The Danger of the Road

Coalie is an awesome dog.  She is almost 9 months old and we have enjoyed having her as a part of our family.  She was quite easy to potty train, she hardly ever barks, lets little children back her around with a great deal of patience and only very seldom does she have to go potty in the middle of the night.  She does have one problem though, she is not afraid of the road.  On Saturday after we went to the temple and before J.J's baptism we stopped at Home Depot and Andy and Taylei purchased an electronic containment fence.  Well, buying the fence isn't quite enough - you also have to install the fence.

Andy and I were suppose to go to the temple on Wednesday night as part of a ward conference temple session.  This was the plan until almost noon when Andy found out we had to dig our footings so they would be 30 inches below the frost line and he needed to help Skip.  I was going to still go with the primary ladies but when I picked up the kids after school the wind was so fierce that my hair was standing on end - literally - I don't think it could have been straighter even if it was part of a cartoon where I had just been electrocuted.  The sky was brown from the dirt in the air.  The other members of the presidency began to drop out and I had NO desire to drive in a snow storm so I ended up dropping out as well.

We had only been home 20 minutes when one of the neighbors knocked at the door.  I didn't think anything of it when he asked for Andy and went to find him behind the house.  It was just getting dark, and the neighbor was driving by and saw something in the road.  His daughter who was driving couldn't tell what it was and slowed down.  The unknown object was Coalie and she went under their front tire.  They were nice enough to stop and try and get help for the puppy.  He told Andy what had happened and Andy could see Coalie lying in the road.  He began to wonder what Taylei and the kids would do as he walked up to her.  When he could see her eyes blinking he was amazed she was still alive but then thought what am I going to do to put her out of her misery.  He picked her up and could feel her breathing was short, but strong.   He walked with her to the garage where I had just walked out and told me to get the vet on the phone and run her in.  Taylei held Coalie on the drive in and I kept trying to tell her to be strong, if she was hysterical it would hinder not help Coalie.

We waited at the vet for fifteen minutes before he arrived.  I think Coalie was in complete shock.  We were trying our best NOT to move her.  The vet wasn't quite as gentle but determined really quickly that she was in much better shape than we could have ever hoped.  He thought it looked like she had a broken pelvis.  He gave her a shot for pain, some i.v. fluid and an antibiotic.  He had us leave her there for the night and said he would x-ray her in the morning.  It was so hard on Taylei not to bring her home with us.

The next morning the vet called.  There were no broken bones.  Her left knee was in pretty bad shape but we got to go and pick her up.  She laid in bed for a few day but has now started hopping around a little.  I know prayers were answered - when I first saw her she looked horrible - blood was coming out her nose.  It is an amazing blessing for her to be in such great shape.  We are planning on taking the fence that had been purchased back, we'll use the money towards the vet bill.  We figure that if this experience wasn't traumatic enough to keep her out of the road then nothing will.  The moral of the story is to go to the temple!