Poor Gus

**Okay, I know the title of this blog is "Ribar ADOPTION Adventure", but when all we are doing is waiting, I find myself blogging about the rest of our life. You don't have to read if you don't want to, but this is like my journal. It's therapeutic for me to write this all down, and to look back to see what our life has held for the past year. No one's been complaining, but I figured I'd put that disclaimer out there!**

This week we are dogsitting for a family who we've dogsat for many times in the past 3 years. Marley always came with us when we dogsat, and the dogs got along great. I guess the same doesn't go for Gus - or rather the other dog's opinion of Gus.

On Wednesday morning, the dog bit Gus on his mouth and shook him. Gus had just been sitting on the floor next to Dave hoping for some pets when this happened. I came running down when I heard the yelping. I saw blood drops, and Gus was hiding in their laundry room. I walked over to Gus just as he spit out a chunk of something. We later discovered that this was a baby molar, with the adult molar and part of his upper left jaw attached to it. GROSS, I know - sorry! Just be glad you didn't see it.

We took Gus to the vet right away, and they kept him there all day. When the vet and his vet techs where examining Gus, they weren't sure how bad the injuries were. Once they discovered how extensive the injuries were, the vet said, "This dog should be biting me right now, his injuries are so bad, but here he is wagging his tail at me!" That's our Gus - crazy and happy.

When we came to the vet to pick him up he told us that Gus had lost a small part of his jaw bone, and 4 teeth - 1 of these was a baby molar with the adult tooth attached. That means that tooth will never come in. Right now there is just a large hole where that tooth goes, and they sutured that. The vet is hoping that the small part of the jaw bone that is missing will grow enough marrow, or whatever that is to protect the nerves up there. There are also puncture wounds on his face that go all the way through to the inside of his mouth. Last night the vet called to tell us that the x-rays also show that Gus has a fracture in his upper jaw where the bone was pulled out. OUCH!!

So Gus is not allowed to chew ANYthing for the next 2 weeks. He's on soft food and everything. However, you would never know that this puppy is so hurt by looking at him. The injuries are hard to see (since they are mostly inside his mouth), and he is running around like the happy little Gus he's always been. He barked at his toys when he spotted where I had put them out of his reach yesterday, and even snuck crunchy treats when he thought he could get away with it today.

We're both so sad that this happened. Sad that Gus is hurt, but also really sad about this other dog. We really like this family, and have loved knowing this dog for the past 3 years. We feel like we let them down somehow, or didn't do enough to ensure their dogs were comfortable around us and Gus. I know we can't look back and say "what if?", because it doesn't change anything, but I still find myself doing just that.

So that's our life this week. I hope everyone else is doing well this first week of the new year!!!