Yesterday, as we were coming back from a nice walk, we were crossing the street and Annie was hit by a car. It was my bad, really, as I did not have her on a leash, and was just letting her dawdle along at her own pace.
But then when I crossed the street she did not follow me quickly enough. While she was still in the street, on her way to meet me, a car came around the corner. The lady did not even slow down, and plowed right through, striking Annie in her "good" hip! The thing that really angers me is, that this was the time when school had just got out, and children were walking home from school, and also crossing the street--- what if it had been a child?! 
To be honest, I really believe the driver was thinking that if she did not slow down, that Annie might get scared and hurry a bit faster.... the way a lot of people are anticipating a traffic light to turn green just as they get to the intersection, and so do not slow down at all...Anyway... so the good news is, although Annie was hobbling/limping just a little bit after the incident, she still was not limping nearly so badly as she normally does after a "normal" walk, in which she does not get struck by a car! And by morning she was not limping AT ALL, and was her usual chipper, smiling self, demanding a puzzle after breakfast. (Whew!)
In fact, she did not even so much as whimper all night, and she often lays crying in pain after a "normal" walk. The other reason this could have been a catastrophic and fatal crisis, is that, not only are we flat broke just days before payday, but our only car blew a water pump two weeks ago, so we have no way whatsoever of driving the 50 miles to the nearest veterinarian!
So to head off shock, and maximize immediate healing, I gave the girls the frozen lamb neck (raw, bones and all) for dinner. I figured the protein, bone, and connective tissue would do more to help Annie than any prescription steroids. While they were eating, I picked some chicory and a handful of dandelion flowers--about a dozen. I cooked that up-- the flowers in a separate tea for Annie's pain-- and let it cool while they ate the neck. After the neck, I gave them their greens and tea, and the flowers tea for Annie. They ate every leaf and stem, and Annie also ate all the flowers, as well as lapping up the tea! So if any of you ever find yourself in a situation where your dog has had an accident or injury, and you are unable to get to a veterinarian, perhaps you can go out in the garden and pick a few dandelions and chicory leaves, to help you get through the night. (The dandelion flowers are alledged to offer some pain relief)
In addition.... I found out something else very interesting about chicory: many farmers and deer stewards are planting chicory crops, as studies have shown chicory to be a useful herb in cleansing ruminants of intestinal parasites/worms!
I don't know if it would have the same effect for dogs, since ruminants (deer, cattle, goats, sheep, etc.) graze the chicory fresh and raw, and I cook it for my dogs, but I found it to be very interesting just the same. I also discovered that chicory is very high in vitamin A, and is also known to be a mild laxative, so you might not want to feed it every day.
