Fourth of July and then some

Oh no, fireworks!

So I was looking towards the fourth with a little more trepidation than usual, since I wasn't entirely sure what to expect out of Comet and the kittens. As it turns out.. I had nothing to worry about. I'm sure Ma would have slapped my hands and said "well DUH." In any case, we had a very nasty wet rainy day on the fourth.. and though Jinx was over to keep him busy, both dogs desperately needed a walk. By the time the rain had subsided enough to get some of the kinks out of their legs.. it was closer to 8PM and the WHOLE neighborhood was lit up with firecrackers. I'm talking fireworks being shot off not 5ft from where I stood at one point. Normally I wouldn't have ventured into this, if only for the smoke clogging the air and the possibility of a badly aimed firework, but by the time it became dangerous enough to turn around, we were already on our way out of the complex.. so we trudged forward.

Comet was a champ, totally and completely in control. I am utterly impressed with his nature and how he took everything in stride. His leash manners were perfect and I couldn't have asked for a better companion.

He ate and slept soundly that night and only would periodically pause when a particularly loud firework went off--and at most he tilted his head, haha.

Unfortunately.. Comet came down ill not long after, and caused me a great deal of panic and anxiety. His stools were acidic and causing him rectal inflammation. I have since dewormed him with Safe-guard, which because it utilized fenbendazole, will take out quite a few bacterial infections if they're present. Luckily we had turned in a stool sample to the vet previous to his sudden illness, and he was positive for Giardia. I have combed every inch of my house, my yard.. toys, bowls, EVERYTHING, in order to eliminate residual sources from his personal areas. I don't know where he was infected, but it has now passed and his energy levels are higher than ever. Jinx has also been dewormed with safeguard, though she shows no signs of parasitic/bacterial infection, just to be sure.

I can't express how relieved I am now that he's healthy, that whole week was a nightmare--not being able to rouse him long enough to go outside, watching him whine as he tried to eliminate. It was almost too much.

Since then life has been a breeze.. compared to that week, I can handle anything it feels like! He's bouncy and responding to training very well, and eating like a champ. Heres to hoping for nothing but positive posts here on out, huh?

Comfortable

Settled in and wreaking havoc!

Its been over a week now and the house has been retrofitted a few times to fit his escapee tendencies, and he's begun to really relax in his chosen settings. He's allowed the kitchen, porch, and backyard in separate doses until he can learn to control himself, haha. I have a new set of photos that were uploaded, yet however uploaded to the wrong folder.. I'll be transferring them so they're more easily discernible.

Some good news, in the very least. It has become more and more obvious that his undescended testicles are not going to stay offended for long, as they make flashy appearances every once and a while. Our recent visit to the vet confirmed this, as well, as even though he decided to hide them once more, she could still identify them in place. This particular vet visit revealed much of what we expected - alot of "Oh my, he's big" and explaining precisely what kind of breed a Shiloh is. Its rather funny, to me at least, since Mark gets exasperated with my recited litany every time someone asks me what a Shiloh is. I refuse to just let the subject drop without getting my 2 cents in worth of education :P

As for health, his weight has increased to approximately 18lbs (varying based on whether he's eaten recently or not.. xD), yet still is very touch and go about eating. We've found he's very very picky, and will need some sterner obligation to feed. I've, therefore, begun the training on being released from the crate once he's eaten from the bowl.. with some time, he'll learn that the only way to get released will be to finish his meal. It stirs up some negativity about the crate, but he already harbors some resentment to be crated in the middle of the day when the cats are much, much more interesting .. :P I'm not worried, the late-night crying has long since ceased.

Perhaps we'll have a fresh wave of exciting news in a week, he'll be attending Puppy Playtime for the first time tomorrow morning (My workplace offers a safe puppy socialization hour to educate and get non-rabies vaccinated puppies some time out). Here's to hoping he doesn't scare the more touchy pet parents off with his loud mouth!!