Darcy Strikes a Pose on the Runway

Darcy’s surgery hurt me more than it hurt her…literally and physically. After having three benign tumors removed from her side, she developed a hotspot where the dissolving stitches refused to dissolve. Constantly chewing at the site, she kept opening up the wound. To prevent this, I put an Elizabethan collar (E-collar) on her.

Most dogs abhor wearing an E-collar. Not Darcy. She had no clue that her head was now three times its normal size with that collar on and continually rammed into my legs until I was black and blue.

I called the vet's office and received assurance that the stitches would dissolve. They also informed me that if my dog ripped open the stitches, she would have to go under general anesthesia for suturing. I had spent enough on the surgery so the collar stayed on and my legs hurt.

After about a month, I received a particularly painful leg-ramming and decided this had to stop. A light bulb went off. I recalled that when Darcy was young, she had cut her paw. I cleaned the area, applied liquid bandage and put a sock over her foot, which I then wrapped around her leg. I assumed she would bite that sock off in no time but to my surprise, she enjoyed wearing it. I had to remove the sock daily and replace it with a clean one. When her foot healed after about a week, I could swear she missed that sock.

Introducing the Doggie-tee

Darcy modeling the doggie-tee

So, I thought, my dog likes to wear clothes. Well, what if I put a t-shirt on her to cover her flank where the I do not want to dissolve stitches reside? I figured it would not work and she would bite through the t-shirt but, it was worth a try.

I grabbed an Animal Rescue League tee, put Darcy’s head through the opening and her front legs through the arms. Then I tightened the back, bunching up the fabric and fastening it with a ponytail holder. Voila…the doggie-tee.

Unbelievably, Darcy loved it. She never chewed through it and wore it proudly morning, noon and night. Daily walks became a fashion statement with different doggie-tees…one from Alaska read “Where men are men and women win the Iditarod.” She soon had about a dozen tees in her wardrobe and donned a new one each day. As summer approached I explored options for the warm-weather doggie-tee, a sleeveless version with the sleeves crudely cut off.

Darcy’s surgery took place in February. By March she began chewing at the stitches and wearing the E-collar. By April, she started her fashion statement with the doggie-tee. By early August, her stitches finally dissolved and she went back to her naked self.

I think she misses her clothes.