i was trying to tease the toy out of his mouth so we could go for a walk, even though i know better.

a couple of weeks ago, the vet called to check on atlas. when i told her that he was still limping, she wanted to put him back in the splint for a week. i said no, but i did agree to a few days of inactivity.

during his inactivity – which, i should mention, he opposed – i asked someone else to watch atlas walk so i could get a second opinion on the limp, just in case i was imagining things.

he figured it out!

while atlas was in the splint, he developed a habit of stomping the splinted foot extra-hard against the ground.

(he has a habit of marching in place so whenever he stood in front of the counter at the pet store, he looked like he was stomping his foot impatiently. it was pretty cute.)

it turned out that the habit stuck. when atlas walked, he was still stomping that foot extra-hard against the ground. as a result, that front leg/shoulder wasn’t moving the same as the other leg/shoulder and it resembled a limp.

boy was i relieved.

we’re still increasing our distance; in another few weeks, life should be back to normal again.