Day Two: July 14, 2009

7/14
Early morning:
Elvis slept completely through the night and ate all his breakfast. I decided when we got up to let him and Haley out and leave Skeeter in his crate. Randall was out watering the herb garden, and I got the morning feeding ready for him. Once he came in, I got him in his crate, put in his food, and out Skeeter came. Worked well.

He seems to want to be over by my desk, though Haley being on her big body pillow intrigues him, too. He's just not secure enough to try getting on there with her. We've laid a towel down by it and he's checked it out, but he's gotten back over by me. Maybe because he can back up to a wall and be close to being under something. That's fine. I reach down occasionally and pet him. He ignores Savoy (cat), but really needs the other dogs to go outside and feel secure in his surroundings.

Late morning:
I gave him another cough tablet. He's comfortable enough now to make a spot on Haley's pillow, so he's at one end and she's at the other. He's been following me around and is curious about what's going on. Today Randall and I will just do our normalstuff and he can watch. He's accepting more eye contact now, but he's still got the "flight" instinct in high gear. We'll just give him space until he's ready.

Afternoon
Elvis got to spend a couple of hours in his crate resting while Randall and I took Haley and Skeeter in with us to lay down. Howdy (the Devon hybrid) made a surprise appearance and wound up on my pillow for an hour while we read. She's the neediest of all the kids right now. She's all bent out of shape that there's another dog in the house, but I suspect she'll get over it in a few days. They all appreciated the down time with their humans, though.

When I got up from a nap, Randall still had Elvis in his crate. He said he looked up when he came in from reading and put his head back down, so he just left him alone. Got him out and outside and then everything went on as it has been.

Evening

He's much, much more relaxed tonight. He really hasn't coughed but a couple of times, but his last bout lasted long enough that I gave him a cough pill. He's been happily ensconced next to Haley on the pillow, and is even there when she's off poking around. He's spending less time as her shadow outside and I've noticed he isn't quite so attached inside. She's still his security blanket, but he's showing a little independence. I also started transitioning him over to Pro Plan and he apparently loves it. I'll be glad to get him off the store brand canned food and onto a better quality food. I'm also giving him 1/4 teaspoon of fiber powder to help firm up his stools. He's showing some interest, too, in the table scraps the other two get. He poked his head into a lasagna pan that I'd just emptied, but I can tell he's not sure what on earth was in there. His food horizons are very limited...which made giving a tablet in cheese a little tough last night. I expect that will change.

There have only been two or three accidents today. I can't say I put that down to anything other than less stress, but it is an improvement. I've also had Randall pick him up a couple of times today and give him to me so he could sit in my lap. There's already a huge difference in the "stiffness", though he's not at all happy yet with being picked up. Two or three times a day right now is enough, though, and since it's not triggering his cough, I think he's handling it pretty well.

One thing I definitely have to do tomorrow is call his vet and ask if he can take benadryl. Since he's on Lasix, I don't want to give it without checking, but there is something in our yard that he's allergic to. He periodically does the belly scratch and leg chewing right after he comes inside. Randall will mow this weekend which should help, but I'd like to get him a bit of relief before then.