u/theCynicalChicken

I just started doing the AI studies a couple of months ago, did a bunch of them in about 10 days, got four quality issue messages, and then they disappeared off my dashboard for a few weeks. Now that I seem to be back in rotation I'm trying to be more careful (strategic?) to avoid the "quality issue" flags. It seems different people have different theories about what causes them and how to avoid them (God forbid they just give us a little bit of an explanation so we're not all wandering around Reddit trying to figure out how the fuck this works, while getting relentlessly downvoted)

But I feel like I've been getting more studies recently where the two video/audio choices are *the exact same*, time after time. If you just keep choosing equally good, then you risk getting flagged for quality issues. If you decide to choose one or the other and then that same question pops up later as an attention check and you can't distinguish which of the ones you chose from the first time, you risk getting flagged for quality issues. I've been trying to play it better safe than sorry and just returning the ones where I don't think I would be able to even choose the same option twice because they're so similar. I'm stressed trying to come up with 6K to afford my dog's surgery and I'm really relying on these damn things to help foot the bill, so I'm terrified of getting kicked out of them again.

I'm looking for any advice or reassurance on how to handle a potential CCL tear on an 11yo Golden Retriever.

I'm really dealing with a lot of immense guilt and blaming myself for my dog's leg injury. She's been dealing with arthritis for about a year now and last week I took her to the vet and paid $500 for lab work to make sure she was healthy enough to start carprofen, in addition to her gabapentin. The vet said that she's probably reached a point where it's no longer a good idea to go to the dog park and play with other dogs due to her arthritis. She recommended either going on long walks, or finding a large open space without other dogs that she can run around off leash, but there isn't anywhere like that where I live (that is publicly accessible). But I was recently diagnosed with chronic exertional compartment syndrome in both legs and it's incredibly painful for me to walk more than a couple of minutes. Since she started arthritis medication she's gotten a lot more energy back and wants to play and go on longer walks than I can handle. So on Wednesday, like an idiot, I took her to the dog park anyways. I waited until it was as late in the day as I could hoping there wouldn't be any other dogs around and I could just sit on the bench while she got some energy out. As soon as we got in the gate and she took off running, she yelped and wouldn't put any weight on her back left leg. I've always feared her getting injured in a way that she couldn't get back to the car because I am short and have a bad back and it's damn near impossible for me to deadlift 70 lb of wiggling Golden Retriever. I slowly managed to get her to the car and back home.

Her regular vet couldn't see her until next week, so I drove a 2-hour round trip to take her to a previous vet I'd been to. He said he couldn't say for certain, but he didn't think it was a full tear and he advised kennel rest for three or four weeks to see if things would get better, and if not I should speak to a surgeon. I've been trying to research the proper way to attempt to pick her up, although she is being as uncooperative as she stubbornly can lol. And every time I attempt it I'm afraid I'm just making things worse because I'm not strong enough or can't grip her the right way. I've tried to squat and deadlift her to walk her back to the apartment, but I can't make it more than 50 ft without having to put her back down. But it's breaking my heart to watch her struggle to walk the 150 ft or so to the nearest grassy patch at my apartment. I broke out her old kennel and she keeps looking at me like she's being punished when I put her in there. Between the anxiety of if she needs surgery, how I'll pay for the surgery if it's required, and the crushing guilt that this is my fault... I'm really struggling emotionally. I don't have any friends or family, and this goober of a golden retriever is my only companion in the world.

Is it really worth waiting a couple of weeks to see if it will heal? Is that even a likely thing that can happen, or am I just prolonging the inevitable and keeping her in pain by not going to get a surgery consult right away? I have a stomach surgery scheduled for myself on June 4th and I know I won't be able to lift anything heavy for a few weeks afterwards. So I'm trying to figure out the best timing for all of this.

Any tips for how to move her, how much walking is too much as it relates to getting to the grassy patch to pee, or just any comforting words at all are greatly appreciated.