This is Diggs. I know you think your dog is really great but Diggs is, without question, the best dog in the world.
I’m Nick. I have the pleasure of telling the story of this incredible guy since I have had him by my side for almost his entire life. Here is how we met…
In 2007, I was living in FL and preparing to move back to VA where I grew up. The girl I was with at the time had her heart set on getting a dog and we had been searching the adoption websites looking for the perfect pup. She wanted a little dog like a Pug but I was insistent on something bigger. 2 weeks before my trip home, I came home from work like I normally would and decided to take a peek at the adoption website. I hadn’t looked in a while since it seemed like they hadn’t been taking in many new dogs in the past few weeks. I type in the link, hit the return button, and there he was.
(This isn’t the adoption photo but it’s around the same year. I’ll find that photo and post it as soon as I can.)
The adoption page said his name was, “Dingo” (that was getting changed immediately), and just from his picture I could tell he was the one.
I called her immediately and made sure she was the very first person in the parking lot on the day he was available to meet. Thanks to a few alarms and some well timed phone calls, she got there so early that she actually beat the adoption van that was bringing the dogs to the location. As they were unloading the dogs out of the vehicle, she inquired about “Dingo” and they allowed her to hang out with him while they handled the rest of the dogs. I was on the phone the whole time. She was immediately concerned about his size but said that his temperament was incredible. Just as she sat down with him, 4 other families approached to inquire about him. 4! Sucks to be them. As you can imagine, our efforts granted us the right to put in the first application for him and on the day before I was to arrive back in VA, Diggs came into our home.
My entire drive back to VA was filled with phone calls inquiring about how he was settling in. She was concerned that he didn’t seem as lively as he had been when she first met him. Once I pulled into the parking lot, all of that was about to change. We were immediately locked into each other, and we have been ever since.
As tends to happen, relationships end. Ours was no different. Diggs came with me and he has been with me through everything for the last 10+ years. We’ve lived in multiple states and lived with multiple people and other animals. Everyone we come in contact with falls immediately in love with him. Every girl I dated would immediately flock to him and I was always left alone, on the couch, to answer the millions of questions everyone asks about him. It’s totally worth it.
For the last few years we have been living in FL (yes again). At the end of 2016 we were residing in Sarasota. Diggs has been aging gracefully. He doesn’t look or act like a 10 year old dog, but he is getting a bit more fragile. He is also getting a bit more skiddish when it comes to loud noises. Suddenly thunderstorms, fire alarms, etc. have become a big deal. It’s cute in a way, but I feel bad for him. On New Years Eve of 2016, I went out with some friends and left “yellow dog” at home. Florida is a big fan of their fireworks. Not snakes and sparklers. Big fireworks. Bottle rockets and mortars can be purchased in the parking lot of every grocery store in town. This is not a complaint at all but it did turn out to be a major oversight on my part. I shouldn’t have left him alone.
I arrived home, a bit tipsy, to find my house turned upside down. As I closed the door behind me, Diggs came limping out of my bedroom with a massive knot on his front left elbow. It was about the size of half a baseball and soft to the touch. I took him to the vet. They x-rayed and biopsied the mass but said it was nothing. He limped for months. Fast forward to 2018. By this time we have moved to Saint Petersburg and changed veterinarians. At the new vet I mention that the mass on his arm appears to be getting bigger and more firm to the touch. She recommends we x-ray and biopsy again. I agree. The call I received from the vet the next day was more than I had bargained for. The biopsy came back clear. The mass is most likely a fatty tumor. Dogs get them all the time and this one doesn’t appear to be complicating his movement, for now anyway. Pee-Wee Herman once said, “Everyone always has a big BUT”. Here is how our “but” went.
(Paraphrasing)
“Nick, we went ahead and did the x-ray of the elbow. Everything looks fine, it’s mostly cosmetic, etc, etc. BUT, we happened to get his left “ankle” (do dogs have ankles?) in the x-ray. While I was focusing on the elbow, one of my vet-techs noticed a spot on the ankle. It looks to us like Diggs has bone cancer.”
I am going to avoid using expletives on this blog but just imagine that I probably had every one that you’ve ever heard, plus a few that I made up, run through my head. I was crushed.
Fortunately, thanks to that very observant vet-tech, we caught it early. They checked his chest to make sure it hadn’t moved into his lungs and he appears clear. Now I’m left with a decision. Leave him with a mass on his elbow and potentially aggressive cancer in his leg, or amputate? It’s ultimately a no-brainer, but it has proven to be a very difficult thing to for me to pull the trigger on. After much deliberation (and a few conversations with him knowing that he doesn’t understand me) the time has finally arrived. Today is Wednesday, March 14th, 2018. Tomorrow we have our consultation with the surgeon and Friday is the day.
If I had to offer some advice at this point in the process I would say this…
Get your dog insured and don’t hesitate when the time comes. Every person I have talked to, and every article I have read, says the same thing. Just like us, they adapt. Dogs, however, do it better and faster. I still do not have personal experience to base this advice off of…but it’s coming. This is why I have started this blog page with Tripawds.
Stay tuned for the play-by-play as Diggs, a.k.a. Yellow Dog, a.k.a. #RiotDog, a.k.a. “Diggery-do he’s my fweeter boy” (thanks mom), takes this challenge head on and proves to all of us that he will not only conquer this obstacle but overcome it, and remain the same loving, regal, and goofy dog that we (and soon you) have grown to love.
Wish us luck and we will see you on the other side!
Spread love
-Nick
