Friday, August 6, 2010

Buddy Dog

Before you read on, you need to rest assured that Buddy is fine now, I think.
 Buddy had a medical emergency this afternoon.  So FREAKY!!!
I was walking the dogs to their kennel to lock them up so I could return Maggy, we had been to the river like most afternoons.  Buddy was walking at my side and as we got to the silo he veered off and did his stalker walk.  This is totally normal for him.  What wasn't normal was that he walked right into and was trying to go through the barbed wire fence.   I called to him and walked over to help him, but he slowly got himself out.  He walked a few more steps and then stood perfectly still and had one paw curled under him weird.  His lips were curled up and his teeth were all visible like he was going to bite something or someone.  Maggy had gone ahead and was near his goats.  I thought maybe he was mad at her for just a second, but she always does that and he doesn't care.  To be safe I quickly put Maggy in the kennel for her own protection.  At this point, Buddy is slobbering and turning his head back toward his body like he couldn't get something out of his mouth.   I walked toward him to see if he had something stuck in this throat, but before I got to him he fell down and started convulsing.   I yelled over to Boyd, "Buddy is dying!" and my husband came running.  Jasmine has now come over and is trying to lick Buddy, she can tell something is wrong.  I put her in the kennel also.    Boyd thought he might be hot, so we gently put water on him from the hose.  He stopped the writhing about then and just laid on the ground.  Boyd sent me for the big shade umbrella.  We put that on him and stayed near him, just watching.  Well, I used my phone to google any first aid ideas.  Nothing I read was any different than what we were doing.   I kept petting him and eventually he raised up to a position where he was holding his head up.   We had a small bowl of water near him and he stuck his tongue in and lapped a little.   After a while, I thought I could get him into his kennel a few feet away.  While I was moving things and leashing up Maggy, he must have decided he was better.  He looked at me and hopped up.  I mean he hopped up as if nothing had happened.   He trotted, not walked, staggered, etc, but trotted over to look at his goats just like always.  I called him to come to his pen and he came over, looked at me and went back to his goats.  I said, "No way, Buddy", and made him kennel up.   When I left to take Maggy home this is what he was doing...
 You can't see the dirt and mud all over him from rolling and writhing in the dirt, but it is there.  Hey, you can see how big the squash plant is compared to the dog.  I took the picture with my cell phone, not bad huh?
I decided to leave him in there since the weather was cooling and he loves his goats.  I have checked on him frequently and he seems to be just fine.
We won't be taking him to the vet unless someone comments and gives me a compelling reason.  Was it heat stroke, a seizure, a stroke?  He used to be a trouble free dog.  Maybe it is time to give him back to the Adam's family.

2 comments:

  1. It sounds like he might have been having a seizure. Our dog used to have them all the time. It is pretty common. Most of what you described were the same symptoms she had, except hers lasted for about 20 mins. Then, she would be fine. The vet said there isn't much you can do about it.

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Magpies

 The dang magpies are eating more cat food than the cat(s).