I Wish I Was Making This Story Up

Alvin did not get groomed tonight because I accidentally drugged the wrong dog.  Charming!  I gave Alvin the sedative in a hot dog and you all know how he has difficulty chewing soft food.  He did his usual, trying to chew, spitting it out, and then trying again.  After several goes at it, it appeared as though he had finally been successful and I checked the floor and didn't see anything left.  It takes 2-3 hours for a sedative to kick in for Alvin and so about an hour after I gave him the sedative I decided to take the three dogs to the dog park.  I leashed up Alvin and Gracie and went to leash up Stevie, who was sleeping.  Stevie wouldn't respond at all.  I picked her up and placed her on all four legs and she slid back down to the ground.  I tried to lure her with a hog dog and she wouldn't even eat it.  I placed her back in her bed and took her temperature and it was normal.  She didn't appear to be in any pain but I got a Tramadol down her throat just in case.  I suspected she might have yet another UTI and so I also got an antibiotic down her throat.  She was clearly going to stay put and because Alvin and Gracie were nearly jumping up and down with excitement, I decided to take them to the dog park really fast. 

As you probably all remember, Alvin is afraid of riding in the car and he did his usual muttering the whole way there, which is less than one mile.  When we got there, Alvin was initially in his own little autistic world, wandering around and not interacting with any of the dogs.  It always kind of hurts my heart when I see how different he is in those types of environments.  Meanwhile, three-legged Gracie turned into a Grey Hound and was racing around, but only to the humans.  She would have much preferred a human park with everyone in a fenced in, condensed area.  She went to each person, flopped onto her back to invite people to scratch her belly and once she had gone to each person, she then started her rounds again.  She paid very little attention to the other dogs.  After Alvin wandered around for a while he became more interested in the dogs and seemed happy that they were all taller than he was because it allowed him to have his nose firmly planted in their butts as he followed them around.  He seemed to need a bit more reassurance than usual but because he can't determine the direction of sound, I had to yell his name and then repeatedly wave my arms over my head until he spotted me.  He would then come running and would want to stay close to me.  Each time I crouched down, while cradling his head in my hands and told him what a brave boy he was being.  I am always so proud of him when he can step out of his little autistic world and try to be one of the gang.  Goodness knows what the other dog owners thought, with my three-legged dog and me waving frantically at the perpetually wandering dog and the proceeding to give him little pep talks.  We only stayed 10 minutes because I was anxious to get back to Stevie.

When I got back, Stevie was in the exact same position and was nearly unresponsive.  I was trying to decide whether I should take her to ER.  My hesitancy was that she didn't appear to be in any pain, in any distress, and had a normal temperature.  I honestly thought that she was dying and I knew that if it was something serious that I wasn't going to put her through a hard recovery.  I kind of didn't want to be faced with having to decide whether to put her through a certain treatment or not.  Stevie is also afraid of vets offices and I figured that if she was dying that it would be better for her to die with me at home.  I also knew it would cost me at least $1,000 and I wasn't going to put her through any lengthy or difficult procedures.  Because Stevie can't hear or see, she panics if you put her in a crate and I couldn't bear to put her through having to be in a medical cage and not understand.  I put her on my bed and laid down while holding her.  She wasn't responding to me at all.  I ran over to my mom's house to basically tell her that Stevie was dying and came back home.  I will be darned if that dog didn't lift her head and totally respond to my mom the first time my mom pet her.......and Stevie is the only one that I was convinced liked me better than my mom.  Alvin and Gracie have made it abundantly clear who they prefer and it ain't me.  Stevie started to respond more and it was only a little later that I started to notice that Alvin wasn't the least bit sedated.  It was then that I realized that the hot dog containing the sedative must have rolled under the cupboard and I didn't see it.  Since Stevie is deaf and blind, she can sniff out anything.  I kid you not that I can place one piece of kibble on the other side of the room and Stevie will sniff it out within minutes.  I have spent many an entertaining hour playing this game with Stevie. 

The lesson in this story is, there should clearly be a test that a person has to take before owning a dog and I would clearly flunk it.  Who drugs the wrong dog?  Alvin has rubbed salt in the wounds all evening by bounding around like he has the energy of two dogs. 

We will give it another try on another day, because Alvin looks like a stray dog at this point.  But I will make sure to drug the right dog and take Stevie to the dog park to try and atone for the recent medical travesty.  Truth be told, Stevie could get anything and everything she wants from me right now because I feel terrible.  She already got part of my salad and I would take the food right out of my mouth and give it to her if I thought that it would help. 

It's just short of a miracle that these poor souls survive me.