I'm a terrible dog-mom

[meeciegeezer]

This past week, I'd been noticing that Jodah was moving a little funny. I KNOW he banged up his bad knee (the one missing all the hair and some soft tissue from being hit by a car when he was a puppy - before I had him) blasting out of the X-pen. He knows how to wait and leave politely, I swear, but yeah, impulse control, he struggles. But then it was clear it wasn't his knee. He was bunny-running in the yard, no split-leg running at all, and when he peed, he was hunching up his back all oddly. I had conflicting reactions:

1) CRAP, I don't have time to rehab a dog injury right now

2) I am a terrible person for even thinking that, and of course I'd figure something out

3) I wonder how much this will cost...

And Friday afternoon, I sat on the floor and pulled him into my lap (he loves this, actually, it's how we do brushing and just hanging out), and I was trying to feel along his back and his belly for sore spots...and I find:

Little tangled mats on either side of his sheath. Probably each about the size of a dime, but pulling hair from all over his groin. He doesn't have a lot of fur "down there," but he has long fine guard hairs, and yeah, just enough to make a mat that pulls on the super-tender skin of his belly and groin. So yeah, I cut those out, and lameness and weird movement solved.

So I guess I'm adding that to the list of "places to check Jodah for mats" when I brush him. Poor guy!!

And beyond that, nothing much changing. School is getting intense, finals are in 2 weeks, and yeah. I am SO VERY MUCH looking forward to semester break. Oy.

This photo is from last year, but I think it is a pretty good indication of how Jodah feels about tangled fur around his junk: