Drama in the Pak Household

On Sunday, December 30 we had a slight medical emergency. Chae and me are fine, it was Kiera. We let her out in the front yard while Chae was shovelling snow. She loves to be out there with him and runs around trying to catch the snow he shovels. She whines by the door and watches him through the window if we don't let her out with him. Well, this day was a little different than any other. I was in the kitchen when Chae yells that Kiera is bleeding. There was blood everywhere. We couldn't tell where it was coming from. After cleaning her up a little, we discovered that it was coming from the bottom of her front left paw. It wouldn't stop bleeding, so I jumped on the computer hoping to find a Vet ER, knowing that all normal vets were closed on a Sunday at 5pm. Kiera has such a high tolerance for pain and such a happy spirit. The bleeding paw didn't seem to phase her. All she cared about was playing with her ball. Chae had to make her drop it. We sent her to her bed to lie down while we figured out what to do. When Chae's best friend stopped by to say goodbye on his way to the airport, Kiera was so happy to have company that she left her bed, jumped on everyone, and tracked blood all over the house. We had to yell at her to lie down. We found a Vet ER that's open weekday evenings and 24 hours on holidays and weekends. As it turned out, they had to perform minor surgery on her paw. She cut a vein and it didn't stop bleeding until it was sutured. We almost cried when we got the bill. $638 later we were sent home with a groggy dog with a bandaged leg, not to mention an additional $38 for a check-up and re-bandage 3 days later. Ouch! That money was supposed to be used on the house. Oh, well. Kiera is part of the family now. Needless to say, Chae spent the rest of that evening and part of the next one looking for pet insurance, and I applied for 15 more jobs. Kiera's not allowed to play outside, run around, or do much of anything for 12 days. The vet doesn't know my dog. That's extremely difficult for her. I feel so bad for her. She's been cooped up and has so much energy to burn. She's been driving me crazy! ;) The bandages come off on Friday, so we'll definitely be taking her out to play then.
Kiera playing in the snow on Christmas while Chae shovelled it to her. Just a few days before her accident.


It was so funny watching her when we brought her home from the vet. She was so groggy. She couldn't stand for long. She would start swaying and actually start falling asleep while standing.

And this is the guy who talked about getting rid of her? Yeah right. He calls her darling. He doesn't even call me that.

Conehead. We had to put this on her when leaving her alone to make sure she didn't mess with the bandage. We laughed so much.

It was funny watching her hop around on three legs. Sorry, the video might make you a little dizzy.

The culprit of Kiera's wound - hedging in the front yard that separates the mulch and rocks from the grass. A problem that was easily fixed this past Saturday with a trip to the Home Depot and rubber piping that you place on the hedging for $10.78. We weren't aware of the hedging because the lawn had pretty much been under snow since mid-November, just a few days after we moved in.