Adaptable dog learns to live without tongue

He's the Amazing Caine, the dog who lost three inches of his tongue in an electric paper shredder and lived to bark about it. When Caine, a boxer/Rhodesian ridgeback, was injured in January, one vet suggested that he be put to sleep.

But Caine's owner, Ashley Taylor, of Park Forest, never gave up. Today, at a healthy 64 pounds, Caine has learned to live without most of his tongue.



"He is doing great," said Taylor, an elementary school teacher in Glenwood. Taylor spoonfeeds Caine and has taught him to gulp down the food.

Because he doesn't have a tongue to scoop up water, he drinks from a fountain. And because dogs rely on their tongues to sweat, Taylor is careful not to let Caine out too much in the summer. "But he still gets into trouble chasing kitties," Taylor said.

Full story with news video here.