our puppy fell off the deck

one of our puppies - This is our puppy Sadler. She is part chocolate lap and part Doberman Pincsher (at least we think she is--she sure looks like it and the owners did have a male doby).

Anyway she is a good girl and loves the kids and her sister, Labonte (who looks all chocolate lab). She fell off our 2nd story deck tonight and hurt her leg and I feel so awful I am thinking of giving them both away. I am not fit to care for 4 kids and 2 puppies.
United States
May 17, 2007 6:51pm CST
i hate myself right now. i let the dogs out of the cage on our deck to play. below the railings it was fenced in with chicken wire except in 3 spots. we blocked those spots off. i really didn't think anything of it. so they were out there playing and i could here them whining which is unusual. the kids said they heard the whining too and i was mad that they didn't come get me. so i go to see what is wrong and find labonte in the cage looking very sullen. but sadler wasn't anywhere. i noticed when i walked out that the bag of charcoal was knocked over and chewed up and i was afraid she was sick and hiding but we couldn't find her. them meagan said--maybe she jumped off. i spun around in what felt like slow motion and realized the bag of charcoal had been blocking the whole in the chicken wire (there was a flap but it wasn't secured). she had pulled the flap open and fell off our deck. it is about a 20 foot drop to the ground below. oh god i hate myself so much. i ran down the stairs and she was sitting next to the door whimpering. she walked to me and was wagging her tail but it is obvious that her leg is hurt and she might have internal injuries because she cried when i carried her upstairs. i called the vet but they closed at 6 and their machine said to call their emergency contact vet. but they don't open until 8. i don't know what to do except die. i have never felt so awful in my life and i'm not exagerating. if she dies i will never ever ev er forgive myself. i don't know what to do. i can't stop crying and i think i'm going to be sick. god i hate myself so much. ------------------------------------ That was an hour ago. Since then she has been looking better. She rolled over to let me rub her belly and was trying to play with her sister Labonte. She wanted a treat out of a toy she had (was very persistent) and has gotten up and walked over to her water dish to get a drink. I have to wait until 8pm to call the emergency vet to see what to do but I hope they say they think she can make it until morning. Because I found out where this place is and it is way across town and will take me almost an hour to drive there in the dark with 4 kids (one of which has school in the morning). I don't like driving at night and the way my nerves are right now I'm not sure I could even do it. I have serious anxiety and it is through the roof right now. Not to mention I now have a splitting migraine. I feel so horrible I can't even begin to put it into words. I want to just pull her into my arms and hold her all night like I would one of my children but I'm afraid I will hurt her more (if she is seriously injured) and she seems content in the cage with her sister. Her sister spazzes out if I leave her alone. They have never been apart. They are about 9 or 10 weeks old.
1 person likes this
3 responses
@Loen210 (1540)
• United States
20 Feb 08
It's almost a year since then. What happened? Our regular vet clinic is open only regular hours too, but when emergencies happen, there are a few different hospitals that do have 24/7 hours. And thank goodness for them. Some are a drive but worth it. I hope your sweet dog healed well.
• United States
20 Feb 08
I guess I didn't realize people cared that much about it. The puppy was fine. We never even took her in. I waited out the night worrying constantly about her and in the morning she was playing with her sister, still limping a but but happy and fine. By the next morning she was jumping and climbing on things like nothing had happened. Unfortunately we had to move not too long after that and we couldn't keep the puppies. They live with my sister in law 300 miles away so I haven't seen them since the summer. I don't really like dogs but I miss them. They would have been so much fun to have around once they were house trained.
@Loen210 (1540)
• United States
20 Feb 08
Thank goodness. Poor guy. Wow, that was a risk not to take him to the vet (could have had a broken bone or more, mend incorrectly). But so glad his spirits were up the next day. And sad you couldn't take them with you, but glad you had a family member (trustable, I assume) take them on. Maybe some day you should adopt an adult pet, so it is already house trained. ;o) And hope you enjoy your new house 300 miles away!
• United States
27 May 07
So, what happened? Is the puppy okay? You left us hanging.
@gizmo528 (731)
• United States
18 May 07
Oh God, I know just how you feel. I was outside tonight with my 7 week old puppy and he started squirming in my arms and so I leaned down to place him on the ground and he jumped out of my arms and hit the ground. He landed head first and was kinda dazed at first and just whimpered and wanted to be held. We checked him over and no sore spots and no bleeding from his head/ears. About a minute later he was chasing the big dog around the yard. I think he's fine but I can imagine how scared you were and blaming yourself. I'm stilling blaming myself and my drop was no where near the height your poor puppy fell. I would just keep watching her and let us know what the e-vet says. Give her a hug and kiss for me.