July 24-26, Friday-Sunday

Friday

Elvis is still a bit skittery this morning. I told Randall we'd just let him step back and treat him the way we did a few days ago. Not sure what's caused this, but it's not really unexpected, and it's not as bad as it could be. He still comes up to you, lets you come up to him and wants reassurance from people. I'm just seeing more whites of his eyes than I did a couple of days ago and he seems to panic a bit easier. We'll just let him take things at his own pace until he's ready to move forward.

I'm also going to start giving him 2 tbsp of food in the morning and the 1 1/2 tbsp at night. He's down to 7.8 which is about a half a pound less than yesterday. I really don't want him dropping below 8 if I can help it.

He just flat wouldn't settle down when we started our movie tonight. Not sure what was up, but he wanted up and then wanted down. Never really would settle, though he obviously wanted to be petted and watch TV (he really likes TVs and screensavers LOL)

Saturday

Gave him a cough pill this morning. This wasn't triggered by stress, and his cough wasn't bad, but it was soft and persistent. He came in from outside with it, so I figure something out there may have triggered it. No reason to keep that going when there's a quick fix for it.

One thing we've noticed over the last couple of days since he's gone backwards a bit is that he's really pinged in on me (more than in the past) and is, for some reason, uneasy with Randall. We've always figured he was really a woman's dog, but this sudden nervousness around Randall is peculiar. We're going to work with this to see it we can get him over it. It's very strange.

He had his first nail clipping today. I was going to wait until next week, but everyones nails really needed to be cut, so I hoisted him up in my lap and did him first. I can't say he really knew what I was doing, but he handled it very well. I'm pleased because I was really afraid this would freak him out, and then I'd spend the next several days trying to get him over it. I'll just have to remember to always do him before Skeeter because that dog screams like you're cutting his nails off at the knee. LOL

Sunday

Elvis is a bit more skittish than usual today. We had a crating breakdown last night with Haley who got in serious trouble for her antics. Unfortunately, Elvis was still out and about when it happened, so even though he got picked up and hugged and reassured after Haley finally got in her crate, he was still a bit unhappy. He came out just fine this morning, but I can see he's still having some reservations which means he's a little more sensitive to loud noises than usual.

He's also still hesitant around Randall...which we can't really figure out unless he's still pinged in on the cookie sheet incident of several days ago. He's unhappy if Randall stands up and comes to him, but he's fine if Randall is sitting in a chair or on the sofa. He'll come up to him. He'll sit in his lap. He's just not happy if Randall instigates the contact from a standing position. I think we're going to have to concentrate on that over the next few days and see if we can't get him to accept that a bit more.

I've pretty well got a baseline weight established on him after weighing him at the same time every day for a week. His weight seems most stable between 8-9 pounds, and I've had one day right below 8 and two days at 10. The weight fluctuation does seem to be caused by his heart condition, so what I plan on doing is aim at the 8-9 pounds as the normal weight and watch him if he goes above that for more than a couple of days.

I'll also call Kim on Monday afternoon to verify that we can pick up another batch of Lasix on Tuesday or Wednesday. I definitely prefer the liquid since he doesn't take food out of my hand which makes a pill a little more difficult. I'll post another update mid- to late week.