I  pulled into the driveway Thursday after a quick visit to the Post Office, and Maria was coming out of the pasture with Fate.

“She’s bleeding badly,” said Maria, and we both could see blood gushing from her right rear paw. Earlier, Fate and I had gone to the Mansion to see the Halloween Party there. She was in her element, rushing from one person to another.

A dog like Fate cuts her leg or paw fairly often, it is a border collie hazard, these dogs tear through grass and pasture with little thought about what they are running into or scraping against.

I tend not to take these scrapes and cuts too seriously, border collies are stoic and hardy dogs and they usually heal quickly.

Rose cut herself twice a week on our first farm, we rarely made it to the vet. I’d wrap the wound, she’d get it off in a few hours, and then would heal.

But this one scared me and Maria both, there was an awful lot of blood.

I got on the phone and told our vet it was an emergency, bring her right over. We drove her right over, Maria held her in the back seat and covered the wound.

It was a very deep cut, said Dr. Suzanne Fariello said right away it would need to be stapled, she cleaned it, stapled the wound and gave me an I-mean-it lecture on keeping Fate quiet for the next two weeks, and especially the next three days.

I get it.

I got in huge trouble with Dr. Fariello over Red, she told me to rest him after a bad cut and the next morning she drove by and saw me herding the sheep with him.

Ever since then, I get a no-nonsense talk about keeping dogs still for a while when they get injured. I so appreciate Dr. Fariello and her staff, Nicole and Cassandra. They are calm, professional, caring. Dr. Fariello and I have been through many dog dramas together, she’s eager to meet Zinnia.

I could see this was a deep and serious wound, it was a tenth of an inch off of a major artery, but it was bad enough.

Fate is bandaged and I asked if we could sedate her for the next few days, there is no other way to keep this dog still. Dr. Fariello agreed, and the wound was deep enough and bloody enough that I wanted to take it very seriously.

We have to leash walk her for a week and put a plastic boot over the bandage when we go outside in the rain or on wet ground.

Fate has almost never been walked on a leash, but she was great on the vet’s examining table, Nicole held her while Dr. Fariello worked on the wound, but she stayed perfectly still, even as the deep wound was cleaned and then stapled.

Maria had to go to her belly dancing class, I got Fate home and gave her some medication – a pain killer, anti-biotic and sedative.

She’s sleeping in her crate, where she will spend most of the next few days (hones, Doc.).

It happened at the right time, and when Dr. Fariello saw the wound, she whistled and said it was unbelievably close to an artery. It could have been a lot worse.

Fate gets a treat, all bandaged up.