A Night to Forget!

Sunday night I returned home from church to find that something horrible had happened in my house. See, in keeping with the spirit of harvest-autumn-halloween time, I have a little black cauldron sitting by the TV. In the cauldron were about 20 peanut butter kisses. You know, the ones in the orange and black wrappers. I don't really like them--they're too taffy-ish for me. But anyway, they served as more of a decoration than a snack, and I planned to give them to the cute little trick-or-treaters.

WELL, if you've ever had a dog, and especially an oversized one, you know that they will eat (or attempt to eat) anything and everything consumable in sight. Sunday night was no different. I came home to find my little cauldron EMPTY. My stupid dog ate every last one of those peanut butter kisses. . . wrappers included!

No one but Nate and Trango can possibly understand how livid I was that night. I rightfully would have been called abusive, for I let Trango know in no uncertain terms that his behavior was very, very bad. I told him he could get sick and die, for all I care! And he was banished to the basement for the night.

Well, last night I got home about 6:30. Trango kept shaking his head nonstop. He was driving me crazy! Worse, I could tell that HE was going crazy. I figured he had ear mites or something. Gross. Nate left at 8, and I got busy on my assignment (it's done, by the way!). But Trango's shaking and whining and scratching were so distracting that I banished him again to the basement so I could finish. When I did finish, about 10:30, I went to see how he was doing.

That dog's face was so swollen that he looked like a completely different breed. His eyes were really puffy, and he was rubbing at his eyes and ears. I started to get worried! I took him outside, and he did his business. Then, he started rolling in the grass, rubbing his face in the ground and whimpering. I brought him inside and petted him. The only time he stopped scratching and shaking his head was when I rubbed his chest and belly. Now it's 11, and his eyes have almost disappeared. His ears are the thickness of a chicken breast. I'm telling you, I felt SO BAD. I actually cried a little. I thought maybe he was reacting to all the candy.

I called Nate and told him to get home, and we took Trango to the emergency vet at 11:45. The vet said a spider or a bee or some other insect stung/bit him. He also had a fever and a couple ear infections in both ears. 160 bucks, 90 minutes, and 2 injections later, Trango is safe at home, relaxing and recovering. One ear and a lip are still puffy, but he's not nearly as agitated.

Anyway, I feel pretty terrible about how hard I was on him. He is, after all, just a dog. . . the only one I've got.