Sentry, Baymule’s Livestock Guard Dog

[baymule]

It’s a drizzly day. I had 2 rows ready in the garden for planting English peas. I left BJ, Sentry and Carson in the house, ran out and got my English peas planted. These dogs have it rough.

Carson always sleeps in the weirdest positions.

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Sentry clearly thinks the lights are too bright. Turn off the lamp!

​

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Maggie sleeps like that: on her back, legs all splayed in different directions, head cocked off sideways, and half upside down. she looks like a bit of mangled road kill.

 

[baymule]

A friend on BYH asked how Sentry is doing this morning. My answer;

He healed up and is able to go hang out with the other dogs and guard sheep. He runs, plays, but is definitely crippled. He rests the leg when standing and it just sorta dangles. His other hip joint is bad too, but I'm thinking that if we have it operated on, he won't have a good leg to stand on. We didn't have his shoulders x-rayed, but I think they are also compromised. Just watching his gait, the way he stands and the way he struggles to stand from laying down, this poor dog truly is a train wreck.

In the meantime, he loves me with all his heart and then some. He follows me, keeps me in his line of sight and lays at my feet at night in the living room. He watches the sheep, he runs the front fence with the other dogs, chasing off garbage trucks, kids on bikes, truck and trailers, motorcycles and other monsters that threaten the Dog Kingdom. He is a happy dog.

I have been observing him closely. In my opinion, his skeletal structure is so bad, that no amount of "fixing it" will ever make him right. The operation he had bought him some time. Literally it bought time for him and for us to love him. I would do the same thing in a heartbeat. I will not put him through another surgery.

He spends the night on a dog bed on the screened in porch, it is where he chooses to be. He and Carson eat in the kitchen, BJ feeds the dogs. By evening, he is exhausted. Living life at full speed takes a lot out of a compromised dog, but I won't take that away from him. He is sleeping on the porch now, waiting on me to go outside and do chores. I don't allow the dogs in with the horses, mainly because Prince likes to play and would probably hurt them. Prince is such a butt...… If he were to kick Sentry, it would more than likely be life ending. Sentry, true to his name, waits patiently at the gate until I come back out. I've been letting Joe and Pearl graze the yard and Sentry follows them, guarding them, especially Joe.

I passionately love this dog and it is slowly tearing me apart to have to come to the decision to not "save" him, but quietly and lovingly let him go when the time comes. I will not prolong his agony. I watch him go about his daily life, being a dog and living his life to the fullest. I do not regret the first surgery, but there will not be another one.​

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I know you're giving him the best life that he can have. He's lucky to be your dog!

 

[Chic Rustler]

A friend on BYH asked how Sentry is doing this morning. My answer;

He healed up and is able to go hang out with the other dogs and guard sheep. He runs, plays, but is definitely crippled. He rests the leg when standing and it just sorta dangles. His other hip joint is bad too, but I'm thinking that if we have it operated on, he won't have a good leg to stand on. We didn't have his shoulders x-rayed, but I think they are also compromised. Just watching his gait, the way he stands and the way he struggles to stand from laying down, this poor dog truly is a train wreck.

In the meantime, he loves me with all his heart and then some. He follows me, keeps me in his line of sight and lays at my feet at night in the living room. He watches the sheep, he runs the front fence with the other dogs, chasing off garbage trucks, kids on bikes, truck and trailers, motorcycles and other monsters that threaten the Dog Kingdom. He is a happy dog.

I have been observing him closely. In my opinion, his skeletal structure is so bad, that no amount of "fixing it" will ever make him right. The operation he had bought him some time. Literally it bought time for him and for us to love him. I would do the same thing in a heartbeat. I will not put him through another surgery.

He spends the night on a dog bed on the screened in porch, it is where he chooses to be. He and Carson eat in the kitchen, BJ feeds the dogs. By evening, he is exhausted. Living life at full speed takes a lot out of a compromised dog, but I won't take that away from him. He is sleeping on the porch now, waiting on me to go outside and do chores. I don't allow the dogs in with the horses, mainly because Prince likes to play and would probably hurt them. Prince is such a butt...… If he were to kick Sentry, it would more than likely be life ending. Sentry, true to his name, waits patiently at the gate until I come back out. I've been letting Joe and Pearl graze the yard and Sentry follows them, guarding them, especially Joe.

I passionately love this dog and it is slowly tearing me apart to have to come to the decision to not "save" him, but quietly and lovingly let him go when the time comes. I will not prolong his agony. I watch him go about his daily life, being a dog and living his life to the fullest. I do not regret the first surgery, but there will not be another one.

so sorry bay. I know it must be heart breaking.

 

[baymule]

so sorry bay. I know it must be heart breaking.

Yes it is. We would love to keep him with us, but have to weigh up the cost to him. It is not only a financial decision, but a quality of life decision. At this point, it would be more cruel to keep operating on him, trying to save him, than it will be to love him enough to let him go when it becomes time.

 

[Beekissed]

Bless you, Bay, for having the wisdom and compassion enough to put your own feelings aside for the well being of Sentry. Many will not do that in this world and they call it love, but true love is putting that creature's life ahead of your own heart, no matter what. You have done and are doing all you can to insure he has a good life and I'm sure you will know when it's time to give him a good ending to his story as well. It's a hard thing to do,closing that book.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

1000x what Bee says. Oh how often I see affection and love expressed in completely selfish ways on some other forums I visit. You are doing your best to give Sentry a happy ending to a good life.

 

[baymule]

It was worth a shot to try to fix what was wrong. His leg bone wasn't popped out of socket, there was no socket. His femur was sticking out, knocking bone on bone and it was painful. The surgery took care of the pain, so it was worth it to stave off the immediate emergency. Anything more than that going forward won't fix him, it will just drag things out. You just have to know when to stop.

Our 3 year old granddaughter came to me the other day to show me the slobbered smear on her cheek and told me "Sentry kissed me!"

Dear Lord, it's going to be hard.

 

[baymule]

Ok, here goes. We had quite a scare this week. On Monday evening, Sentry clearly didn't feel good, he was limping on both back legs and there was a big hard knot pushed out past the base of his tail. When I touched it, he licked my hand, telling me it hurt. From the looks of it, it looked like the other hip blew out. We had already discussed not having another surgery and putting him down. So we loved him, sniffled, and prepared ourselves for the worst. We took him to the vet Tuesday. What a Covid-19 experience that was!

Curbside vet care. No one was allowed inside, the vet techs came out and took the pets inside. Care was performed, then the pet was brought back to the owner. Another lady brought the bill and took payment. Nuts. We expressed our concerns to the tech and she led Sentry away. The vet came out and said that his X-ray looked the same, it was not out of place. I asked about the bump on his hindquarter and the vet said he didn't know, but it wasn't bone. So we figured that maybe it was a muscular injury from him playing too hard with the other dogs. We heaved a sigh of relief that we didn't have to put him down.

That lump was sore and it hurt. I kept watching him, wondering what was wrong. Thursday morning I saw blood spots on the porch and his anus was bloody. Back to the vet we went. For the first time, I didn't have to lift him in the truck, he jumped in. He had an impacted anal gland and it had ruptured. We left him, they sedated him and cleaned him all up and soaked the area with antibiotic. We picked him up that afternoon. The vet said that normally, big dogs don't get an impacted anal gland, that is mostly a little dog problem. DH asked the vet why Sentry had an impacted anal gland, if it was a little dog problem. The vet shrugged and said, "You got a lemon?" We all laughed. Lemon he certainly is, a train wreck of a dog. The vet agreed with us that Sentry can't take another surgery, the operated leg dangles, the muscles have atrophied and he just doesn't have a good leg to stand on. Not if, but when, his other hip blows out or becomes too painful for him, we will say our tearful goodbyes and give him a peaceful escape.

So now he has a shaved butt, an obvious hole that is healing up, pain pills and antibiotics for a week. His fur is starting to look like a patchwork of shaved spots. He feels much better and is running and playing again. We let the sheep out in the yard and he laid in the soft clover under a pine tree, watching, on guard. His mind and heart is in it, his crippled leg, sore butt body slows him down, but it ain't stopping him.​