Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Jack is fine!

The vet could not find anything wrong with Mr. Jack. Jack wouldn't even cough for him. His coughing has really decreased since yesterday. The vet thinks what I first thought and that is that Jack may have had a piece of food caught in his throat. He thinks it is now gone and maybe his throat is now sore and that's what is causing the coughing today.

He checked his lungs, eyes, nose and ears and everything seems to be fine.
I probably should have just waited and not taken him to the vet, but I feared he had a virus.

Jack is headed to the vet today

Jack and I are headed to the vet this morning. His cough actually seems a little better today, but I am still concerned. My feeling is that he might have kennel cough. I did some research on it yesterday and even with the shot, he can still get it. The article said that he can go away on its' own, but I'm not taking any chances.

Scout will be alone for the first time ever today. I'm a little concerned about that, but I will keep her isolated to one section of the house. She is a much calmer dog than Jack. I hope she doesn't have separation anxiety. Jack did...big time. He ate our door knobs. We found that he did not like being kept in a small room and once we let him stay in our bedroom, he was fine. I should only be gone about an hour, but I will be worried the entire time. It's a good test to see how Scout does though. There may be other times when she and Jack are not left together. Wish us all luck today!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Jack may be sick


Jack woke me up at 1:00 a.m. coughing. I got up with him and tried to get him to drink water. He wouldn't. I gave him a homemade frozen treat and he ate that. Scout heard us up and decided to join in on the buffet that insued. After the frozen treat, Jack was still coughing, so I gave him a slice of cheese. Then, some lunchmeat. I really thought that he had a piece of kibble stuck in his throat and I tried to clear it away. I finally went back to bed at 3:00 a.m. because his coughing had calmed down.

He is still coughing this morning. It's not constant, but just a little cough. I'm thinking that it must be more than a piece of kibble in his throat and that really scares me. He's up to date on all his shots and has had the shot for kennel cough.

He is eating fine and even drank some water. He acts like he feels fine. I hope that I am just a worried Mama and it's really not anything.

If things do not improve today, I will make him an appointment to see the vet. I hate to think I am over-reacting, but then again, I don't want to wait too long.
(The picture that I included is not from today. It's just him being silly laying on my bed.)

Monday, October 13, 2008

Back To Work

Vacation is officially over now. It's time to get back to work today.

I have been a little concerned about how well Jack and Scout would fall back into the work routine after being on vacation for ten days. They appear to remember their duties quite well.
We have had our breakfast and they are both in my office ready for the work day to begin. They will probably make one more run outside before they settle in for a day of sleeping. Scout will get up around 4 p.m. Jack will be up and down several times. He is not a sound sleeper like Scout. He is up and down all night. Scout basically stays in one spot.

We really had a nice vacation. I was a little concerned about camping for 8 days straight, but we all really enjoyed it. It's time to make money so that we can go again.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Jack thought he was attacked by a chiluahua!

Last week at this time we were enjoying our vacation at Table Rock Lake. It is near Branson, MO.

Whenever we camp, my husband and I are on full alert of the dogs in the campground. It seems like there is always one owner who does not think they have to follow the rules which is to keep your dog under control at all times. We seem to run into this problem with people who have small dogs. Sorry, but that's been our experience. I guess small dogs owners do not think their dogs can do any harm and they seem to think it is funny for their small dogs to chase our big dogs. It's just not a smart thing. Think about it, small dog vs. a big dog's mouth. Our dogs are very docile, but I definitely wouldn't take a chance if I had a small dog. Back to my story... we were walking Jack and Scout and this chiluahua who had been tormenting our dogs all weekend started barking at us. It's owner laughed and told him to "Get them!" She was joking, I think, but the dog got loose. I yelled "IT'S LOOSE!" We immediately went into defense mode with our dogs. You may wonder what damage a little dog can do to a greyhound. It can do a lot of damage. Greyhounds skin is very thin and easily torn. A little bite can lead to stitches. My husband grabbed unto Jack's collar and then he grabbed his back end because Jack was on two legs and trying to back out of his collar because this small dog that looked like a rat to him was at his feet. When my husband grabbed Jack's behind, Jack thought he had been bite by the dog. I guess he thought the dog jumped on his butt. He started screaming as if to say "I'VE BEEN HIT, I'VE BEEN HIT!" The owner of the dog didn't even come and get the dog until my husband brought it to her. Grrrr! My husband told Jack that he screamed like a little girl. Poor Jack, he really thought that he was a goner. We stayed away from that area of the campground after that and Jack seemed to regain his confidence.

Home Again - Part 3

 Well, we just realized that we didn't finish telling you about the rest of our trip home.  I don't know if we even remember the res...