Overcome with fear

We’ve always suspected Duchess was a drama queen.
A few examples: When our people leave she does this horrible death howl for at least 10 minutes. When she gets taken to the doggie cleaners, she shakes like a leaf. And when she has to stay inside when it’s our feeding time she retaliates by going through the trashcan.
But the stunt she pulled Saturday topped them all.
The little white fluffy thing has been puny lately and our people and the vets are working on a diagnosis and cure. Part of the trial cure is special dog food and prednisone.
Cheryl had to make a special trip to the special vet in another county to pick up said dog food and drugs.
Thinking it would be a positive experience for Duchess to go in and come right back out, Cheryl took her inside the building with her to retrieve the items.
With Duchess cradled in her arms, Cheryl walked through the door.
Duchess panicked. Gave a yelp. And then passed out. She went limp in Cheryl’s arms. She fainted!
The nice vet helpers grabbed Duchess across the counter and rushed her back to the doggie ER where they immediately hooked her up to oxygen and checked her vitals.
Our guess is Duchess thought if she blacked out the rest of the world would too, since it revolves around her, and no one would be conscious enough to know she was in the vet’s office.
It backfired on her.
She ended up staying in a place she didn’t want to be at longer then she had to be.
After pumping her little brain with enough oxygen, Duchess came to, realized where she was and got better really quick.
Meanwhile, Cheryl is out in the lobby thinking the worst. To keep her mind from going to bad places, Cheryl struck up a conversation with some strangers. They talked about the weather, the war, Pax Hill Road in Burke County and a road with the same name but different spelling in Caldwell County – anything to keep their mind off what was happening to their doggies in the back.
After about 20 minutes, the vet called Cheryl in and gave her the skinny on Duchess. She did indeed faint because of lack of oxygen to her brain. He could take x-rays and run tests to find out why or prescribe her prednisone, which was why they were there in the first place. To keep from traumatizing the dog and the pocketbook even more, Cheryl decided to take Duchess home and watch her.
The vet’s instructions were to keep her activity level down and bring her back if she had any more episodes.
Once Duchess was out of the vet’s office, she made a miraculous recovery.
We haven’t worked up the nerve to tell her that in two weeks she’ll have to go back for more blood test.
Maybe the doggie doc can prescribe some doggie prozac. If not, we might all be needing some happy pills.

'Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth'

A new item on Duchess' diet is sweet potatoes and she gobbles them up. Who knew dogs love sweet potatoes. Like Daddy, like Duchess; Wes loves them, too.

Love is in the air

From me, Lexie, Duchess and our people ... HAPPY HEART DAY!

Top dog

The AKC has released its list of popular dog breeds. You would think the Golden Retriever would top the list, but no, it's another kind of retriever that made it to No 1, yet again.

Here's the list:

1. Labrador Retriever

2. German Shepherd

3. Yorkshire Terrier

4. Golden Retriever

5. Beagle

6. Boxer

7. Bulldog

8. Dachshund

9. Poodle

10. Shih Tu

Here's what State Point Media says about Goldens: "With their friendly temperament, intelligence and eagerness to please, Golden Retrievers are popular as family companions. This active and energetic sporting breed can adapt to many different living situations but requires daily exercise in order to thrive."
While the statement is true, I would like to add that we also never meet a stranger, are good hunters, are great diggers, enjoy collecting sticks, eat blueberries right off the bushes, can catch tennis balls, and I could go on and on. The only bad quality I can think of when it comes to Goldens is we get a little crazy when it storms. But other than that, what do labs have that we don't?

Snowday

Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Snowday. Saturday. Sunday. I'm circulating a petition to rename the day formerly known as Friday to Snowday. What is this, the third Friday in a row it has snowed? At least it makes for some good photos. BTW, the one of Duchess is her stealing bread meant for the birds.

Say Ahhhhhh

Protein losing enteropathy. Albumin. Anechoic free abdominal fluid. A few weeks ago we had never heard of these terms. We're still not sure how to spell them or say them. But as my little sister Duchess has been taxied to and fro vets’ offices over the past few weeks, we’ve learned more and more about them. The terms have to do with proteins and Duchess losing them. Why she’s losing them, we don’t yet know. You may remember back in October she had a bout with the runs. In early January they came back with a vengeance. This week our people finally took the poor little white fluffy thing to a specialty vet. The vet and his people shaved her belly. Took x-rays. Did an ultrasound. Poked. And prodded. To hear Duchess tell it, that wasn’t the most torturous parts. The worst part was our people leaving her there all day by herself, knowing she suffers from SSFMDAD (severe separation from my daddy anxiety disorder). The worst part for our people was getting the bill. (So far the tally toward a diagnosis is $800+ ). We could spend another $700 for more tests to find out exactly what she has or we could try diet and medicine to see if she gets any better. My guess is the folks will go for the latter. Otherwise we’ll all be eating beans and rice. Duchess, please get better soon. Lexie misses her cat fights with you.