Health Note

I don't want this to be a talk-y blog, but I realize that there is certain information that might be helpful to others to have on this blog, as well as to us when we stupidly forget what we've already learned the next time a crisis rears its ugly head.

Lesson #1: If your dog stops drinking water, go on ahead and get ye to the vet. As we have become more seasoned dog parents, we're less apt to fly off to the vet at a moment's notice, but there are some moments you should notice right off the bat, and this is one of them. $1400 later, the Portster is rehydrated, and honestly, a little worse for the time he spent at the vet's office, botched catheter, overnight stay, Elizabethan collar and all. Helpful hint: if he won't drink water, try Gatorade. It's OK to give to your dog, and cheaper than intravenous fluids and doggy upper GIs.

Lesson #2: Sensitive stomach food may not have all the nutrients your dog needs. After trying many things to get the puker to stop puking, we finally switched him to a sensitive stomach food, which seemed to help. And then his nails started breaking off, dramatically and painfully. I compared some labels and lo and behold - the sensitive stomach food lacks several essential vitamins and Omega 3 fatty acids. No wonder. So we're easing him back onto a lamb and rice based food, and so far, it's been er, fragrant, but fine. Words to live by: When you fix one thing, something else goes wrong.

Finally, speaking of nails, after a slip of the clip resulted in a horror-movie-worthy amount of gore in the back of my car and a midnight ER vet run, we've switched to a simple Drimmel dool from Home Depot to do his nails. We use a gritty sandpaper attachment, and who knew? The damn dog stands still for it and what used to be Rounds 1-12 of lab v. owners is now a ONE MAN JOB CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

So for the most part, we're happy and healthy over here with over 100 pounds of bouncing not-quite-baby lab these days.

He's the best dog, ever.