photo taken July 2012

one year ago: Yay! Play!
two years ago: Mid-Yip
three years ago: Behind A Tree
four years ago: Watching Rabbits
five years ago: Chest Hair Already!

Charlie’s wildly intelligent (har har) and knows quite a bit. I’m excited to teach him more and more because he picks things up incredibly quickly. I taught him “Sit” very early on, and he sits before getting treats or toys and before coming in or going out. He knows “Come” and “Come This Way.” I use this often on our hikes – if I want to change our general direction or if he deviates from our path, I say “Come This Way” and he changes his direction or leaves his scent trail to follow me. Yesterday I said to him, “Get Back On The Deer Trail” (a deer trail is a tiny footpath the deer make when they traverse the hillsides, and we often take these trails on our hikes) and he did – he returned to the deer trail each time I asked him to. I like to think he knows “Deer Trail”, and “Get Back On It Little Boy;” maybe he does, but maybe he just saw in my eyes what I meant. He also knows “Stay” and “Drop It.” Charlie loves to be chased and I quickly learned I would never get my stolen things from him if I chased him. So I ask him to Drop It, and then when he does, I chase him around just for fun, as his reward.

Parvo is an awful disease. The virus hits the bone marrow so that the immune system is incapacitated. Then it travels to the digestive tract and destroys the intestinal lining. This is where infection can set in, in addition to the virus. Charlie can’t keep anything down – he throws up even from drinking water. He hasn’t eaten in five days.

I give him a shot of antibiotics once a day to fight infection, a shot of some kind of painkiller to keep him somewhat comfortable, and put him on an IV drip bag for hydration to survive. Charlie dreads the needles but doesn’t fight it, and MC and I have fine-tuned our system and we make it work.

Charlie spent some time outside over the weekend but rests on the bed 100% of the time now. He still rolls on his side for a belly rub between naps. There’s not much else to report right now – it’s a waiting game and there’s no way of knowing how long this will last and other stuff I just can’t bring myself to type.