Badger the Border Collie puppy

Two months after we lost our 11 year old BC Caru (Welsh for love, pronounced 'carry') to lymphoma, our vet telephoned us to ask if we would consider giving Badger (a 17 week old BC) a home.

Badger had his left humerus and elbow shattered when a horse stepped on his foreleg when he was only 5 weeks old. The farmer took him to our vets' practice, but when he was told that it was unlikely that Badger would ever work, he refused to pay for the surgery and said he no longer wanted the dog.

The vets operated (twice) and kept Badger at the surgery for 12 weeks - he stayed at the practice during the day and went home with one of the vets or veterinary nurses at night and weekends.

We've had Badger since 11 June and his progress is remarkable. When we first had him, he didn't use his left foreleg except to balance on the two outside toes. The vets warned us that he might still lose the leg, but now he uses the leg normally, albeit he walks with a limp. He goes swimming at the Dog Spa once a week and has just finished puppy kindergarten class. That's enough story, now for some pictures.


The first two were taken by the vets before we had Badger. We didn't have him until his wounds had healed completely except for a small scab where the surgical drains had been removed.

Badger shows off his cast:



Badger forgets his cast and gets on with the serious business of playing:




The next five images were taken in the first week that we had Badger.

Badger tries to relax and feel at home in the garden:



Badger sits like a good boy and shows how short his bad leg is compared with his other leg. Actually his bad leg is about 3 cm shorter than the other leg, the diameter is about half that of the good leg, and the paw is much smaller:



Badger's found a stick:



We don't have rugs in our living room, we have dog beds:



Molly (our 9 year old Spollie - Spaniel x Collie) reluctantly agrees to share her sofa with Badger, or as a friend said 'That looks like a blind date gone terribly wrong!':




The next four photographs were taken three weeks later when the ice had been well and truely broken:










And the last four were taken at the Dog Spa which Badger visits for hydrotherapy once a week to strengthen the muscles in his shoulder and leg.

Jayne helps Badger into his swimming kit:



Somewhat unsure, Badger is helped into the pool:



Reluctantly, Badger starts swimming:



And eventually gets into his stride - London 2012 look out:



These images were taken during Badger's early swimming sessions: now he's used to the water, he absolutely loves it and we have great difficulty getting him out of the pool when his swim is finished.

That's all for now folks!

Oh bless him he looks lovely.

Well done for taking him on and I'm sure with lots of TLC he will be come on great
Molly looks very sweet bless her

Oh bless, having been through so much so young, these pictures certainly show what a suberb personality he has

Good on you and your gorgeous sprollie for welcoming him into your home

Hi TC, :smt039
what you did was a very nice and caring thing to do. :smt007
Badger looks great, and you have shown him lot of love, :smt049 how cute does he look with his cast?! he could win an Oscar for that!! :smt043
keep the pics coming :smt041

Oh TC, you've done such a wonderful job of looking after him, poor thing, I'm crying buckets.

Ian

Awww that's great how you took him in, and now he has made progress again, it is great

Aww he is gorgous!!

What a fantastic job you have done with him, he is gorgeous and a real credit to you very weldone!

Well done you!!!! And well done Badger!!!! He is absolutely adorable!!! :smt007 :smt007

Badger is a lovely looking dog and your other dog Mollie is lovely too,I am sure Badger knows what a kind thing you have done for him and will reward you 100 times over.