Hello.  Wanted to share our story.  We adopted Buddy, a yellow lab, through the Humane Society.  We'd been looking for a 2nd dog, as our dog Max, is 14 (he has since been diagnosed with liver cancer), and he fits into our home just right! 

Buddy'd come into rescue with his front right paw the size of a pancake, we were told.  He had a puncture wound on the bottom of his paw and was missing part of the pad.  The wound site was almost closed, and we only needed to wrap it to keep dirt and such out.  When I took him to our local vet for the first check-up home, they suggested surgery to remove all the scar tissue.  He ended up needing two surgeries.  The after-care was overwhwelming at times, but he was a trooper, as were my kids (10 and 11), who helped soak his foot, change the dressings, take him out on a leash, and keep him quiet (he wasn't supposed to move much, so he could heal.)

The wound has never healed, and we recently went to a specialist for a 2nd opinion.  She, too, said this wasn't looking good.  It's a fistula -- a drainage tract with a foreign object somewhere in Buddy's foot or leg.  She can inject dye into the tract to see if she can find the object (she said this has worked 2 out of 20 times in her 16 years of experience), then operate to remove it.  If the dye does not identify the object, she can do an exploratory surgery to find the object, but the fistula often returns.  Or a new one forms.  The next step is amputation.

We are currently waiting for our vet to get back from vacation and make his recommendation.  As I type, Buddy is asleep on the bed.  He is on an antibiotic, as the site is infected.  He is also on a pain med PRN.  He wears a cute little boot when we go out, but overall he is stoic and doesn't let it bother him -- he's a typical lab and great family dog.

So thankful for this forum.  So if we do need to amputate, I know Buddy will be alright!

Thanks--