In my last post, I was bemoaning the rough day I had with Oli. I'm happy to report that he started doing much better the following day and has been doing quite well ever since. I think that he got over-stimulated by meeting so many people at my work and being in so many different environments the prior day. So, he had a little doggy melt-down and he let me know by acting out. Once he rested up and got back on track, he stopped peeing on the carpet, and instead went to the door to let me know that he needed to go out. See, he's smart like that. He is doing well with the potty training, but he was pissed off and he knew that peeing on the carpet would be a no-no. Dogs...
Anyway, we had a very stressful weekend starting late Saturday night / early Sunday morning. L. and I were playing with Oli, and he was hopping at my feet wanting to be picked up. So, I picked him up and he was happy to just be hanging out in my arms until he suddenly wanted down and started squirming. As I was bending over to put him down, he did this backward lunge thing and broke out of my hands, falling to the carpet. He yelped, and then backed up, and my heart sank to the floor. Immediately Oli was fine, and bounded off to play with his toys, and then took a break for a drink of water. Meanwhile, L. was trying to pick me up off of the floor and calm me down. L. picked up Oli and felt around to make sure that Oli didn't cry out or anything, and he seemed fine. But I was still a mess, worried about internal bleeding or something that we couldn't see right away.
No matter how much Oli continued to play, eat, potty, etc. just like his normal self, I just couldn't be consoled. And then when he went out to the yard to potty, he had some residual matter on his behind which I went to wipe off with a cloth, and I noticed a drop of blood. I immediately called the 24-hour emergency vet and explained the situation. She said that it was likely just from the stress of the fall, and nothing serious, but to keep an eye on it and bring him in if it happened again. I cried all Sunday wrought with fear that I'd done some horrible damage to Oli, and I followed Oli around making sure that there was no more blood. And there wasn't - until yesterday. We saw another drop of blood and couldn't figure out what was going on. So, I called the vet and made an appointment to take Oli in this morning. His second stool sample showed that he has a Giardia infection, which is what was causing the problem. So, the vet gave me some medicine to give to Oli for the next week and instructions about how to clean everything to keep him from re-infecting himself.
Tonight, L. and I washed Oli, cleaned everything thoroughly, and washed all of his bedding in hot, hot, hot water. We're now carrying Oli outside on his leash and putting him down in one spot to do his business so that he doesn't lick the concrete patio (something he loves to do when it rains). And we have to clean off his feet and bottom when he comes back in. We teamed up to give Oli his medicine, which is called Panacur and comes in a syringe (without needle) that we have to squirt into Oli's mouth. This is no small feat to get Oli to open his mouth for this stuff.
But despite seeing the vet today and getting his puppy booster shots, Panacur for the Giardia, a bath, drying with the hair dryer, and a quick snip of scissors to clean up the hair around his face, Oli was just as a happy as ever. Oh sure, he slept a little more today from the booster shot. And he was really averse to the Panacur process. But overall, he was his playful, cute little self.
So, you see where this leads. Last week Oli did really well until an overwhelming day. Then he fell apart for a day. Totally makes sense. So, I'm waiting for the storm tomorrow. I can feel it coming. But I'd rather he be healthy, and I was just so happy that it wasn't the fall that hurt him. It's not like he fell a great distance or onto a hard surface, but as puppy's bones aren't always so strong yet. So, I am very thankful to God that Oli was OK. Nothing was broken, and there was no internal damage. Just the Giardia infection, which it turns out is rather common in puppies, and is something that his littermates were dealing with. Thank God. Now I just hope that he gets over this quickly and feels better!
Here are some updated photos - he is 10 weeks old now.
Oli, guarding his toys at L.'s feet. He is looking at me like, "don't even think about taking my toys mama."
Oli sitting in my lap. Yes, those are flannel sock monkey pajamas that I'm wearing in the picture. Oli loves sitting in my lap when I wear flannel or fleece pajama pants.
Oli taking a bath in our kitchen sink. Not his favorite pastime, but he makes it through. Now the hair dryer afterward...that's another story.
Oli with his toy Madison Moose, AKA Maddy. Maddy receives some rough treatment when Oli is in a playful mood. It's cute because Maddy is about as big as Oli, so he's busy running around with this huge stuffed moose in his mouth.
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