He walked back outside, pulling out one of the hot dogs as he went.
“Please God, do not let this dog bite me,” he said out loud. Looking around for the Rottweiler. What did Sarah call him? Rosie? Rosie Posey? “Rosie. Rosie, come here, buddy. I’ve got something good for you.”
It took a few minutes of him calling and feeling like a moron before the dog crept out from behind the porch, head down, body tense, as he slunk along low to the ground protecting his belly. But come he did, so obviously he was learning to trust Sarah. At least that was Cam’s interpretation of dog body language.
He broke the first hot dog in half and tossed it down to where Rosie had stopped at the foot of the steps. “Come on, bud. Come and get this so I can see what’s going on with you. If you need to go to the vet, I’ll take you.”
Rosie snapped up the hot dog, drool starting to come out of those prodigious lips. Rottweilers always did have such a wonderful spittle. He threw the other half of the hot dog down then pulled out another weiner because he was going to lure that dog up on the porch with this one.
By the time he was on the fourth hot dog—and there were only five—Rosie was on the porch at his feet, taking the pieces from his hand and not biting him, which he thought was a good sign. He had no collar, though, so he was going to have to grab the dog by his ruff. So he tried to ease around to the side where the dog wouldn’t be able to bite so quickly.
“All right, buddy.” He held a quarter of a hot dog in his hand, the other frank completely whole in case he needed it for an emergency. “Let’s you and me do this and not have me lose any skin or muscle because you’re hurting.”
He used a soft, even tone, just like he would for his horse. He’d been around a lot of injured animals, and he thought this guy definitely qualified. He was protecting one side of his body pretty hard.
So he used the hot dog piece to distract Rosie from out front, and then grabbed that thick neck, turning his own body so Rosie’s head had to crank away from him instead of toward him. It left his arm vulnerable, but nothing else.
That was when Rosie started growling, of course, and Cam tried to soothe him with words and a soft touch along his spine. “I got you, buddy. I know. You’re scared and you’re hurting, but it’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Rosie was shaking, but he stopped growling. The boofy body tensed along Cam’s chest as he knelt next to the big dog. Rosie was skinny as hell for a Rottie, but still basically solid, and those teeth could take a chunk out of him, so he had to be careful here. He found the wound easily, and, while it was big, it wasn’t deep. If he could get Rosie contained somewhere, he could probably treat that wound. But he would need help, so he’d have to call the vet out.
“Let’s see if I can get you on some sort of a leash.” The only thing he had was his belt. So he kept one arm around Rosie’s neck and used the other to take his belt off so he could make a loop out of it and slip it over Rosie’s head. He’d have to be careful it didn’t tighten too much, but it would work.
That seemed to relax Rosie, and he started to pant. Someone was used to having a collar on.
“All right, come on, let’s go back into the barn. Let’s call the vet. Okay?” He pulled gently and Rosie came right along, wagging and panting as if he knew what was what.
Well, thank God for small favors.
He nodded and got the big old boy into an empty stall in the barn and then called his momma while he filled a water container.
“Momma, I need you to get me a vet out here. There’s a hurt dog, and I just need him doctored up. Possibly the rest of the animals need checked on.”
“Everything okay?”
He didn’t sigh, but he did roll his eyes. “Like I said, there’s a hurt dog, and the girls are attached to it. So I want to get it fixed up. Can you get that vet to come out or not?”
“Sure, no problem. I can do that for you. I’ll call Dr. Harris, and I bet she’ll be out in two shakes.”
“Thanks, Momma, you’re a peach.”
“So Mitch didn’t throw you out?”
“Momma.” Cam didn’t have time to play games, not right now.
“You know I’m curious, son. That’s all. But if you don’t have time I’ll talk to you later tonight.”
“I definitely don’t have time, and no, he didn’t throw me out. He’s not looking great. I’ll see you back at the house, okay?”
“Okay, baby boy. I love you.”
“I love you too, Momma. I’m gonna get everything I can battened down around here. Then I’ll be back there.” He hung up before she could say anything else and got Rosie some water before he moved on to look at some of the other animals.
They were all okay, maybe a little worse for wear, but basically, he could tell that before the accident, these animals had been adored, and they were all desperate for attention. He leaned on a couple of the horses, giving them a brush and asnuggle before he opened the back doors of the barn to check the cattle.
They were fine, a mix of calves and cows, with a single pretty bull out there with his girls.
He found a chicken coop full of brooding hens and a Leghorn rooster that strutted as his ladies scratched. He’d already discovered a smattering of polydactyl barn cats.
