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Dilemma!

Yesterday was quite a day! We started the morning with devotions at breakfast -- pretty normal. The devotional happened to be about taking care of God's creatures. Who knew we'd be putting that into practice in a few hours?

I got back from taking Cambry to pre-school and noticed Shammi (our dog) walking towards me. However, there seemed to be something hanging from her abdomen that looked like it should be on the inside, and I could see a cut on her neck. She obviously had gotten into something she shouldn't have. I couldn't bring myself to look closely and I didn't know what to do!! I had no idea if she was dying, if she just had little cuts, but I did know that something had to be done.

I called Chelan at work, and he said I'd have to look at it and maybe call the vet to see how much it would cost to repair it. His exact words were, "We're not going to spend $200 on a dog!" While I understand this (we really don't spend money on our pets besides food), I couldn't imagine not helping her.

So, I called my dad. I knew he would at least be able to look at her, which I was still unable to do! He came right over and said she would need to be stitched up, but she would probably be okay. Now I knew that she wasn't dying, which actually made my dilemma worse. I couldn't handle watching her suffer in pain, but I knew Chelan wasn't thrilled about spending the money to fix the problem.

My dad took her to the vet, and then the vet called me to say she needed surgery -- the stuff hanging out was from a puncture wound. She also had 2 other large lacerations.

Long story short, after another call to Chelan, I told the vet to fix her up. By 4:00 p.m. we had her back home and she's running around like nothing happened (maybe a little slower, though). The vet said she had a run-in with a large dog. This means one of 2 things: Bo (Shammi's best friend from across the road, but a large greyhound) turned on her, or they were both out hunting and had a run-in with a coyote. Those darn things surround our house and the dogs are always barking at them!

Some of you are probably thinking: "How could this be a dilemma? If your dog is hurt, you help her!" All I can say is, Chelan and I grew up very differently when it comes to pets. Yesterday was very stressful for me, and finding the balance between our two opinions was very difficult! I kept coming back to that devotional, though, and decided if we're going to have a dog, we'll have to take care of her. By the end of the day, Chelan and I were even on the same page.

And thanks, Dad, for helping us out when we needed it!

What a day!


This picture was taken last spring -- Shammi will be 6 years old this summer

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