The Log Dog Blog: Avalanche's Surgery

A few months ago, we noticed that Avalanche had started to scratch his ear. At first we didn't think much of it, but the more frequently he did it, the more concerned we became, especially when it started to bleed. Believe me when I say that it's distressing to see bright red blood on his white fur! C took him to the vet to get it checked, and as it turned out, there was some sort of growth in his ear that would need to be removed. C mentioned that Avalanche had also been licking his back right paw, and lo and behold, there was a growth between his middle toes that would also need to be removed!

February was a rough month for Avalanche...he had the surgery on February 8, which was not even a week after he was skunked. His right ear and the two toes on his right back paw were shaved, as was a section on his left front leg where the IV was placed. The surgery went very well - as usual, I will sing Dr. T.'s praises as long as I live for her expert care of our pups - and he was discharged the same day.

A few issues arose, with the first being that we were tasked with keeping a cone of shame on him. Full disclosure: this did not happen. Did we have a cone? Yes. Did we purchase a second cone made of fabric instead of plastic? Yes. Did he refuse to wear either cone? Yes.

I don't know how familiar you are with Huskies, but they can be extremely stubborn. Difficult. Obstinate. I read a study that they are ranked 78th in terms of intelligence among dog breeds BUT that is because the tests are based on obedience: sit, stay, come, roll over, etc. Huskies have no time for that nonsense. And are those actual measures of intelligence? Absolutely not, as far as I'm concerned! They're nothing more than compliance.

Huskies were bred to work, to think, to make decisions on treacherous, snowy terrain. They had to be independent, creative thinkers in order to survive. According to information from the Iditarod organization, the distance between the lead dog and the musher can be 80 feet! In wintry and dangerous conditions, the lead dog makes decisions before the musher is even aware of a situation! So whoever declared that garbage 78th ranking in intelligence for Huskies is an idiot. The complete opposite is true; they are highly intelligent and fiercely independent and as such would never perform well on an assessment based on obedience and tricks. Huskies are problem solvers.

So when Avalanche decided he was not wearing a cone, that was the end of the discussion.

In addition to the cone, he obviously came home with medications and as I shared back in the fall, it's not particularly fun to get him to take pills because he doesn't really eat human food. We can't hide the pills in cheese or peanut butter because he doesn't eat either of those things. Our solution was to buy him a sandwich from Arby's and hide the pills in the roast beef, which worked! However, we've created a spoiled monster who is now disappointed on the daily when he excitedly looks in his bowl only to discover his regular food.

The third issue was when we got home from the vet after his surgery. He was still pretty out of it from the anesthesia and he wouldn't get out of the car. He simply refused to move. This was a problem because not only does he sit on the third row of seats, making it awkward to reach him, but he weighs 68 pounds so even if we could get to him and maneuver him out of the car, carrying him would be a lot of work. That doesn't even take into consideration that we have NEVER carried him and that he doesn't particularly liked to be handled in any way, shape, or form, or that he was obviously sore and tender from the surgery. I'm sure it was quite a sight to see C and me going from side to side of the car, trying to coax him out, climbing in, trying to get him to move, then climbing out again, defeated. Finally the solution we came up with was to put his leash on, slowly guide him to the back door of the car, and have him jump down onto a dog bed that we had brought outside to cushion his landing. It was quite an ordeal and a reminder of how much simpler things were with little dogs we could simply pick up and carry anywhere we needed them to go! Don't get me wrong, though...I love having an entertaining Husky!

Nonetheless, his recovery went well and he had the stitches between his toes removed when he went for his follow-up appointment. When we got the biopsy results that both growths were benign, we were over the moon! Hopefully there won't be any other surgeries in his future!