Do not fear…you are of more value than many sparrows...Luke 12:7

The Dog has had a rough time the past few days. Thursday evening about 8:00 p.m. we noticed he was a bit skittish and walking funny. We decided to let him outside to run around a little bit. While walking down the step from the entry to the main part of the porch he went into a skid and had a seizure. Hmmm. When it was over he was obviously shaken, but he wanted to go inside. A few minutes later he tried to jump on my lap (not allowed, but I was making an exception). He made it to my lap, but had another seizure. He then went and hid in his crate. The Man said it wouldn’t be good if he had another seizure while in the crate, and he dragged him back outside to the porch.

While I stayed with the scared Dog, singing to him about sparrows in between the seizures, The Man was trying to get a hold of the vet and anyone else he knew that might know stuff about dogs. The Man popped outside to say I needed to take his temperature. Huh? Yes, his temperature, with a thermometer, in there…that particular thermometer is now in the doggie drawer.

The Man came out to help do the deed since I was still trying to hold him steady during the seizures and I didn’t want to lose the thermometer in there. Well, losing the thermometer wouldn’t have been a problem, retrieving it might have been.

With a temperature of about 105° we knew he was overheated and suspected heatstroke even though he had plenty of water sources available to him. For the next hour I sat on the front lawn with Dog letting water from the hose cool him off. The Man went to get something to stop the seizures. By the time the Man returned, Dog’s temperature was near normal. After a few shots, the seizures lessened, but Dog was still pretty stiff. The Man carried him to the back porch where it was decided Dog and Man would spend the night.

About 1:00 a.m. the vet finally returned the call (he had been out of cell phone range making a house call). The Man took Dog to the vet’s where the vet immediately diagnosed strychnine poisoning. After some additional IV medication, Dog was finally able to relax.The Man and Boys returned the following morning to bring home a very drowsy Dog. A, still in her pajamas, played nurse.After resting Friday and the weekend he is once again drooling at the squirrels and the rabbits through the slider. He won’t be allowed back outside unattended until we find out which neighbor is not being careful with the strychnine poison. We figure he probably got a squirrel or other rodent after it had been poisoned and traveled unto our property.

Updates from last week:
The child is doing much better. The child is still trying to figure out how Grandma knew who it was…Proverbs 20:11.

I didn’t need the sign. The lawnmower man gave me back a working mower on Thursday. M got the front lawn mowed. The side yard is over a foot tall and being pollinated by a variety of stinging insects. After an application of the baking soda and water to the sting site, the rest of the side yard can wait until an evening when it isn’t raining.