It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt...

The adventures of Sam and Dean, 1-year-old brother golden retrievers, had a painful chapter Sunday resulting in both brothers experiencing injuries to their front left and back right paws, respectively.

While Dean's injury is nothing to scoff at (stitches needed, swollen and sprained, pending further assessment in the coming days), it is Sam's injury that has us turning to the kindness and generosity within the world to really help us.

Sam experienced a 'degloving' injury; without being too graphic for those that are squeamish, this means the skin was torn away, exposing the 'meat' of his paw. Moreover, he has torn ligaments, crushed bone, exposed metacarpals (toe insides), and is unable to stitch-repair the injury due to the lack of skin tissue present to close. The emergency vet has recommended we see a surgeon specialist and has warned that he may require amputation. His future on this front leg of his may forever be pained and arthritic.

As many people have asked what caused this, we can honeslty say we are not sure. The boys escaped our fenced in backyard, and while searching the neighborhood for them, they returned, bloody and limping. The overall thought is that perhaps the cause was a tangle of barbed wire, or even an animal trap. By the time we returned from the vet, it was well past midnight. I planned to (attempt to*) follow the trail they left behind to find the source come daylight, but overnight a storm washed it away. We believe to have found the route of escape through the fence and it is now firmly secured to prevent future unsupervised adventures.

We know financial times are not easy for anyone right now, but this high bill, with many more to come, has come at an especially difficult time while the shutdown is impacting household income. No time is ever 'easy' or 'convenient', but if you would feel so inclined to help our adventurous pups get back to their tomfoolery, we, and Sam and Dean, would be deeply grateful for any support.