Slowing Down

Nope not slowing down in speed or energy. Their growth is slowing a bit. I have guessed Miles to weigh 50lbs or more based on his previous growth. When he was actually weighed today he was 48.7. So instead of a couple of lbs a week it looks like it has slowed to around a lb a week for the last few weeks.

Today's weight might have been a little low because of an "incident". Miles brother Otto is staying with us for a week while his parents are out of town. His adult greyhound housemate Shug is here too.

I had spotted the wet neck boys playing keep away with something that looked like dry dog poop. I tried to get it from them but Miles saw me coming and ran into the bushes and hid it. When I got to the bushes he was sitting with his paws crossed looking at me. No dried dog poo anywhere to be found. Not wanting the pups to become the dreaded poop eaters, I instantly cleaned every tiny piece of poo up. The only piece I didn't find was the one hidden in the bushes.

Before lunch the pups went out to do their business and Miles comes running out of the bushes with that piece of poop in his mouth and Otto tugging on it. I ran over and grabbed his collar so I could inspect it, trying to figure out how I was going to get it without touching it. When I looked closer I saw that it was actually a mushroom. Very large shriveled and dried up. Then I grabbed it and smelled it to be sure. Yep smelled like a mushroom too. It was mostly whole but there were some pieces missing. ACK! Probably poisonous!

I left the pups outside and grabbed the Hydrogen Peroxide bottle. They each got about a tablespoon or so which was all that was left in the bottom of the bottle. I held them in the grass by their collars so when they threw up it would be easy to clean. No throw up though and no more peroxide in the bottle. After about 4 minutes I released the hounds so I could go look for another bottle of peroxide figuring I had not gotten enough in them. By the time I got the other bottle they had both hacked up their breakfast all over the porch. Miles had some suspicious bits that could have been mushroom but also could have been stick or grass.

After a few minutes of no throwing up I gave both pups activated charcoal to absorb any toxins that might still be in them from the mushroom. No lunch for the boys. After they held down the charcoal for 15 minutes or so I gave them each a dog biscuit. They ended up getting a half a lunch at 4pm after I was sure they weren't still under the influence of the hydrogen peroxide. Since he eats over a lb at each meal Miles would probably have weighed exactly 50lbs if he hadn't thrown up all his breakfast and had only half a lunch. I am sure he will gain it back at dinner. LOL We weighed Otto too and he was 4lbs lighter than Miles but looks like he is as tall. Miles is a little over 24 inches at the shoulder now.

It is 8pm and both pups are doing great. Now that it is cooler they are running wild outside and having a great time. They don't seem to be having any bad effects from the mushroom incident but I will keep my eye on them for the next two days for any weirdness. I did some research on the mushroom and it looks like one that isn't even toxic so all the throwing up may have been for nothing. Miles has run from me a couple of times, probably thinking I am going to pour some foul liquid down his throat again and make him sick. Or maybe he is thinking I am going to steal another "prize" from him. LOL