The park / Forest Preserve, is located along the Fox River and has about 100 acres for dog owners to let their dogs run off leach. The park has become very popular over the years, so much so that during the early morning hours on the weekends finding a parking spot can be difficult.
Mya and Zach love to go to the park and play, run, poop, sniff, roll in God knows what and just be dogs. I get to meet and enjoy other dogs and their owners along with watching the seasonal wild life come and go.
Last Thursday started with Mya, as usual running like the wind, straight into a large patch of ice that had formed in a field. As I watched and cringed, she hit the ice and went down hard on her left hip. As she slid along the ice she tried in rappid secession to regain her footing each time crashing to her left hip.
She finally got her feet under her and was off the ice. I uncovered my eyes expecting to see her trying to walk with a broken leg or shattered hip and breathed a sigh of relief to see she appeared to be unhurt. Yikes! She dodged that bullet.
The rest of our walk was uneventful. Towards the end of our walk Mya found the “treat guy” and was given more treats then she needed and then we headed to the parking lot. Here is where things went badly.
The park parallels U.S. 31, for about a mile with the parking lot immediately off the road. Dogs have been known to run / wandered out into the road.
Mya and Zach generally listen to me and are very close at hand at the end of our walk. Today I failed to keep a close eye on Mya. Something, I suspect a small rodent, she loves to chase squirrels, caused her to be out into the road. As I was loading Zach into the car I heard someone laying on their car horn. As I looked around for Mya she came out between two parked cars. She was crouched down as if she did something wrong but at the same time appeared to be happy to find me. She did not hesitate to jump into the car and we headed home. As we turned out onto the highway there were no cars in sight.
Once we got back home she jumps out of the car and I see she is favoring her left leg. I noticed a small little cut on her left knee and thought the slip on the ice caused this. As we got inside and I was able to take a closer look and found she was acting strange and found more cuts and scrapes on the inside of her leg.
A trip to the vet, and x-rays told the story. Mya had been hit by a car that tore the ligament completely out that holds her left leg in the hip joint. She was fortunate that she was hit in the back. Had it been mid section or in the front end it likely would have killed her.
An operation to remove the top portion (knuckle) of the leg was performed the following day. The vet said that she will make a full recovery and in a few months be back at the park running with the rest of the dogs. Apparently the leg muscles will hold the leg in the correct position. The joint is now like a human shoulder joint.
Time will tell if she still wants to chase squirrels or not.
I learned, the hard way, I will keep a closer eye on them both!
