Where do I begin?

It actually started last night. We had gone to bed, were about asleep, and heard Duke whimpering from his crate in the office. He's had very soft stool, bordering on diarrhea, so I didn't want to risk ignoring it. I got up, let him outside to do his business and then just left him loose in the downstairs kitchen and hallway area for the night.

Jack is better behaved at adoption events than he is at home.
He was personable, fun, and friendly.

I'm not sure what woke me up Saturday morning, but it was before 6:00 a.m. and I jumped out of bed faster than usual and managed to get out of the bedroom without taking any of the dogs with me. It didn't take a lot of prescience to anticipate the mess I found in the hallway and kitchen. It wasn't all that bad, but it would have been much worse if seven or more dogs had come barreling down the stairs and tracked through it on their way outside.

I got it cleaned up and told Duke that he was on a 24 hour fast. He made me feel very guilty about feeding everyone but him, but diarrhea mandates a 24 hour fast. Rules are rules. I later discovered some vomit, which wasn't him because he hadn't eaten. I suspected Scarlett who had just arrived Friday afternoon along with a report that she hadn't wanted to eat that morning. I didn't feed her Friday evening, but she was hungry and ate Saturday morning, only to barf it back up, or part of it anyway.

Scarlett got some Famotidine (Pepsid) and Duke got some immodium, both of which I keep on hand at all times. Everyone acted fine, but obviously we had some digestive issues to deal with.

It was not Duke's adoption event but he did
not want to be left out. Any time he was out
of the van he did get a lot of attention. 

I was heading up to northern Virginia to a Promises adoption event with Jack. I decided to take Duke along because I didn't want to leave him at home with no access to outside. That may not have been my best decision of the week because about half way into the two hour trip, I smelled the unmistakable odor of intestinal distress coming from the back of the van. I had purposely put Duke in the back of the van with a blanket and had Jack in a crate. The blanket actually absorbed most of the mess and he managed to avoid getting into it.

We arrived and were pleased to discover that the adoption event was outside. I handed Jack off to another volunteer and he was very good. Jack has always surprised me by being much better than I anticipate when he's at an adoption event. He's always been good with people and he was good with dogs today too.

I really want to get him healthy and take him
out and show him off. He would be a big hit
at any brewery, or on the downtown mall.

I took Duke out, bundled up the dirty blanket, and walked him over to some grass. He did nothing there, but when we were back on the sidewalk he had another bout of diarrhea with some evident blood this time too. I was able to park right in front of where we were standing with the dogs, so I borrowed another blanket and put Duke back inside and just left the van running to keep him cool. I took him out again later because he really seemed to feel all right and he wanted to be part of the action, but we bugged out early to head back home.

That "rock" next to Jack is actually an oyster shell.
He was excited and happy to find it. I did not let him
bring it home.

I gave him some Albon and Metronidazole when we got home (thank you, Debbie!) and gave him some outdoor time, but he seemed to be pretty much empty at this point. I left Duke at home, loose in the house, and Maya and I headed over to Thistlegate Vineyard to see some friends, drink some wine, and listen to The Willow Sisters Duo, a cello and violin combo. The cellist is the daughter of my friend Tricia. They are beautiful and talented young women and it was a nice afternoon. Duke would have enjoyed it, but I didn't think he needed another outing today. Maya was surprisingly good with strangers and many people wanted to pet her.

We returned home to find no new mess, confirming my belief that Duke is now pretty much empty. I will probably cook him some chicken and rice to start back on food tomorrow. I am guessing, assuming, and hoping that the intestinal distress was due to the Rimadyl Duke has been getting twice daily since his surgery. He doesn't really seem to need it and I'm certainly stopping it now. This dog is very much underweight and has only had soft stool at best since he arrived, so I wouldn't be surprised if he's dealing with a food allergy too, or maybe it's just too much change too fast. We will slow things down for Duke and get this figured out. He's a seriously sweet dog. Even Clay said, "If we didn't already have nine dogs, . . ."

Maya did not sing along. Duke might have.

Maya settled down under the table after
greeting everyone within reach of her leash.

Lovely and talented young women.

When we walked into the tasting room at the
vineyard, Maya assumed she was in another
brewery and went to the bar to order a treat.
Fortunately, they had one or the place would
have gotten a bad review on Canine Yelp.