Old Dog Owies

This morning I went down to the basement to wake up Simon for School, and let old Butchy out to go potty.  He (Butch) did not want to get up.  When he finally did he whimpered as he walked across the floor.  I stopped, reached down to touch him and he yelped and went back to his bed.  I called him back to the living room and felt him all  over, not hoping that he would yelp again, but hoping he would give me some indication as to where he hurt.  He didn't. 

Then he went to the door to go out.  I let him out but watched him the whole time.  He moved slow as he did his morning routine.  I know he has an enlarged prostate, so he has to work at it some when it comes to potty time.  But he got all his business done without incident and trotted back to the door where I was waiting. 

Usually at this point he comes up stairs with me, but this time he went back to his bed. The the other two (bad dogs) came down and jumped all over Simons bed. They sit right in the middle of Simon's chest to say good morning.  When they went back up the stairs to collect the morning treats, Butch still did not go.  I was finally able to coax him to come along, and after that he acted completely normal.

I took some time to just rub him all over hoping for some sort of reaction, but got nothing. I massaged his bad elbow, made sure he got a Rimadyl, and just watched him very closely.  He ate good, asked for his treats like he always does. He was wagging his tail, and had happy feet when he got his butt scratched. 

I can only assume that he was just a little stoved up from laying in one position too long. It seemed that once he got moving he was ok again. Still it worries me.  He was obviously in quite a bit of pain if it made him whimper to walk.  We will watch him and see how he does tomorrow.  If it happens again, it may be time to try something a little more effective than the Rimadyl.  Although I am not sure what that would be.

I know that the day will come, and it is not that far off, where he will be in too much pain.  I know that eventually I am going to have to make that hard decision.  I'm glad I don't have to make the decision today...truthfully I am just not ready.