Hi there!
It's hard to believe that three weeks ago Sam was in the hospital and we were worried sick. Except for his funky hairdo, you'd never know it.
He's been home for 2 1/2 weeks now and is scheduled for one more follow-up appointment with his internist at the hospital (probably on Wednesday this week). He is finishing his last antibiotic up and is diving into his regular dry food with gusto. He has resumed his selective hearing and mischievious antics - for example, on Friday, I took Sam and Abby out in the back yard without leashes (Sam has been off leash mostly since he's been home from the hospital). I had LOTS of treats in my hand since Abby has been known to scamper off to investigate Cleveland Heights when not attached to something or someone sturdy. Both dogs were fine in the back yard (after I managed to get Sam to leave the neighbor's yard and join us in the back yard), but on the way back to the house, Sam disappeared. Really, he just disappeared. I couldn't find him anywhere, for several minutes I called and waited thinking he had gone around the garage or something. Finally, I ran Abby into the house (she had stayed right with me, thanks to the cookies) and I went around to the front of the house - no Sam. I headed further into the front yard, towards the street and as I looked east up Silsby - there was Sam! About four houses up the street on the sidewalk headed away from the house! Needless to say, I ran down to get him and he started trotting home as soon as I reached him, "I was just coming home anyway, Mom!". He ran up the driveway and then into the neighbor's yard again, finally I had to go get him and chase him back into our yard where he still took the long route back to the house.
So....I was very happy to be scolding and chasing my 13 year old dog who had been hospitalized two weeks earlier! However, Sam's off-leash privileges have been temporarily revoked pending some retraining - especially, "Come!"... Sam's selective hearing tends to kick in when he's outside (he can hear kibble hitting his bowl from a quarter mile, but if he's 20 feet away somehow he can't hear his name - hmmmmmm????). Someone suggested that his selective hearing has nothing to do with his age and everything to do with his gender - hmmmmm????? That explains a lot!
So thank you again, everyone, for asking how Sam has been doing and for continuing to keep us in your thoughts. I'm going to send a couple of new pictures in a separate e-mail. They were taken only a few days after Sam came home and he was thoroughly enjoying the new snow. One picture shows him rolling in the snow which he has done for his whole life - he drops down on his shoulder then completely onto his side and then proceeds to roll vigorously on his back - making a perfect doggie snow angel.
Jen, Mike, Sam, Abby, the cats, and Emmy
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