Conehead Riggs

 

On this rainy Sunday a few words about the trials of Riggs seem appropriate. It all started maybe 10 days ago in Castine when a friend brought her larger dog over for some play time with Riggs (KT Bopp is too proud for such nonsense). All went well, with a game down at the cove where the larger dog would swim to retrieve a thrown tennis ball, then come to shore and trot around with it as Riggs tailed him to recover his precious ball the moment it was set down.

Eventually we headed back up to the house with dogs in the lead and apparently the 1 ball and 2 dogs math caused a problem (not sure as the dogs were out of view at the time). Most likely Riggs got aggressive to get the ball, and got bitten as a result, leaving a single puncture wound to his side. Sheila cleaned the wound and we assumed it would heal but unfortunately over the next few days Riggs would not leave the wound alone, constantly licking it.

So last Monday as we were packing Spray, Sheila decided that the wound looked nasty enough for a trip to the vets where the wound was cleaned and stitched up. They returned with a prescription for a strong antibiotic as the vet was worried about continued infection. To keep Riggs from bothering the wound, use of the 'cone of shame' was required 24/7. Silly as he looked, Riggs adapted to the cone OK (you really cannot shame Riggs).

We sure wish the story ended there, but it didn't. The antibiotic had a very unfortunate side effect as it apparently killed the good bugs in Rigg's digestive tract, leaving him with a case of the runs, which kicked in just after we left Castine on Wednesday. So we spent our first cruising days with an incontinent Riggs, which involved lots of paper towels and spray cleaners, unplanned laundry needs when we arrived here in Portland, and eventually the purchase of some special dog food and yes, diapers. Quite a challenge that unfortunately fell mostly on Sheila (hey, I had to drive the boat).

The good news is that, as of today, Rigg's system is recovering nicely, and no diapers were used last night. His wound is still healing, so the cone is still needed, but hopefully only for a few more days.

So, bring on the next challenge!

 

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