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| One of Suzie's Favorite Puppy Victims |
Last night Suzie had me completely worried. All evening she acted more tired than usual and chose to sleep in a community dog bed on the floor instead of her favorite one in the window behind the couch. Then, after we went to bed she let Saburo rest his head on her body. She does not like Saburo in the slightest. His presence is always greeted with a terrifying snarl (just imagine if she were bigger than 9 lbs!) and if he dares to come too close, she makes a move to get a good nip in on him. Suzie treats him like a puppy, and she HATES puppies. I've never quite seen anything like it in any other dog. I've had dogs that get annoyed by the antics of puppies and they need to put them in their place, I've had dogs ignore puppies, and I've even had a dog that was comforted by the presence of puppies. But Suzie really hates puppies. One of my friends in the group likes to say Suzie's motto is "We don't need no stinkin' puppies." ha ha One weekend at an adoption event, the puppies were moved from one exercise pen (X Pen) into the one she was in. Before I could get over to her and relocate her, she had nipped every puppy tail and ear within striking distance. All the puppies were pitifully whining and couldn't understand why she was soooo mean to them?? Even after I pulled her out, she stuck her long doxie nose into the xpen and continued her reign of terror. Saburo is estimated to be about 2 years old, but he's fun loving and happy so in Suzie's mind that equals PUPPY WHICH MUST BE TORMENTED. Saburo is twice her size and he sheepishly puts up with her antisocial behavior. With this background on Suzie, maybe it makes a lot more sense why the mere presence of Saburo's head on Suzie got me into super concerned mode. :)
Shortly after I noticed this, I heard a loud breathing sound coming from Suzie. It sounded like a snore, but didn't seem to originate in the same place as a snore. My Mom used to tell me stories when I was younger about how when someone takes their last breath it's called a "death rattle" because of the sound. Thanks Mom, that one is still freaking me out 30 years later! I was frantically emailing people at 12-1 in the morning and researching COPD online. I'm not even quite sure if that' what she's diagnosed with because right now she never even coughs. I couldn't find any good information online, but I did get a couple of emails back from people reminding me that if she was sleeping soundly and eating good she must be comfortable. I kept trying to go to sleep and putting my head on her side to listen to her breathing and putting my hand on her chest to feel the strength of her heartbeat. After a while, her breathing sounded just fine. Even though every indication was that she was fine, I was unable to sleep very well. I woke up every 45-60 minutes and then couldn't fall asleep for 30 or more. ugh I kept telling myself that she had eaten great and that's such an indication of a dog's health. Whenever a dog won't eat or drink, that's the time to get a little extra worried.
During the night, Suzie had moved from near my head to the foot of the bed. And this morning, suddenly bounding up the bed for a big 'ol kiss and immediately getting into belly rub position was the Suzie I know and love. She's also let Saburo know in no uncertain times this morning that she really doesn't like him and he'd better not forget it. :) Other than last night, Suzie has been acting great. She's been happy, perky, hungrier than ever and just participating in life like she always has. Maybe she was just really tired last night?
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