A survivor

I love to watch animal planet.
But unfortunately, being pregnant makes me all weepy and hormonal when I watch it now.
Especially the animal cops show where they rescue animals that have been neglected or injured or abused. I always have a soft spot for those animals, I almost think that dogs that have to go through something like that turn out to be the best dogs because they understand and are grateful for your help.

Today Bryant and my brother Colter and our friend Tanner went to the high school after church to play some football and I got bored sitting at home and I could hear my dog Ace making his funny growling/gurgling/whining sounds outside which means he's bored too so the two of us hopped in my brothers truck and took off to go watch the boys play.

As we were sitting on the bench watching, I bent down to pet him playfully on the nose and my fingers brushed against the rough patch of fur and the memories of him being a puppy and being so sick came flooding back.
(watching the football game)

Ace was the result of an accident between my parents german shorthair Rusty, and their black lab Sadie. I, of course was in love with all the puppies (but who doesn't love puppies!?) but both Bryant and I fell head over heels with one of the two males. We named him Ace and took him everywhere and played with him all the time.

One day, we were running to the post office and I waited outside on the grass with Ace while Bryant went in to mail a few things and I noticed that he just wasn't as active as he usually was.

When we got home, I started to notice that his lips were a bit swollen, and he had become very lethargic. I researched it a bit and read that dogs can be allergic to bee stings and the symptoms were swollen faces and lethargy. Seeing as there was a hornets nest in the back yard where Ace was playing, I figured he had been stung. So I brought him in and gave him some bennadryl and took him back out the rest of the liter.

(wanting to get in on the action!)

The next day he was much, much worse. His lips and eyes were swollen, he sat limp in my arms, he had bumps running all along his ears and he was beginning to lose his fur around all the places that were swollen. I called the vet, they were closed, I called the animal hospital, they were closed. That night Bryant and I decided to bring him in with us and put him in a box. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink and wouldn't sleep. Finally, I picked him up in the middle of the night and had him curl up next to me and he slept the rest of the night.

(out camping earlier this summer)

The next day Bryant and I both had to work so my parents took him into the vet. He had juvenile cellulitis, AKA the puppy strangles.

Puppy strangles occurs in puppies under 4 months old. There is no known cause and it is characterized by swollen lymph nodes, lethargy, scabs on the face and muzzle, and fur loss.

(polishing off some cream at strawberry days)

The vet gave him a shot and sent my parents home with antibiotics. They said we got there just in time and that he would recover, but that the fur he had lost would never grow back. We spent many a day feeding Ace, cleaning his scabs, trying to get him to take his antibiotics and loving him back to health.

When the puppies became old enough to be put up for adoption, they were going fast! But poor little Ace was our ugly (dog)duckling. His face was all patchy and he looked like he had been pretty chewed up. I was worried that no one would want him. On the other hand, I was also worried that someone WOULD take him and then I would have to give him up.


(recovering, notice the gray patch on his nose where he lost some fur)

Thankfully, this was around Bryant's birthday and my parents realized how in love we were with our little fighter. They walked in with a big paper bag and who should stick out their little mangled head? My baby Ace!!!

(watching the food network with me, he's to big to sit on the couch anymore)

My parents were really being so generous because we live in their basement apartment so that would mean that Ace would have to stay here with their dogs too. And I am so grateful they let us keep him. He's such a sweetheart and has the best personality for a dog. He really is one of my best pals!

I think we make such a good team. I think his near-death experience helped us to bond better when he was a puppy (which make him such a cuddle bug now!)

(he jumps on the couch when Bryant walks out, I think he does this just to tease him!0

And the vet was wrong, most of his fur grew back and he turned out to be a one handsome dog!