Being frank about Frank

About 3 weeks ago I let our dog (Frank) out into the garden, when I returned to let him in, he and the garden (and very quickly me) were covered in blood. Not really knowing what was wrong with him - I charged up to the vets where he was put under anesthetic and they found he had torn his ear in several places. It transpired that our neighbours had attached a piece of sheet metal to the top of a post on our adjoining fence and it had acted like barbed wire on Frank's ear.

There then followed 3 weeks of vet visits and a very very sad dog! Unfortunately for Frank his ear would not heal and everytime they looked under the bandage it would start bleeding again.
After 3 anesthetics in a week , about 8 vet trips and a huge vet bill, he finally was allowed to have the bandage removed on Saturday but still has to have his collar/cone on to prevent scratching out the stitches. Instantly he was transformed from a very sad dog that seemed to have lost the will to live, eat or drink to the naughty, hyper-active dog we have all grown to love!!
Think the moral of the story for me is GET DOG INSURANCE - having grown up on farm we took care of a lot of the ailments animals would have, ourselves, only getting a vet in, when absolutely necessary, I guess I had not really appreciated the need to insure my pet nowadays! Gayle thinks her biggest lesson is: do not pander to the animal during illness, as you pay the price afterwards with a distinct lack of discipline and obedience!