One day I was out for a walk with Richard. We were in the countryside and I was having fun running about in the long grass and sniffing all the lovely smells. I was a very bouncy dog when I was little. I can still, even though I am bigger now, jump high to get over walls and fences that are meant to keep me in.
On the day I had my accident, I went to jump over a wall or fence (I can’t remember which one it was). Except the wall or fence was not very high from the side I jumped from but the other side had a big drop which I didn’t know about of course.
So I ran fast and flew through the air. But the ground wasn’t coming to meet me like I had expected. I was flying so fast that when I hit the ground at the other side my legs splade wide apart and landed on my tummy, not my paws. The pain was so bad I couldn’t move. Richard found me and gently picked me up. It hurt very badly. He carried me to the car and wrapped me in a blanket. When we got home he put me on my cushion but I still couldn’t move and I was unable to eat either.
We went to see a woman called a vet. Her job is to look after animals when they get sick and to make them better.
The vet said I had ripped all my chest muscles when I jumped over the wall and landed badly. She gave me medicine but it didn’t really take the pain away. I was sad I couldn’t go for walks or eat my favourite food.
Richard started to feed me on a small spoon. He then put me in a heated tunnel which helped to take away the pain because it was warm. I slept and lived in this hot tunnel until I could move again. It took a while for my chest muscles to heal but I got better and better and now I am fine with no pain at all. I know how I have to be careful when I jump over things because you can’t see what is on the other side and it might be a big drop and you can get hurt.
A while after my accident, I moved with Richard to a new house in a different country. It was great fun.