Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Shadow

We have a big dog.  A really big dog.  He's half black lab and half newfoundland.  He's currently 130 pounds.  And he thinks he's a lap dog.

Unfortunately, he's experienced two seizures the last two months.  I took him to the vet immediately after the second one.  He was due for a check up anyway.  They ran all kinds of tests, updated shots, gave medicine for his ear infection and took my second oldest child for payment alot of my money.

The test results came back inconclusive.  He definitely has a thyroid problem.  He's about 15-20 pounds overweight.  So we have to get thyroid medicine for him.  We're hoping that will clear up the seizures otherwise we'll have to check for epilepsy.

He's a fantastic dog.  The baby can sit on him, jump on him, pull his ears, take food out of his dish, and he doesn't even move.  If she's jumping on him, he doesn't even sit up to get her off, its like he knows he's bigger and will hurt her.  He's big.  He thinks he's a lap dog-did I say that already?  My hubby will be sitting on the couch and Shadow will come over and climb up into his lap.  Its funny.  I need to photograph it.

The vet also wants me to get a urine sample?  How on earth am I to do that?  Visions of me chasing the dog around the yard trying to hold a bowl underneath him while he pees comes to mind.  She suggested putting him on his leash, except that he won't go when he's on a leash.  I could strap a cloth diaper on him and wring it out when he's done. 

All I see if the part of Jurassic Park III when the boy shows Dr Grant the TRex pee he's collected. 

If you have a video camera and are in the neighborhood, come on over for a show.  I'm sure me chasing the dog around the yard will be pretty comical.  If you enter it into America's Funniest Videos however, I do claim half the prize!

7 comments :

  1. Oh my goodness! How on earth are you supposed to do that? Seriously? I'll be interested to hear how that goes. :)
    Keeping my fingers crossed for your hubby's promotion! Would he have to go to a school for that also?
    Yes, I wish we lived closer, I'm in the same boat as you - I haven't really made any friends this duty station and now I have no desire to make the effort since we're leaving.

    Jennifer

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  2. Sooo funny (the AFV video I have running through my mind, not the fact that your poor big baby is having seizures)!

    I imagine Shadow is a gorgeous dog - would love to see pics, especially on someone's lap (just for perspective!)!

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  3. I had to "catch" from the new puppy. I kept missing the goods by putting the bowl to far forward. I finally realized I was dealing with female anatomy. The boys did get a kick watching me walking her around the yard on a short leash and trying to get the bowl under her when I told her to 'Hurry Up'. Sometimes she 'Hurried up" too fast.

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  4. Oh the visions running through my head!

    I'm sorry he's having seizures. We had a dachshund with epilepsy and it was so very sad to see him having a grand mal. :( Hope the thyroid meds solve Shadow's problems.

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  5. Our Chocolate lab/Husky mix weighed in at 100 pounds - at least 20 pounds overweight. We put him on a diet and he gained weight. Then we changed his food to a brand without grain fillers. It's called Taste of the Wild. I buy it at TSC. So far the dog has lost ten pounds. He's moving better. It's a bit expensive, but well worth the money conisdering how much better he's moving.

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  6. Visions of you chasing Shadow around so you can perform your duty has had me laughing so hard (out loud). My hubby is sitting across the room. He's probably wondering what I am laughing about, but afraid to ask. We will be praying for Shadow. Our pastor says, "Anything worth having is worth praying for." So we pray for pets all the time. Keep us updated.

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  7. Take an extra long wooden paint stirrer from Home Depot and attach with plenty and i mean a LOT of duck tape to a STURDY plastic cup. Hold under angel's business end when he tinkles. If Angle is a girl I am out of ideas.

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