More Allergy Problems

Well, I'm definitely allergic to something. This past week I went with Stacy and Zach to Stacy's parents house in South Carolina. One day while we were there, we went with Stacy's friend Melanie on a pretty long run. We ran for about 30 minutes, which is the longest I've ever run. It was lots of fun though because it was all and grass and there was all kinds of stuff to sniff at and pick up.

I don't remember getting bit by anything, but when we got home, my nose was really itchy. Stacy noticed I was scratching it a lot, so she went to find some Benadryl. By the time she got back, my head was about 3 times its normal size and my eyes were swollen shut. Have you ever seen one of those Chinese dogs with all the skin bunched up on their faces? I looked like that except my skin was lumpy and red. I also had bumps and red spots all over the rest of me.

I was pretty miserable, as you can imagine. I kept trying to shake off the extra weight on my head, but that just made it itch more. I kept rubbing my face on the carpet to scratch it, but that didn't help much either. Zach was there to help keep me calm, and it did feel good to have a wet washcloth over my face.

When Stacy finally got back with the Benadryl, I had a hard time eating it because my lips were so big, but Stacy and Zach just crammed it down my throat. I ended up chomping on Zach's finger by accident, but it only bled a little. I felt bad, but it wasn't like I could actually see what I was doing.

Zach and Stacy rushed me to a vet, which was fortunately pretty close by. Even though I was pretty miserable and really weird looking, I still like going to the vet because I get to meet people and other dogs. So I said hi to everybody even though I couldn't see them. The benadryl was working by then, but I still itched like crazy.

The vet, Dr. Amy, was very nice and gave me some shots that made me feel a lot better. She explained everything to Zach and Stacy who were (understandably) really worried.

Since I was still really swollen, Dr. Amy wanted to keep an eye on me to make sure my throat didn't close up, so she asked Zach and Stacy if I could stay at the vet. That was OK with me. Anything to make my face stop itching.

I ended up staying at the vet for the rest of the day, and my swelling came down a lot. When Zach came to pick me up, I was really glad to see him, even though staying at the animal hospital was actually kind of fun. Zach said I still looked pretty bad, but I was definitely a lot better because I could open my eyes most of the way. Zach actually took a picture of me like that, which is kind of embarrassing, but you can see how swollen my cheeks still were. I don't know how to work the camera yet, so I'll have to wait until Zach or Stacy come home before I can post it.

So we're back home now and I'm really tired from the whole ordeal. I think I'll probably just sleep for about a week. Stacy didn't even bother to put me in my kennel, which is why I can type this now ;), because I'm definitely to sleepy to chew on anything I'm not supposed to. Really, it's not much fun getting into trouble when no one's around, so I might as well just go back to sleep.

Update: Here's that picture of me after I came home from the vet. This is after the swelling had come down a lot.

Once again, it's been a while now since I posted. I've just been having too much fun! On Wednesday, I got to be famous because I was the featured "Grownup Puppy" on the website DailyPuppy.com. Here's my page: Theodore Huxtable, the Boxer Mix. Zach and Stacy sent my picture in, and they liked me! They said lots of people viewed my profile and left nice comments.

Then, this morning, Stacy ran a 5k, and me and Zach ran a 1 mile race together. We've been training for a couple of months now, so I wasn't that worried about the distance. Once we got there, though, I was a little worried about the competition. I saw a bunch of collie mixes, an Irish Wolfhound mix, and even an Italian Greyhound. Zach told me that those dogs might be fast, but winning would come down to teamwork and concentration, and anyway, he didn't think their owners could keep up with him. There was also this tiny pink hairless thing that Stacy said was a dog, but I don't believe her.

Overall, there were about 100 of us dogs running on a 5-foot wide path with our people. It was crazy! At first people were flying in all directions because their dogs took off too fast. I made a friend named Patches before the race, and right after the race started, she got loose! She stayed with the pack for a long way, but she looked scared because she couldn't find her dad. Eventually she crashed into a lady and they both fell down. I think they were fine, though, and everyone finished eventually.

After the big crash, me and Zach made sure the lady was OK and then we raced to catch up with the lead pack. We passed several people on the straightaway (Zach was right, teamwork helped a lot!) and we even passed a collie going at a dead sprint. The next dog to pass was a Husky and she was pretty far ahead. We thought we had a chance to catch up when she started squatting to go potty, but her person convinced her to keep going instead.

We did manage to hold off the collie for the last stretch and ended up finishing 3rd! I got a gold star (which wasn't very interesting), and a dog biscotti, which is something I had never seen before. I think it was chocolate flavored. I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I played with it for a while before figuring out that I could eat it.

Anyway, I got a nice shower when we got home and am taking a well-deserved rest. After the race, a guy from the newspaper said he had taken a picture of us running and wanted to know if he could put us in the paper. If he does, my 15 minutes of fame may just keep going!

Here's me with my award:



And here's me with it under the table. I thought it was something I wasn't supposed to have, so I was trying to hide from Zach:

it's been a while

I have been chewing a lot of shoes lately. Also, Zach has taken me running almost every morning. Just about a mile or so, but it gets him moving. I usually drag my feet because I'd rather be sleeping. Stacy is running a lot further because she's training for a 1/2 marathon with my Aunt Megan in October.

I feel really bad today. I got sick this morning and when Zach tried to take me outside, I couldn't hold myself up anymore, so I just laid down in the middle of the road. This happened a few times. My face was very itchy. Zach had to carry me back home. They took me to the emergency room and then I remembered that I was chasing ants last night. The vet thinks I had an allergic reaction because I had bumps all over my face and neck. She gave me a benadryl shot and a steroid shot to make me feel better, but I am still getting sick a little. I am going to sleep most of the day and see if that makes me feel any better.