Our other girl

Our dog, Elliot, has a history of annoying me. Mostly she has annoyed me over the years with her food stealing. If you leave out something edible, or something that smells like it might be edible, she is probably going to eat it. It has driven me crazy over the years.

But she is a nice dog. I never worry about her with the kids. And she's quiet; she doesn't bark much. And she flips her bowl when she's hungry or out of water. She sneaks on the couch after we've gone to bed because we don't usually let her on it during the day. She often jumps on the bed after Bryan leaves in the morning to enjoy his warm spot. She always greets people at the back door with something, anything, in her mouth. She only bothers Bryan in the middle of the night if she has to go out (score extra on that one). She has a special sound she makes when she sees a deer in the yard. She helped us rid our roof of raccoons by alerting us when they were out of their nest so we could go out and block it before they could get back in. She earns her keep by cleaning up after the kids (brooms are for suckers if you ask me). She's a good girl.

So it kills me when she is not well. And today she is not well. She is at the animal hospital getting fluids because she wouldn't eat or drink for more than 2 days and was severely dehydrated. She is still in a "critical" state, but we are hopeful for a full recovery. They think she has Addison's disease based on all the symptoms she is having now as well as all the weird things that have been going on over the past few months (originally the vet thought maybe arthritis). We should find out soon whether she for sure has this disease, which is treatable but not curable. As long as she makes it through the night and survives this "crisis" as it's formally called, she should be okay.

Long effing day today. Say some doggie prayers for her!!