Foster Journal

August 2000 Part 3: Shiloh's Campylobacter infection

August 25, 2000

"she's cute! and there's echo, right in her face, nosing around. echo is so... nosy. she just can't let things alone."

Yeah, I know! She is such an in-your-face dog. Poor Shiloh was all post-operation mellow last night, and Echo just kept hounding her, following her everywhere, and getting in her face.

"that pic is so weird-looking becos echo looks so sharp and shiloh looks so fuzzy-like. she doesn't even look real."

Warren and I think she looks kinda wild, like a fox or something. She's foxy.

"but she's really cute and happy-looking, like that happy brin look."

It's really funny that you said that, cos that's one of the first things Warren said about her. Her face reminds us a little of Brin. She's kinda like a combination of Brin and Bowser, but prettier.

Shiloh is doing great. She still hasn't eaten anything but she's drinking and peeing and pooping so she seems okay. Last night she curled up on Warren's dirty clothes and stayed there all night. I had to carry her downstairs to get her to go out and pee. She just didn't want to get up. But today she has more energy. She was crated most of the day and didn't make a mess. She finally ate this evening.

Poor Keek. Shiloh has basically been ignoring him but he doesn't trust her. I figured since she was so exhausted last night, and since she was crated today while we were gone, that Keek would be able to handle going into the bedroom to eat and pee. Well, apparently I was wrong. His food bowl was still full when I got home today. So I moved it back down to the kitchen and he ate immediately. Then I figured I should move the litterbox back into the living room. (Actually this time I got smart and just set up a second box down there.) He IMMEDIATELY stepped into it and peed. He tried to get in before I even put the litter in. Poor cat. Did he really "hold it" for 24 hrs??

You guys would LOVE this dog! Okay, no kidding, just as I was typing that, she humped my leg. Do girl dogs do that?? But aside from that, she's very cool. I hope I have her long enough that you get to meet her. I'll try to get some better pictures soon.

August 26, 2000

Of course, she's sick now. She wasn't sick yesterday. No, she had to wait to make sure all the clinic staff went home for the weekend. She had normal poop yesterday. Sometime in the middle of the night she got up and left me several nasty surprises (on the old carpet, at least). This morning she had a semi-normal poop but then she tried to go again and couldn't, and she started to cry. So now I'm worried.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do. The best thing would be to take her to their clinic but of course they won't be there until Monday. She was on medication for campylobacter or however you spell it. But the medicine was all gone when we picked her up, and she seemed okay.

If it was just a normal doggy poop problem, I'd just do the burger and rice thing and wait for it to get better. But because she had this other thing, I'm worried she's still not recovered from that, and I don't think they just "get better" from that. Plus, she's so skinny that I figure she needs to get better as fast as possible so she can keep some food in there and digest it properly.

If I take her to another vet, I need approval from them first, unless it's an emergency. It's not an emergency yet but I certainly don't want to wait until Monday. So I guess I will wait a while, call them at the shelter even though last time they weren't at all helpful (when Sassy was sick), and then try to call G. at home.

I have to go research this thing and see if we're all going to get sick now.

I called the shelter and talked to somebody who was actually helpful. She knew all about Shiloh. She gave me the vet's pager number. The vet was really nice. We used to take Brin to her when he was a puppy but I don't remember her. Anyway, she was upset that Shiloh is sick again. She said they finally released her because she seemed to be a lot better after they gave her the erythromicin. She recommended that I put her back on the dog food they had her on at the shelter (great, I have 35 pounds of Pro Plan and a couple scoops of the other stuff). She was going to call the shelter and tell them to give me some erythromicin but I asked her if I could get it someplace closer. I meant someplace like my vet, but she said she would call it into the regular pharmacy. So we have to go pick it up. I meant to ask her about the rice diet. I think I 'll still do that anyway. We didn't get any hamburger but I think the rice will be good enough. I also got some cottage cheese cos I kinda remember that is supposed to help. I have to go look that up.

Later we are going to go buy a carpet cleaner.

The girl at the shelter and the vet both said they would understand if I wanted to take her back. I think that's what happened with her original foster person. But I told them I can deal with it as long as we get her some medicine.

We picked up Shiloh's medicine this afternoon and the label says, "Romanofsky, Shiloh-Dog." We went to Sears and bought a Bissell Little Green. Shiloh kept helping me test it by making a new spot each time I cleaned one up. I gave her a pill and some rice and cottage cheese for dinner. So far so good, and that was three and a half hours ago, so I think she's getting better.

Tomorrow is Bark in the Park. I haven't totally decided if we should take Shiloh along. She's well behaved, and it would be nice to have one GOOD dog there. But I should probably let her stay home and rest.

They already have her picture up on their website. She's the only one that actually got on their site so far. And I don't want people to know about her. I want her to stay! Warren keeps telling her that she better start misbehaving soon so we stop liking her so much.

August 27, 2000

Shiloh hasn't pooped all day. She has a good appetite and she goes into her crate willingly for her dinner. She follows me around. She loves attention but will go lie down if I ignore her. She gets along great with the dogs and even with Keek. Keek finally realized she isn't a threat. They can walk right past each other without a problem. Sometimes they sniff noses and Shiloh wags her tail.

She was fine when we got home from Bark. She cried a little when we left but she was just stretching and waking up when we got home. She is feeling better, I can tell. She's happy and jaunty. But she hasn't pooped since early yesterday afternoon. I'm used to dogs pooping every time they eat, and she ate three times since then. But it was just rice and cottage cheese. I guess tomorrow I'll start adding some kibble. I really like helping dogs get better.

"grammy thinks he's pretty. is it a he or she? I keep forgetting."

She. Maybe Grammy would adopt her. I think you should take her. I can't keep her. I really can't. I don't need three dogs. I don't even WANT three dogs. She just so neat. She's affectionate but she's not pushy. She's like a gentle Brin. She walks nicely on a leash. She comes when called. When I ignore her, she just takes a nap. She does NOT know how to sit and I haven't been able to work on it, since she's been sick and not eating and everything.

"how do you keep track of all those animals?"

This is the first one I had trouble with. It sometimes takes me several seconds to think of her name. Warren just calls her Fox. I keep wanting to call her Sassy, or Shadow, or Sasha. I don't think she looks like a Shiloh. I got so confused today, I called Echo Pepper. Can you believe it? Actually that's not the first time I did that. I think Echo and Pepper have some kinda connection somehow. I don't know why.

August 28, 2000

Shiloh finally pooped (in the house) and it was soft but formed, so she is mostly better. She's still on the bland diet with some kibble mixed in. Some people came to meet her (C, husband and two kids). They had another dog from the shelter (GSD) for about a month and it started snapping at the kids so they returned it. Shiloh got along fine with the kids. (So did Brin!) They are supposed to call tomorrow. I will see if my theory is correct... they didn't say yes, they definitely want her, so I doubt if I will hear from them.

R. called this evening to find out how King is with cats. There is a couple with another dog and a cat or two who might be interested in King. I think he would be okay with cats. Not as good as Shiloh, but I think it could work. He's almost out of time so I hope they take him. R. also wanted the number of the couple who returned King after he destroyed their house because there is another shepherd they might like.

August 29, 2000

C and her husband and two kids came to meet Shiloh last night. She was really good. They liked her and she liked them. C actually called back today and said they want to adopt her! We are taking her tomorrow around six. I took lots of pictures and video of her today.

Shiloh is such a fun dog! She's nowhere near housetrained. But she makes up for it in loveable-ness. She's a very happy, playful girl. She snuggles and tries to be a lap dog. I think her new people are gonna really enjoy her.

R. called last night. She's the one who found the people who originally adopted King. She said there was somebody interested in King and they wanted to know how he is with cats. I couldn't even remember. It's a good thing I write this stuff down. According to what I wrote, he's okay with cats (not like Shiloh though). She said they were supposed to go meet him tonight. I called the kennels and H. told me King was adopted earlier today. I don't know if it was the people R. talked to or somebody else. But the important thing is, he found a home! (and just in time....) I'm so relieved. I was trying to figure out if I really could manage him and Shiloh at the same time. I decided there was no way I could let him be put to sleep, so I was gonna take him back cos he was out of time. Now I don't have to, and now Shiloh is going away too!

August 30, 2000

"it's so weird how that worked out like that! you know what... when you get a place where you can do it, you could open a boarding house for dogs, and you could charge ppl and watch their dogs for them, and still foster some dogs too. cos you'll be such a pro at it, familiar with all sorts of different doggie personalities and behaviors."

Speaking of which... It's a shame that I only had Shiloh and King for a week. There wasn't time to DO anything with them. Their "doggie personalities" didn't show up for about a week. Especially Shiloh. I don't know why they told people about her so soon after we took her. I mean, it sure beats having them for two months (like Sassy). But I feel like part of my job as a foster mom is to do some basic training. It just wasn't possible with Shiloh. First she was sick, and then her true personality didn't start to show until about a day ago. I feel like maybe I misinformed her new people (obviously not intentionally). She was pretty calm while they were here, but it turns out she's kind of a spaz. She's getting mouthy, jumpy, and whiney. She's not even remotely housetrained but I did warn them about that.

On the positive side, now she's playful and healthy and food motivated, so I know I could teach her lots of stuff with the clicker, but I have to give her back already.

Anyhow, we took Shiloh back today. Warren said she "spoke to him" but he wasn't listening.

There is pee all over the carpet. Time to use the new Little Green. We gave that dog way too much freedom. She should have been crated. But poor Warren is home most of the time now, and he couldn't stand to hear her yowling in the crate. So she was loose and unsupervised most of the time. I chained her to the dog bed at night, which worked pretty well. Warren went to school today and left her loose and she didn't get into anything. She did pee and poop on the rug though.

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