At ten weeks old, Josie passed out in my arms. It was a warm day and Josie was playing in the shade when she sat down suddenly. She had been sickly off and on over the last week, unlike her sturdy brother. Josie's pale gums and limp little body were alarming.
Josie has an attitude you could easily mistake for obnoxious. Her nose had to be in every last thing you are doing. She sniffs everything with such exuberance; one of her nicknames is "Snuffles". She is not much of a thief, though, given the time she will likely become one. She sees what the other dogs do to get attention and mimics them with her own additional drama.
After a cool bath, I palpated Josie's abdomen, expecting the puppy might have a rock or some other object in her intestines. Little, happy, hyper puppies sometimes eat things they should not. I felt a large mass in the center of her gut. It was time for a visit to the vet.
The vet is a seasoned participant in foreign body extractions from my Weimaraners. Without going into detail, I have a rock collection. One of these days I am going to polish all those rocks and make a necklace. I would have an expensive piece of diamond jewelry or a nice used car by now if it were not for the neurotic Weimaraner "rock-eating" gene.
He felt around in Josie's gut and, with a concerned look, requested an x-ray.
Josie had an ileocecal intussusception. Spelling it is as difficult as pronouncing it correctly. Plainly put, the small intestine telescoped into the large intestine. The vet explained the details of the surgery and the risk of widespread tissue death. I was left telling him if the tissue damage was too bad, to not wake her up from anesthesia. He said he would call once he got inside and then we could decide the appropriate course of action.
I sat by the phone and waited. I wanted the phone to ring, but then, I did not really want the phone to ring. When it finally chirped, I jumped.
The vet sounded positive, stating he would do the surgery if it were his own dog. It was good enough. There was no significant tissue damage. She did lose the connection between the small and large intestine. Josie will be on probiotics for the rest of her life, but her recovery continues to be nothing short of remarkable.
Josie's zest for life is quite evident. Given this zest, she zooms around, quite recklessly at times, rough-housing with her dog friends and her brother, Stoney. Stoney is much larger than Josie and he likes to pin her down while they play until she hollers the dog equivalent of "calf rope!"
The first time he landed on her, it ended in a trip to the vet for a sprained rear leg. After limping for a few days and some swelling, we wanted to be sure she did not have a bone disease. She was perfectly fine 10 days later.
The second time he landed on her, her toe took the force of the pounce and broke into a spiral fracture. This was the last time she played with her brother. Stoney does not have a mean bone in his body, but he is a large dork-for-a-male. They can reunite when he is more mature (which might take years).
Keeping a splinted, 6-month-old puppy quiet or, at least quiet enough to prevent further injury is a akin to calming a hummingbird. With her infinite sense of humor, she took the cast for what it was worth, at least while we were looking. It had to be uncomfortable because she would itch at it whenever she had the opportunity.
The cast is off and her toe is still a little funny looking. Unfortunately, she may develop arthritis in the break when she is older. As it stands now, she is a beautiful and healthy puppy. With a show career and some bird work in her future, we are hoping her days of bad luck are over.