Slice of Life Challenge: Doggie Diarrhea, Day 2/Year 3

Since we are supposed to be sharing a “slice” from our lives, I thought I would write about a very recent experience we’ve had with our dog, Molly. Molly is a 9-month old Yellow Labrador Retriever. We got her at the end of August and her first birthday will be at the end of May.  She’s been an unbelievably great addition to our family! Previous to this, we’ve had cats at pets, with the most recent pair – Lewis and Clark – passing away three years ago this spring. They were old and had a very good, indoor cat life.

We all found we missed having a pet, so when my husband if I wanted a lab puppy after our return from summer vacation, of course, I said YES!  I have to admit to a little trepidation for I have never been “a dog person.” Mainly, this is because I never had a dog!

As I said, Molly has been a great addition. We’ve tried to do all the “right” things with her, just as one would with any addition to a family. She’s been to the vet, had her shots, been spayed, is walked daily, and went to obedience school. She is crate trained, “potty trained” to use the yard, and generally lets us know what she needs without barking.  We carefully watch what she eats and limit her treats, substituting praise as much as possible. Apparently, Labs are prone to obesity, so we are taking steps to prevent that and keep her at a healthy weight. Two weeks ago, my husband and I went on vacation to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We boarded Molly at a local doggie daycare establishment where she has been going for an occasional playtime. Even for that experience, we prepped Molly by sending her on a single overnight to make sure that she’d tolerate “being away from home” to sleep. She did fine on both occasions – the overnight and the boarding during vacation.

Friday, we decided to take her over to the doggie daycare for playtime. She was gone most of the day, returning at dinnertime. Upon arrival home, Molly ate dinner, had one or two treats for sitting on her “place” and konked out! Typically, she’s pretty tired after these playdates. So, this was nothing out of the ordinary. The next day, Saturday, she continued to be sluggish and sleepy. Still, we thought nothing of it.

That is until diarrhea started after dinner!  We hoped this would only be an isolated episode but as we soon found out, that would not be the case!  Saturday night, she had my husband up every hour and a half to go out to the yard to do her “duty.”  This continued all day yesterday, and into last night. Doggie Diarrhea! Ugh!

Besides having to make frequent trips to the yard and being somewhat sluggish, Molly has no other symptoms. And, luckily, she has not made a mess in the house or her kennel! I attribute that to my husband’s attentiveness in taking her out as soon as she gives him the “signal” that she needs to go.

All of this has reminded me of those days, long ago, when I was up every hour and a half to nurse one of our babies. They are now all young adults, being 25, 20, and 18 years of age. So, it was a very long time ago that we had to be “on-call” for another being. But, Molly is family now – she’s a great dog – and we’ll gladly take her out, clean up her mess, and care for her until the doggie diarrhea is gone, and for many years beyond!