...And oh good grief... puppy woes

Why is it when one parent is away, that's when the kids get sick?

I got back from the Wisconsin escapade and picked Tally pup up from the kennel. Apparently, everyone loved her, she has a wonderful disposition, she made a new best friend in the few days she was there, and blah blah blah. BUT, the owner informed me that she may have seen worms in Tally's poop that morning. (Oh, sorry - should there have been a "graphic content" warning at the start of this post? Don't worry - there's no poop photos.) Continuing... oh good grief, I thought. I have no clue what I'm supposed to do to deal with this, and the dog has to go to the trainer on Saturday, and great, this is JUST what I wanted to have to monkey with on my first full day back.

Jeez.

So, anyway, I take pup home. I call NavyGuy and we decide that the two of us searching "puppy worms" on the internet probably wasn't the best solution. After a quick call to the vet, I came away learning way too much about dog bowel movements, but apparently, a) worms are fairly common, b) we didn't do anything wrong (whew), and c) it could be treated with no harm to Tally, even if it turned out she didn't have worms.

Well, complicating matters, I was supposed to be taking one of the other Navy wives to the airport in Bellingham that afternoon (this is all happening Thursday of last week), and the vet's office was only open from 2:30-5pm, and they don't take appointments, you just have to show up and wait your turn, and oh good grief.

So, I pick up the Navy wife early, get her up to the airport, and get back to Anacortes in time to throw Tally back in the car (and back in her cute little seat belt!) for a trip to the vet. Fresh poop in hand, we clamor into the office and take our seats to wait it out (well, I sit while Tally desperately tries to sniff and greet every other person in the place). Some time later, we go in to the exam room, pup gets a quick shot to kill one possible strain of worms, and I leave with two unmarked pills to shove down her throat the following day to kill another possible strain. Yeah - so now I have to figure out how to give a dog pills. I can't even swallow pills for god's sake, how am I going to get them down her throat?!?!? Oh good grief. That's tomorrow's problem, I thought.

So we spend the rest of the night relaxing at home. I force Tally outside to use the bathroom every hour, and the neighbors and passers-by are treated to a nice sight of me in my raincoat (because of course, it's raining) wandering around the backyard with a flashlight examining everything that Tally eliminates, searching for signs of worms or who knows what. (Say it with me now... oh good grief.)

The next morning we face the pills. Trusty internet sources suggest hiding it in some people food. Of course I haven't been to the grocery store since I'd returned so we have few options. The only viable scenario involves a hunk of cheddar cheese that's been in the fridge since Christmas. There's nothing green on it, and it still smells like food, so I smush the first pill in a bit of it, and settle on the kitchen floor preparing to do battle (another great visual that you'll all have to imagine for yourself). All the internet sources recommended shoving the pill-food-ball as far back in the dog's throat as possible, then slamming their mouth shut, and massaging the throat to push the pill down. Um yeah.

Luckily, Tally will literally eat anything (hold this thought for later), so I just shoved the cheese at her, she gulped it into her mouth (why bother wasting time with the whole chewing thing) and down the gullet it went. Bless her little heart she swallowed pill number two even faster. And now she thinks cheese is awesome.

Well, after all this shenanigans I decided she needed a treat (and I needed a ten minute break), so I got out her rawhide bone for her to chew on. Under my supervision, she gnawed for a bit, and then I took it away from her. I noticed though, that she still seemed to be chewing on something in her mouth. Fearing she'd gotten a little hunk off without my knowledge, I fished around to see what she was gumming.

Oh good grief. Out fell parts of a tooth. PARTS. At first I couldn't even figure out what it was. I'm 94% sure now that it was just a puppy tooth (which are prone to fall out anyway), but all I got out of her were parts of it... meaning she must have eaten the other part of her tooth! Yes, people, our dog will eat anything. Even her own body parts. Just to make me lose my mind.

Oh good grief.

(Who, me? I'm an angel...)