Still In Love

by Susan O'Neil
(Barrington, IL, USA)

These are two of my Aussies. Tela is the blue merle female on the left and Ryder is the red-tri male on the right. They have parented 2 litters together for a total of 16 pups.

Tela was injured in early November. Both she and Ryder were on a leash and out running with my husband. A driver crossed the white line on the shoulder of the road and hit her from behind. Both her hips were dislocated. The surgeon tried saving the original hips by toggling them back in, but they were too damaged.

Tela underwent her first hip replacement surgery 2 weeks after the accident. She is scheduled for her 2nd one in a week. Throughout it all, she has not complained and has remained positive and up. Ryder and our other Aussie, Coco (a male offspring from their first litter) have been very cognizant of her injury and have gone out of their way to not bump, knock or jar her. As she recuperates, their spirits rise too.

From the moment Ryder (at 6 months old) and Tela met, they adored each other. And as you can see from this picture, they are still in love!