Belle

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Let me introduce you to Belle!  Belle is a 6 month old golden girl. Belle came into RAGOM a few weeks ago after an accident that left her front leg broken.  The break was just above the growth plate in her elbow and it was in a few pieces.  Since the accident, Belle has gone through two different surgeries.  The first to repair the break and the second to remove the pins they had put in during the first surgery.

Belle’s first surgery went as well as we could hope!  She did great and from her puppy energy, you would never know that she had surgery.  Let me tell you, it is not easy keeping a 6 month old happy pup quite for 4 weeks.  She loves to explore everything and does need supervision as she is still a pup.  However, we were able to keep her quietly busy with puzzle games, chew toys, and cuddles.  She had also been kept entertained by my resident dog Cedar. They love to sit together and play the game “trading toys”.  We give them each the exact same chew toy, but they always want what the other has.  They will sit next to each other just passing their toys back and forth constantly. I don’t quite understand it but they sure do!

Even though Belle was happy and energetic, there were still some things we were concerned about when it came to her leg healing properly.  Due to her young age, they were afraid the injured leg would not grow as long as the other three and would not gain back its full functionality.  The possibility of losing the leg in the future came up during the beginning conversations. This would be due to the differencing in leg sizes and/or her not using it and putting weight on it while walking.  However, now we do not think that will be an issue for her long term!  

After Belle’s second surgery, we found out that the bones were healing well.  The injured leg is going to always be a little shorter than the other three and she will have a little limp.  It is a small enough difference that it shouldn’t affect her too much and it will not cause her any pain,  it will just be her “normal”. To keep her leg working as normal as possible, she will continue to need long term physical therapy to keep the functionality in her leg working to its potential.  The PT is not difficult and can easily be done at home.  Another good therapy is swimming, good thing we have tons of lakes to chose from right!

Belle will still be healing for a few weeks and we hope those weeks continue to have positive outcomes!   Stay tuned for more information on little Belle!