especially because I was so relieved that Odie's injury didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought. I seriously considered getting him x-rayed and thought that we'd have to medicate him or put a cast on his leg. Upon reaching the house, I let Odie out of his crate and led him to his wire crate to rest.

On the way there, however, I felt a pull on the leash and when I looked at him, he had approached the stray cat that's been frequenting our house! He's been wanting to play with that cat and he finally had the chance to touch her, which the cat didn't take so well. I totally saw the cat give a harsh meow and a death stare! I pulled Odie away and took a while to recover from the shock.

I mean, ODIE, I CAN ONLY AFFORD ONE MISADVENTURE AT A TIME!