7/24 Winston had a normal apetite and multiple potty breaks (8am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm, 7pm, 11pm) with fearful and anxious behavior half of the time.

7/25 I walked Winston a mile or so early (8am) before leaving him home for the day. He had multiple "potty" breaks because he was squating while walking. All were successful. While at work I discussed in great detail what has been happening with some of the trainers. It has been decided that it may be something in relation to the spine. Upon arriving home Winston was very excited. He seemed in distress at random times all night.

7/26 - will write later

Health/Behavior Journal

22nd - Winston had a very normal day at home on friday. He "pottied" about 6 times outside and was acting comfortable all day. We increased his diet and hopefully that will help with his mysterious weight loss. No accidents indoors.

23rd - Yesterday Winston accompanied me on the 1hr drive to Ikea. Although there was no where he wanted to "potty" he had no accidents! He was responsive and well behaved for the duration of our day but his tail remained down. After another chance to "potty" without success we were ready to leave. We undressed and had some water before the long trip home. Once back at the house he had another drink but began acting strange. I walked out of the house, and off of the backyard, like I have been doing to "potty" him and he appeared fearful of the back yard. Ears back, head andtail down. I said okay and we went back inside for awhile where he slept HEAVILY. I finally woke him up about 4 hours later to try to potty again. Again he acted fearful and I turned around and came back in, not pushing the situation. Winston fell back asleep shortly thereafter. I offered one last chance to "potty" before I went to sleep at 11:30pm. He was incredibly hesitant but followed me out to the yard with his head and tail down, ears back. Immediately after urinating he RAN back up the yard, across the deck and into the house. When I cought up to him he was wagging his tail and normal. There were no pm accidents again!

early am - Winston reportedly had a normal am "potty". He had a good appetite and is resting beside me. Winston pottied hesitently again around 10am. We began working on him shutting a new door in my house, he seems to be training fine. He is resting again.

Health/Behavior Journal

Early AM- Winston's first "potty" of the day was at 6:45am. He did both duties and came right back in to my room. My nurse reported that he seemed relaxed and normal. There was no straining to go to the bathroom. Winston was a little thrown off by my new shower (first time using it w/ him home) but after a few seconds he laid down on his bed across the room. He ate 3cups of Nutro for breakfast around 8:15am, and got another "potty" break which he defecated for the second time. He has been normal all morning.

First Day Home!

Well, yesterday around 2pm I received word from Palmyra that I could come to pick Winston up anytime between 5 and 7pm. Although they were unable to give me any word about how the tests went, I was nothing less than ecstatic to get my boy back! After a long day of errands we finally made it to the vets office. I think that the five minute wait to get him was the longest wait of my life. Dr. Clemens arrived with a shrug and look of confusion. The test results show that nothing is wrong with SSD Winston. Everything came back fine and that leads him to believe that it is behavioral. In saying that I will be going back to normalcy. Although Winston will be working full time again there are a few changes that we are going to make. Incase the urinating was by some chance a behavoiral act, he will be tethered to my bed for a week or so, as well as only pottied when I offer and not at his own discretion. I will also up his food again, brining his total to three cups plus treats. I will also make a point to journal his behavior daily. When the vet tech brought Winston back I was overwhelmed with the same feeling that I got when we met. He was so excited that he leaped straight onto my lap instead of his polite calm up onto my footplates. He continued to go back and forth between Laurel and I and wiggling his entire body. I gave him his new duck and he immediately settled and the best part was his wagging tail for the remainder of the evening. Winston isn't much of a tail wagger, so I love when he does.

7/19/06
Winston pottied when offered twice between 8pm and 11pm. He was relaxed and followed me from room to room. He was allowed free range during the night and followed the "nurse" command twice. He was reportedly a normal "Winston" from midnight - 8am. I will update my nurses on the new protocal tonight.

7/20/06
early am- Winston was eager to eat this am and finished his old amount of food in his normal amount of time. I will up his food tomorrow morning via his bowl and today through treats. He has slept on his bed and responded to commands normal all morning. I will offer him a potty break at 11am again. I would also like to try to get him dressed and out in public today. We will begin tethering tonight.
early pm- Winston pottied at 11am when I took him out. It was average amount, brighter yellow, no straining. While outside to potty at 11 I did a difficult "nurse". No one inside knew I was practicing which makes it much more authentic. He ran up the yard, across the deck and barked to get someones attention. He did not seem to mind running after urinating and there were no obvious stress signals. We took a walk (1/2 the distance we usually do) around our neighborhood. I offered him a potty before we left, he did not take it. Half way through the walk I noticed him showing signs of needing to potty so as soon as I got to a field I let him go. He went a small amount, less yellow, no straining. After arriving home he "spoke" to get attention so that my sister knew to let me in. He will not drink now that we are home though. He is panting and it was certainly warm out. He rests but follows me from room to room.
evening- Winston was incredibly excited to get. He worked as I expected after having a 2month break. He didn't "potty" at Barnes and Noble but we had no accident. When we got home I took him outside and he pottied before coming inside to get a large drink. He slept in my room with me and was normal during our dinner time. Around 6:30 we got ready again and went to the Pottery Works. He "pottied" outside before entering. He was very normal the entire evening. We had to wait outside for an hour in order to move a car that had my conversion van parked in and Winston was patient the whole time. We did some training for "Where's Laurel?". He seemed to not feel well once we got back to my house. He did potty but immediately afterwards his ears went back and he ran into the house. He found a toy and got onto the couch.
late pm- Winston spent the night beside my bed. His last potty was 11:30pm (he only urinated). He was calm and slept the entire night.

Another Night At Palmyra

Yesterday Palmyra called to inform me that Winston had to stay at the clinic for another night of testing, with the possibility of two or three more nights.  She told me that she was unable to give me much information about the results of the previously performed tests other than the doctor is concerned and needed to run more.  Winston was schedule for two tests to be performed last night and this morning.  First being a water deprivation test and second being an ATCH to test of Addison's disease as well as a disease that I had never heard of.  They said Winston was resting comfortably (i'm sure they say that to everyone) but that he had a hard time when I left yesterday.  I am trying so hard to stay busy and not think about everything.  I'll call around 2 o'clock today.

I miss my old man...

Overnight studies at the Palmyra

After a long weekend of lots of indoor potty accidents my anxiety for today's visit was very built up.  Winston had lost another pound and I was ready to meet Dr. Clements.  Luckily the wait was short and Dr. Clements was wasting no time in listening to my problems.  After explaining the past 8wks to 12wks he immediately decided to begin a 24 hour segment of thorough tests. He is redoing all of their studies as well as running an EKG and an ultra sound.  When I asked when he would like me to schedule the tests he told me that there was no time to lose and that he would be starting them right away.  Leaving Winston was much harder than I expected it to be, but I know not only has Winston been there before, so has every other SSD. That's all for now, i'll update as soon as I hear from the vet.

Sick Boy (part 5)

Well, Winston had his x-rays and appointment at SSD's vet scheduled for the end of next week when our plans changed drastically. This morning on our walk he was sniffing the ground obsessively. This is NOT like Winston even when he has to urinate badly. I stopped and told him to "Go Potty" so instinctively he squatted and I immediately noted straining. To no avail he went at most a tablespoon. His urine was very dark. I hoped he was just marking a spot in someone elses yard and attempted to carry on our walk. About 5 feet up the road he started signalling that he had to "Go Potty" again, so I offered him another chance in another yard. Once again he strained and only a few drops came out. The third time that this happened I called my local vet and turned towards home. They said they wanted to see him immediately. After calling them I called Palmyria, SSD's vet and they moved his appointment up to this monday night. My local vet did a chest and abdomen xray as well as cathetorized him to check for a blockage. Everything came back clear, but he still hasn't urinated. He is home and resting now. This is going to be the longest three days of my life...

Month Update

Well in the past month Winston has been acting fine and has only had one accident. He has had a hard time because of all of the fireworks but luckily our friend Sam reccomended Rescue Remedy as a relaxent. It has been working wonderfully! Winston seems to be much more relaxed and calm but still able to work. My vet said this was an excellent option as well. Because Winston has been having accidents we do not go out in public very often. We will not go to hospitals, grocery stores, or anywhere that pottying isn't very close to the door. We did go out to lunch a few weeks ago which was a perfect photo oppurtunity.



Other than that this month we have been spending a lot of time outdoors.



We took a few trips down to a creek near my house.



We also spent a week at the MDA's Summer Camp in philly, PA with SSD Ross, CPL Dylan, and SSD Sequoia.