Finley’s tail

Gotta love the dogs on the farm! Our beloved shadows of chore time, our English shepherds are an important part of operation since 2008, when we got adorable tri-colored Lena as a puppy. Her son Finlee is Kara’s barnyard buddy, a butterscotch and white variant bounding with energy.

One day, Kara noticed that a lump had formed on the top of Finlee’s tail, near the base. He was scheduled for a tooth cleaning at Family and Farm Vet Clinic, and Mr. Haugen had agreed to look at the tail issue as well while the dog was sedated.

I took the call after surgery, and Dr. relayed that he did not like the looks of what he saw on that lump, assuring that he had taken all of it out and would send it in for testing. Finlee came home wearing the cone, which he tolerated well, and a bandaged tail.

But the lump had been fairly large, and with tissue around it removed as well, this was taxing on the blood supply to the rest of the tail. The plan was to give the wound a few days to heal, to see if the flag-like, fluffy tail could make it.

Finlee’s tail sometimes sticks out straight behind him, golden with a white tip, but when he’s especially happy, it curls upwards, wagging back and forth with long fur. Now it was bandaged, and Mom and Kara plied their healing magic to care for the wound. But soon it was clear that the tail was giving Finlee considerable pain, and he wanted to bite and chew it even with the bandage. Kara was on the phone with the vet once more, weighing the situation, making the tough call. “He may have to be a long-legged corgi,” she relayed after the conversation. Indeed, the tumor had been cancerous, though fortunately the kind where if you remove everything, it should not be able to spread.

I had gone to the mailbox with a package, and as I was cycling back up our gravel lane, here came Kara in a hurry with the van. The tail situation had tipped over, and an amputation was necessary. “They were so good with Finlee, everyone was so kind,” Kara noted when she came back to continue chores and wait.

Dear Finlee now has a stump, and it was a challenge to keep the bandaged attached to the shaved remainder of the tail, but he tolerated care amazingly well and seemed little perturbed by the cone and needing to stay on a leash. Some dogs just have a way of taking it all in stride.

After a visit to check on the progress of healing and redressing the wound, Kara returned from the vet to share how pleased Dr. was of Finlee’s progress. He was a good healer with an experienced home medical team.

This week, Finlee finally was able to shed the cone and the leash and run about the barnyard once more. His little shaved stump of a tail wags ridiculously fast now compared to when he had a big, fluffy tail, and he is happy and healthy once more. No need for cancer treatments, just staying alert should any more lumps appear. We lost the tail, but we still have the dog, which is the winning end to the story.

Thank you for all compassionate care our Finlee received at the clinic. Animals have a special place in our hearts on the farm, and we are grateful our sheepdog is back in the field, ready for adventures. See you down on the farm sometime.

Laura Berlage is a co-owner of North Star Homestead Farms, LLC and Farmstead Creamery. 715-462-3453 www.northstarhomestead.com