We really do want a dog, right?!

One of the fun things Jason and I get to do every now and then (or every couple weeks, it's seemed like lately) is housesit. Usually the only reason people need someone to housesit is if they have pets. Well, two pups that we get to hang out with a lot are Logan (the Golden Retriever) and Bailey (the Chocolate Lab). They are two of the sweetest dogs ever!


Sweet Bailey has had some hip problems for a while now. Every time we come, we end up giving her a few pain pills. She usually calms down and feels fine after 30 minutes or so. Well, last night Jason and I noticed that Bailey was panting/whining a lot. We thought it might be the weather... you know how dogs get anxious in thunderstorms. But she kept pacing, and then we noticed that every time she tried to sit down, she would let out a really loud yelp. We had already given her a pain pill, and the directions said that she could not have any more than 2 in 24 hours. So we gave her another one, but about an hour and a half later, she still had not sat down, and was still pacing and panting (she was probably in a lot of pain). Poor Bailey seriously had not sat down in over 4 hours. So we called the 24 hour Webster Groves Animal Hospital where they typically take the pups, and the vet said we should probably bring her in...

Luckily the emergency vet doesn't take quite as long as the human ER. We were seen in about 15 minutes, and vet was able to give us some stronger pain medicine/sedative so that she would finally feel better and hopefully lie down. We gave it to her when we got home, and we really really wanted to stay awake until we saw her lie down by herself. Well at 1 a.m. she still had not lied down, and Jason and I were exhausted. We finally went to bed and just hoped that she would calm down and fall asleep. I don't know how long it took but when I went to let the dogs out at 6:30 this morning, she was finally lying down... but of course she couldn't get up. You should have seen me trying to lift a 93 lb (yes 93 pounds) dog off the ground.

Jason and I love these dogs and really really want our own dog, but we certainly got a look at the energy they take, the health issues that can come up, and the cost of medical care! Maybe it's a good thing that we still have almost a year before we can get a dog. I think I need a nap.