trick_knee kerry louie has a luxating patella, which means his kneecap sometimes slides out of place. it causes him to skip and hop, lifting a back leg for a few steps, then trotting along like normal, then picking the other one up for a few steps. this is why i started calling him hopalong. he’s fine in the house, uses all four legs. it’s when we’re on a walk that his knees slip, when he’s straining at the leash, trying to go too fast. if i slow him down and pull him closer to me, he walks normally. i tell him, “use all those legs, dammit! i only have two, and if i had four i’d use ‘em all.” he’s always done this, the hop and skip, and the vet said it’s common in small dogs. this vet, the one around the corner, seemed unconcerned. he said to stretch louie’s leg out straight and give him a little massage. when i do this, louie looks at me like i’m from outer space and he’s never seen a weirder creature, like he’s thinking why the hell are you poking around my knee like that, and then he lays his head down and sighs. the other day, he was holding his left hind leg up for nearly the entire walk, and i started to get concerned. i slowed him down and he started sashaying his hips from side to side in a way i’d never seen before. we were on broad street, walking with paloma. i picked him up, which he hates, and carried him most of the way home. when we got to the house i poked and prodded at that paw to see if he’d gotten something stuck between his toes, or if he was in pain, but again he just looked at me and then slowly withdrew his leg and tucked it away, as if to regain his dignity. but he nibbled and nursed it for hours while paloma and i sat around talking, only stopping to roll over on his back and let paloma give him belly rubs. when she left i took his little paw in my hand and shined my cell phone flashlight at it to get a better look. there was a cut on one of the pads, not bleeding but definitely a tiny gash. he must have stepped on some glass or something outside. i put some antiseptic on it and grabbed one of the little winter “shoes” we got him the first time it snowed here, to keep him from getting rocksalt stuck between his toes. he hates the shoes, because they’re tight, really more like little balloons i have to wrangle onto his feet. and because he’s a dog and not meant to wear shoes. he’s been glaring at me ever since. when i sit next to him he makes a weird sound that’s kind of like grumbling and wheezing. i know it’s his unhappy sound, his way of complaining. i still feel awful about it, the fact that i can scoop him up in my arms once he’s injured but i can’t protect him from all those little dangers, especially the ones i can’t even see. 220427 what's it to you? who go blather from