It's been an interesting summer. As I mentioned in the last blog, Jake was a pretty sick little pup. Then Jeff went to Hong Kong for a week and Abigail had surgery on both of her feet. I'm tired and I haven't really done anything all summer. But enought about me, here's the latest on Jake.....
After the first round of antibiotics, steroids, and "geritol", Jake improved. I took him back for another round of blood work last week and Jake was his old perky self while waiting in the waiting room. Instead of hiding behind my legs, he was trying to make friends with every other person and dog that walked in. Jake is just a friendly kind of guy. I like to think he takes after me because when I sit in a place with other people around, I'm usually going to find someone to talk to. I like to talk. A lot. So I started chatting with the lady sitting across from me. She was a petite lady with blond hair and was holding the cutest little white dog. The lady was dressed nicely and her dog had a little bow in her hair. This is the type of lady that doesn't just cross her legs or slumps. She sits up straight and only crosses her legs at the ankles. Picture perfect. Another lady came in and sat down next to her. Lady #2 was very talkative and made a running commentary on everyone and everything. I like those kind of people. (since this blog is about Jake, I won't write about the time I spent 4 hours sitting on a bench at the Kemah Boardwalk talking to possibly one of the funniest ladies I have ever met. While we were both waiting on our kids, she made comments about everyone at the Boardwalk that day. No one was spared....and it was hysterical) Anyway, lady #2 had brown hair and a cute brown and white pekingese who seemed to be making his own commentary about the other dogs. He let out little yelps and yaps whenever he thought it was appropriate. Next was a man bringing (actually, he was dragging) a cute little shih tzu. When it was obvious the dog wasn't going to come in on her own, the man picked her up and put her over his shoulder like a baby. So cute. He sat next to me, patting the dog on the back like he was burping her. Jake pretty much ignored her, he was still trying to get to the talkative pekingese. The man was interesting because he was wearing black shorts and a black and white t-shirt and his dog was black and white. He had black hair and a beard and his dog was in dire need of a haircut herself. When he was holding her, she almost just blended in.
Then it hit me. Wait a minute, that dog looks just like her owner! Then I looked at the petite, well groomed, blond lady and her petite, well groomed blond dog. Then I looked at lady #2 with her brown hair and running commentary and her brown little pekingese with his running commentary. Unbelievable! Dogs really do look like their owners! I've written about people at the dog park and how some dogs and owners seem to share certain personality traits, but this was different. These dogs really did LOOK like their owners! While I was pondering this, a man that looked like and was built like the famous fighter Oscar De La Hoya came in carrying a laundry basket. A laundry basket can only mean one thing...puppies! The puppies got everyones attention and we all had to get a look. Pekingese lady (of course) asked what kind of puppies they were. No kidding....they were boxers! Ok, at this point I was starting to giggle a little. Then, in walked a thin, frail, timid looking little lady. She had a puff of bleached blond hair on the top of her head. She pulled in a thin, frail, timid looking poodle....with a puff of white hair on the top of his head. She signed in and sat down. Her poodle was a "standard", easily the biggest dog in the room at this point. But honestly, it looked like the pekingese could have snapped him like a twig if he wanted to. While poodle lady was filling out paper work, Jake thought he would go over and welcome them. Poodle did not like it one bit and let out a hefty growl, then hid behind his owner's legs. Pekingnese lady kept saying, "Oh, you're not a friendly dog at all are you? Not a friendly dog. You don't want to be friends, do you?" and other things. The poodle owner was totally ignoring her dog's growling and Pekingese lady's comments. Actually, I think if she could have growled at Pekingese lady, she would have.
After all these case studies, I had to seriously look at Jake. Just how much did I favor him? Or maybe he doesn't look like me. Maybe he looks more like Abigail or Jeff. He's their dog, too. When I look at him, I think he has a cute, happy, slightly stupid look about him. Then I started to really worry. Do I look slightly stupid? One thing I did notice: because of his schnauzer/beagle coloring, he has dark roots. Ok, we do share that feature. But then it was time to go back and visit with Wonderful Vet.
WV took more blood from Jake and we got the results the next day. His blood levels had improved all across the board. Still not where they should be, but they are improving. WV is now pretty sure he ate something he shouldn't have. The plan for now is keeping him on antibiotics for another 2 weeks and continue with the geritol. We go back in a few weeks for another check up.
Before I left, I thought about asking WV and his staff if they have ever noticed the whole "dogs look like their owners" myth. But then in my mind I pictured them looking at me, looking at Jake, looking back at me and decided I better not ask.
