Again

Last summer was not my summer.  I landed myself in the emergency room twice, and Dante accompanied me to countless allergist and orthopedic appointments through to the fall.

Needless to say, I had high hopes for this summer.

I have been to the vet too many times in the last month.  As most of you know, Moray had been sick twice with kennel cough and a urinary track infection, and this week was poor Dante's turn. 

Dante started not acting right on Friday night, but I summed up his quietness to running hard on the playground that afternoon with Moray and Young.  I woke up Saturday morning only to have my mom tell me that she had been up until 4am with Dante because he was whining and restless, but she could not figure out what was wrong.

When I got him out of his kennel I noticed under his ear and the side of his face was wet/oozy and he wouldn't let me touch it.  Thankfully our vet was open this weekend.

The perfect mixture of bug bites/scratching/swimming and not drying out quick enough, caused Dante to develop a hotspot under his ear/cheek.

This poor baby spent pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday sleeping.  He was so pitiful and literally thought he was dying.  This is the first time that Dante has been sick and my heart broke that he didn't understand what had happened.

Dante's hotspot.  This is from Saturday, it is looking much better today.

Wallowing in sorrow amidst his favorite toys.

By Sunday night, the antibiotics had kicked in and it looked a lot better.  I knew when he came trotting out of the kitchen carrying a hand towel that he was back to himself again.  ;-)

He is doing much, much better today, and was getting restless and mischevious in the house, so I took him to Starbucks and a quick grocery stop, and he was so glad to get out.  Because of the placement of his hotspot, he cannot wear his gentle leader for a little while, but proved himself to do well on just his flat collar.  

 

Just a peep of his healing hotspot shows from under his ear.

So now that sickness has made the rounds to everyone, we should be done, right???

Turbulence

Poor Moray has had a bit of a shaky start at our house.  Last Thursday, we ended up at the emergency vet with kennel cough.  

I can report happily that he has been cough-free for three days now, and Dante never contracted it.  Unfortunately, there is more.  On Wednesday night, I was at church and left Moray home with my mom.  Moray is only 9 1/2 weeks, so we still have some work to do on potty training, but he has been doing fairly well for his age.  When I got home, my mom reported that Moray had had about six accidents since I was gone.  

All day Thursday, it seemed that by the time we got one mess cleaned up, we would turn around only to find another one.  By that afternoon, I started logging every time he relieved.  He was having accidents every 7-10 minutes.  

We were a little unsure that it could be a Urinary Tract Infection because he just came off antibiotics for kennel cough.  We took him to the vet this morning (3rd time in two weeks).  Of course, he would have nothing to do with peeing while there, but we collected it when we got home, and sure enough poor Moray has a UTI.

In the sixteen months that I have had Dante, aside from eating a few things he was not supposed to, he has never been sick, so to get a double-whammy back to back is a little discouraging.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is the end in terms of sickness.  But just think, we have no where to go but Up!  ;-)

In a more positive light, I just love how smart and how fast Moray learns.  He is getting to be a pro at "sit" and whenever he wants anything, he thinks he can get it if he sits.  So cute!  The power of positive reinforcement is something to be reckoned with!

Randomness (And Sickness)

Walking my baby boy at the park.  Sorry for the poor quality of photos from the iPod.

Sometimes you just have to plop down in B&N and read kid books to your dog.  :-)

Birdwatching (NOT lunging or barking, mind you) on the pond

 

Every night, 30 minutes before dinner time, Dante camps out in front of the food bin.  Just to be sure he doesn't miss his second-favorite-time-of-the-day (breakfast is first).  This dog's stomach is the most accurate clock ever.

First time with his cape on!  (it tastes really good!)

Happenings this week in no particular order:

• Dante is growing to like Moray more this week.  He is initiating play, sometimes getting a little too rough for Moray's size, but overall doing really well.  He is learning a lot of patience, and is starting to show more maturity too.  I don't want to jinx it, but I think there is a light at the end of this tunnel  ;-)  Haha!
• Turn In is in nine weeks.  NINE.  WEEKS.
• Moray is consistently responding to his name from everyone in my family, and has almost mastered "Sit."  He is also learning to accept his cape and gentle leader, and has been introduced to "down."
• Moray HATES the heat.  The last few days it has been in the high 90's with feel-like temps of over 100 degrees.  Poor Moray refuses to walk outside, and I have had to carry him every "Hurry" break.  Once outside, he lunges at the end of his leash, whining to go back in.
• As a follow up on this post, Dante and I empty his toy box frequently and he has to bring all the toys back to me.  He is getting quite good :-)
• On the down side, last night Moray started coughing on and off for a few hours.  We thought he had something caught in his throat, so we took him to the emergency vet around 9:30pm (didn't get home till 1:00am).  They checked him, and didn't find anything (of course he wouldn't cough while with the doctor), so they were about to send us home, and told us to just keep an eye on him.  As we were checking out, he started up again.  We were really glad they heard it, and they took him back again for X-rays.  Turns out he has kennel cough.  :(  He is on antibiotics and cough suppressants, and while it is not extremely serious, his poor coughing sounds horrid.  
• While there, they weighed him again.  He gained TWO pounds in six days!  Makes me feel better, as he still is not eating but half of his food.
• I am REALLY hoping Dante doesn't catch kennel cough.  Unfortunately, it is too late to try to keep them separated.  
• And on that note, for precautionary reasons, Dante is also prohibited from outings for the next week just to make sure he does not spread it.  Pray I don't go insane ;-)