Jan 27: under the weather..just a bit

We have not had much to report in the last week other than all great days.  His royal highness now expects breakfast in bed.  He is awake and alert, perky eared, waiting for food to arrive.  Most of the day, he is hanging out - close by.  In the evenings, he gets playful, wanting to play tug of war with me, but not so much with the other dogs.  Around 8:45 he starts to get restless.  Does he need to go out?  Is he sick?...Nope...the boy just wants everyone to go to bed.

The other night, Tim went to the bedroom and Arri followed.  He then moved to the office. I thought Arri was with him.    I was still on the sofa.  I am not sure how much time passed but I heard whimpering and a light woof.  Thinking something was wrong, I moved quickly to the office to see if Arri was ok.  He wasn't there.  I ran to the bedroom.  He was in the dark, on the very edge of the bed looking very anxious.  Apparently, Tim put him up on the bed and left the room.  Arri was not at all happy that no one came to bed with him.  I grabbed my book and snuggled up with him.  He was much happier.

As far as eating, Arri is off the meatloaf and baby food.  He decided he likes Oregon's Eukenuba so that is what I have kept him on.  I have a stock pile of baby food for the next round of chemo.

The other big event of the week was Oregon's first true snow.  An inch of snow doesn't count.  We finally got dumped on with 9 inches.  Oregon had a blast.  Problem was that Arri had not dealt with this much since he lost his leg.  We shoveled paths in the yard to make it easier.  He would bounce down part of a path and then detour through the deep snow.  His way of saying 'thanks for the offer but I can do it myself'.  There are no real obstacles for that boy.

Jan 22, 2013 - lovin' the snow

Friday, Jan 24 was Arri's second chemo treatment.  Our local vet was willing to give the treatment so we didn't have to drive up to MSU.  Arri was happy to be there and willingly went to the back room.  He has maintained his weight.  I picked him back up at 4:00.  They said he was a bit wiggly during treatment so he had a band-aid on his leg from the IV.  I can feed him whatever he has been eating.  It is ok if he turns his nose up at food for a day or two but beyond that, I should give him the appetite stimulant.  Once home, he was just as happy as can be.  No side effects yet.

post chemo round 2 - Oregon is making sure Arri is ok.

Saturday - food is still yummy.  In the evening, we see the first signs that all may not be peachy.  It was just a glazed look in his eyes.

Sunday:  This morning he was not so perky.  He was not waiting for his breakfast - he was still resting his head.  I gave him only 1/2 of the eukenuba and then a small can of puppy mush.  He ate slower than typical but did finish the whole bowl.   I went to the gym after feeding the dogs and Tim said Arri cried and jumped off the bed after me.  He is not normally clingy so he must be a bit under the weather.  Overall, he is much better than after the last chemo...so far.

He made it almost impossible to go to church.  For the last month, we have not been making him go to the bedroom when we leave.  He just lays at the front door and waits.  Well, when he gets clingy, he does not want to be left home - period.  As we put on our coats and got Oregon ready to go, there is Arri at the garage door doing the happy dance.   He had so much energy and wanted to go with.  It broke my heart to leave him.  Tim had to hold him so I could get out the door with Oregon then Tim managed to get out.