How I Got Sick

Saturday afternoon the weather got really hot. Some of the other dogs who were hunting did not feel like finding all of their birds, so when everyone was done, Mommy took me back out with another Hunter and his dog to "clean up the field". (That means to find all the birds that were placed in the field but that were not found by the dogs). I didn't mind that it was hot and I stayed out with Mommy until we had found as many birds as we could. When we were done Mommy made sure that I drank plenty of fresh water, and she even hosed me down with a water hose to make sure that I was nice and cool. Then we went back to our campground to sleep in our tent again, and on Sunday morning we went back to the Hunting Trial.

Instead of birds, the dogs were going to hunt for rabbits on Sunday. Not real rabbits, but simulated rabbits using a scented dummy and a lure coursing machine. Mommy would not let me enter that Hunting Trial because we do not hunt rabbits at home. In fact, Mommy and Daddy used to raise rabbits and some of their rabbits got out of the barn and now they live wild in our barnyard. Mommy does not want me to chase them, and she also doesn't want me to chase wild rabbits when we are out walking around our farm. But since Mommy is learning how to be a Hunting Dog Judge we went back on Sunday so that she could Watch and Learn.

Mommy set up my ex-pen next to the van and fed me my breakfast. Sometimes when we are at home we eat Raw Meat and Bones, and sometimes we eat kibble. When we are travelling Mommy usually just brings my kibble, so that is what I got for my breakfast. Then Mommy went out to the field. When she came back to check on me later she saw that I had only eaten half of my food. She thought that maybe I was too excited by all of the other dogs to eat, so she was only a little worried about me.

After the Hunting Trial was over we drove to the hotel where the National Specialty was being held and we checked into a very nice hotel room. After we were all moved in Mommy fed me my supper, but I did not want to eat any of it. Then Mommy got really worried because I have never missed a meal in my whole entire life, and finally, at 10 o'clock p.m., she called my vet at home. We are really lucky that I have a vet who cares enough about me that she does not mind us calling her at home at night, and no matter where we are, Mommy always calls my vet first before she will take me to a different vet. My vet talked to Mommy and had her take my temperature, check my gums, and a few other things as well. After she heard about the Hunting Trial she decided that I must have gotten dehydrated and had a little heat exhaustion from hunting on Saturday afternoon when it was so hot. She said that just drinking lots of water was not enough to replace all of the electrolytes that I had lost. She told Mommy to go to the store and get me some Gatorade and Pedialyte. Mommy also got some ground beef to see if I would eat that. When she got back to the hotel she mixed in some Pedialyte with some beef and I did manage to eat a little of it, but I wasn't very hungry 'cause I did not feel too good. Mommy wanted to take me back home, but my vet said we should stay and see if I felt better so that we would not have to miss the entire show. Plus, she said if I was sick, it would not be good to make me ride all the way home in the car because I was still getting carsick.

So, we stayed for the Dog Show, and I got to eat ground beef with Gatorade and Pedialyte in it all week long. Now Mommy has added electrolyte replacers to my first aid kit, just in case she needs to give them to me in the future. Mommy says it was hard way to learn a lesson about heat exhaustion and dehydration, but it all ended well and I was okay by the time we left to drive back home, and we did not have to miss the Dog Show after all.