What is the life of a "tripod dog" like?
If you live in a part of the world that doesn't have Animal Control you have probably seen a dog running down the street while only using one of its back legs. it is quite common all over Thailand and while we don't have proof of this, it is presumed that it comes from getting hit by traffic and not having anyone that actually looks after them.
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In the west, and even to a smaller degree here in Thailand there are sanctuaries for a dog like this one we helped recently, but they are poorly funded and have very limited means. In the case of the dog we recently found we were kind of alarmed at how bad the break was considering that he was friendly and approachable and was getting around pretty well considering that he couldn't put any weight on one of his legs.
When we did X-ray we were stunned to find the extent of the break and intervened right away. I am always kind of surprised at how resilient dogs are because if you think about how a human would react to something like this it is very different. A person would sit on one place wailing and not moving but a street dog realizes that things must go on and they just learn to adapt. I think there is a dog language that lets other dogs know that this dog is injured because of the "tripods" I have seen, they are not bullied by other street dogs. In some ways it works as a benefit for them because people are more likely to give them food because they fell bad for them.
It will likely be a bit of a stay for this good boy though because while it doesn't take as long as it does for humans to heal a femur, it does take quite a while.
One of the biggest issues we have is that the dog will chew on the cast or get upset at being in a small kennel but we don't really have anywhere else to put them at the moment. It's all for your own good little buddy!
one thing we have to be careful of during this 5 weeks or so is also to not get him too accustomed to being looked after because we cannot keep him here. That isn't heartless on our part, we didn't really have space for him in the first place but made room by making roommates out of two other dogs that got along so that this one could have his own space.
He wasn't happy when we brought him here but the very next day when we came by for morning visits he was wagging his tail and that is a good sign. One good thing about the street dogs in Krabi as opposed to other places is that the dogs are generally treated nicely so they don't have a hatred or fear of humans. In places like Bangkok this is very different and the street dogs are dangerously afraid of all humans and will bite if you approach them.
Just a good rule of thumb (if you want to keep your thumbs) is to not approach a street dog anywhere in the world. They might seem cute and friendly but they could be emotionally damaged and could turn on you in a heartbeat. We take our time with these new additions and even though we want to, we don't trust them until we properly get to know them.
The good news about this one is that in a few weeks' time he should be back to running on all 4 legs. With even greater luck someone will see the photos and decide to adopt him.
If you would like to see how you can help out or simply spread the word, please visit our website at
http://krabianimalwelfare.org
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