What a Fantastic Weekend!

Daddy's girls

Justin’s parents are on vacation this week, so we are returning the pet-sitting favor they did for us recently by house-sitting and watching their 16 year-old babies, a Boxer mix named Samantha and their beautiful, black kitty, Salem.  Sam and Margot are staying at the house with us, of course, and it kind of feels like we’re all on a sort of mini-vacation together.  I especially love it for our girls because they love spending time on the screened-in, wrap-around porch (as do I) and in Justin’s parents’ big, fenced-in back yard. 

This past Saturday was one of the nicest Saturday’s we’ve had in a LONG time.  It was the annual Chili Fest, held in downtown Huntington.  Lots of vendors line 3^rd Avenue serving various kinds of chili and other local fare (I hate my first funnel cake!), while musicians play in Pullman Square throughout the day.  Between musical performances, there are various contests held, concluding with the big chili contest winner announcement at the end of the evening.  Unfortunately, because I’ve been a wedding photographer for the past eight years, I have only been able to attend one or two Chili Fests because I usually had to shoot a wedding on that day.  So, this year, not only was I excited to be able to attend, but Justin and I decided to take Margot and make this her first big, “official” public outing!

Margot the socialite at Chili Fest.

Mind you, Margot is still not cleared to socialize with other dogs or in public parks for another two and a half weeks, but Chili Fest only comes once a year, and the entire event takes place on paved roads and sidewalks.  Plus, she HAS had the majority of her vaccinations at this point; therefore, we decided to let our guard down just a bit for this one, special occasion (although, even as I’m typing this, I’m cringing at the fact that we took that risk).  Thankfully, Margot hasn’t shown any signs of Parvo or any other health concerns since the Chili Fest, so I think it’s safe to say that she’s going to be fine.  (whew!)

My "kiddos" at Chili Fest!  (Ashley and Margot)

Anyway, I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful Margot was at the Chili Fest.  I let Justin have the honor of walking her because I knew she’d probably receive a ton of attention, and I wanted Justin to be able to enjoy that attention, as well.  And boy, was Margot ever a hit at the Chili Fest!  Justin, Ashley, and I couldn’t walk more than a few feet before someone would stop us and ask if they could pet Margot.  At one point, Justin and Margot literally became surrounded in the middle of the street as we were trying to cross, and I said to Ashley as we stood there waiting, “We should have just set up a booth for Margot!”  I loved watching Justin and Margot receive so much attention, though.  I could tell that Justin enjoyed telling people about her (what breed she is, her age, explaining why her ears aren’t cropped, etc.), and Margot was very impressive in the way she handled all of the attention from so many strangers.  At first, I was afraid that the large crowd might intimidate her and make her a little nervous, but she was calm, curious, and even downright polite to every stranger she met!  Anytime someone extended their hand to pet her, whether it was an adult or a child, Margot simply sat and gladly welcomed their affection.   Justin was especially pleased with how well she behaved with children.  She never got too excited or overly playful, not even with the handful of other dogs she encountered (although, because I was still trying to be at least a little bit cautious, I wouldn’t let Margot do more than just briefly sniff other dogs).  In fact, Margot was so well behaved that several people mistakenly thought she was an adult Miniature Pinscher, and they were shocked to learn that she was only a 13 week-old Doberman puppy.   Yes, I hate to be one of “those mothers,” but I have to say that Margot truly was a perfect little angel that day.  Justin and I are so proud of her. 



The best family midday nap EVER!

When we returned from the Chili Fest, we were all pretty exhausted, and Justin, Sam, Margot, and I all fell asleep on the outdoor porch furniture that afternoon.  It was probably one of the most pleasant, relaxing midday naps I’ve ever had in my life.  The weather was sunny and beautiful, in the mid- to high-70’s, and I loved hearing the leaves rustling on the trees in the back yard whenever a nice, cool breeze blew through.  In fact, napping on the screened-in porch is probably going to be a daily activity for me until Justin’s parents come home, as Sam, Margot, and I enjoyed yet another outdoor midday nap yesterday afternoon, as well. 



Believe it or not, this is a very good thing!

Overall, I honestly can’t remember the last time we enjoyed such a nice weekend.  Sam and Margot both seem very happy, and they have even spent at least several minutes playing together every single day since that first time they played together last week!  Plus, ever since Sam decided to engage in a little daily playtime with Margot, Margot has been much less annoying and demanding of Sam’s attention.  I have jokingly said that Sam has probably just decided that if she can’t beat her, she might as well join her, like, “Okay, little one.  Let’s get this playtime over with so you’ll leave me alone for the rest of the night….”  Of course, I’d rather believe that Margot has successfully managed to bring out Sam’s “inner child” and that Sam actually enjoys their playtime as much as Margot, and I honestly think she does.  You should see the smile on my face whenever those two are playing, too.  To say that it makes me very happy would be quite an understatement.  :)



Feeling Pretty Low

We made it back home to WV from our vacation in Emerald Isle, NC this past Friday evening.  I wish I could tell you that I had a fantastic time, but unfortunately I had to go to the beach with a VERY heavy heart this year.  Don’t get me wrong, the beach was beautiful, the house was amazing, my friends were awesome (all 15 of them), and my little brother even proposed to his girlfriend, Kristy!   Like I said, though, it was just very unfortunate that my heart wasn’t 100% into the vacation this year due to the sudden loss of my Jocie the day before we left and, of course, the tragic loss of my Lou just a month prior to that.  Still, I tried to put on a happy face and not think about the sadness for the majority of our vacation, but it all sunk in pretty hard during the drive home.

All of us in Emerald Isle, NC, 2012

I also wish I could tell you that my mood improved greatly once I was reunited with Margot and Sam, but again, unfortunately I cannot.  Although I was VERY happy to see Sam and Margot again, my heart still remains heavy, as I have had to make a very difficult decision this past weekend.   Margot has basically become obsessed with Sam and will NOT leave her alone.  It’s very sad because she is only being a normal puppy and wanting Sam to play with her, but it truly is making Sam’s life a living Hell.  Margot is constantly nipping at her, climbing all over her, and running circles around her, which is driving Sam crazy.  I did some reading about this type of situation online, and everything advises against yelling at Margot because it might really confuse her, as she is merely behaving like a normal, playful puppy.  The articles I’ve read said that the best thing to do is separate the older dog from the puppy while the puppy is being playful, but that has proven to be a problem for us because Sam doesn’t like spending time alone.  We’ve tried allowing Sam to go upstairs by herself in order to get away from Margot for a while, but if Justin and I BOTH are not upstairs with her, she doesn’t want to stay up there.  She’ll come back down to the baby gate and cry until we let her back down, despite knowing that the puppy is going to continue picking on her. 



Reunited and it feels so gooood!



Fortunately, Justin’s mother apparently fell in LOVE with our Sam while she babysat the girls for us last week.  She loves how affectionate Sam is, and she even let Sam sleep in the bed with her at night, which is Sam’s idea of HEAVEN.  Not only that, but Sam also loved spending her days lounging on Justin’s parents’ screened-in wrap-around porch and enjoyed their large, fenced-in back yard.  Therefore, I am considering a sort of “joint custody” arrangement between us and Justin’s parents because not only do I feel like it might make Sam much happier, but Justin’s mother has mentioned several times how much she misses Sam ever since we picked her up last Friday. 

Even as I type this, though, the thought of not having Sam at home with me 24/7 makes my heart ache, which is why I’m only considering doing this on a trial basis for now.  The thing is, I really don’t know how much time Sam has left, and I’d much rather her spend her golden years enjoying a big back yard, chillin’ out on a screened-in porch, and soaking up the tons of affection that I know Justin’s mother will give her than spend her final days constantly trying to avoid the annoyance of an incessantly nipping, rambunctious puppy.  Believe me, I would not be giving this “joint custody” idea one ounce of consideration if I didn’t feel like it would make Sam a million times happier, and everyone who has seen Margot pestering Sam over the last couple of days has agreed with me 100% that it is probably a good idea.  So, starting tonight, we’re going to try leaving Sam with Justin’s parents during the week, and then we’ll bring her home on the weekends.  If Sam seems even the least bit upset about being away from home, I will just have to figure out something else.  However, if Sam truly seems happier staying with Justin’s parents, no matter how I’ll miss her or how much my heart will ache, at least I will know she’s happy.  (Ugh.  I’m tearing up just thinking about this.)

I really do wish I could have written a happier post about how much fun we had at the beach and how great things are now that we’re back home, but as you’ve probably gathered by now, this has basically been the worse summer of my life.  For the record, I’m normally a very optimistic person, and finding silver linings has always come very naturally to me, but it’s becoming harder and harder to bounce back from life’s “little” set-backs, especially when so many horrible things have happened in such a short amount of time, and they’ve all been extremely tragic with very complicated circumstances.  Just so you fully understand where I’m coming from, let’s re-cap, shall we?

Three years ago, I had to deal with my husband’s tragic (and highly dramatic) suicide on TOP of also dealing with his alcoholism and mental illness, and I even later discovered he had been lying to me for years about just about everything, including our financial situation.  My photography business basically came to a screeching halt after that as I focused on putting my life back together, mainly for the sake of my three girls (Jocie, Sam, and Lexie), which decreased my now single income even more significantly.  Last summer, I was laid off from my job due to cut-backs and struggled for two whole months to find new employment and practically drained my savings account in the process.  This summer, I spent two months draining my savings account even further (almost down to nothing) while running my beloved Lexie back and forth to Columbus, Ohio in an unsuccessful attempt to save her eyes, only to find out after putting her through three traumatic eye surgeries that she had Stage IV mammary cancer, which the so-called “specialists” at MedVet had somehow missed during previous testing.  During all of this, on the 4^th of July, I learned that one of my best friends from high school, Beth, was found dead by her 16 year-old son after she laid down for a nap the previous afternoon and never woke up (they believe she had a seizure).  Then, a few days later, the day after Lexie’s stitches were finally removed from her pointlessly empty, infected eye sockets, Lexie was in so much pain from her mammary cancer that she collapsed and had to be put down.  Justin and I tried to bring some happiness back into our lives by bringing home Margot, which worked for a few weeks, but then, just one month after losing Lexie (a couple weeks ago), I had to put down my oldest, Jocie, the day before our summer vacation after learning that she had advanced kidney failure and was no longer eating.  And now, here I am, thousands of dollars in debt and about to send my sweet Sam off to live with another family because I foolishly thought an 11 year-old dog and a less than 4 month-old puppy would have no problems living together. 

If I REALLY wanted to pile on the doom and gloom, I guess I could also mention that over the past two years I’ve managed to fall madly in love with a wonderful man who also just happens to have Type I diabetes and was told when he was 8 years-old that he probably won’t live past the age of 40.  That, of course, probably isn’t true, and it was horrible of Justin’s doctors to tell him such a thing back then, but the fact remains that he WILL eventually develop serious complications due to his diabetes.  Hopefully, that won’t happen for many, many years, but every single day I live with the fear that I will someday lose him and ultimately die alone.   So, how’s that for an extremely gloomy ending to an incredibly depressing rant?

Okay, okay…I will now try to prove that I’m normally an optimistic person by ending this Debbie Downer blog post on some positive notes.  For one, as I mentioned earlier, Zach and Kristy are now officially engaged, and I am beyond excited for their wedding next year!  (The date hasn’t been set in stone yet, but they’re thinking about the end of September, 2013.)  I am also extremely honored that Kristy has asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.  I’ve photographed literally HUNDREDS of weddings over the past eight years, but I’ve never actually been in a wedding before!  I’m so happy for both of them, as they make each other very happy.

Left - Margot at 7 wks with Mandee; Right - Margot at 11 wks with Ashley

Another positive thing is that our friend and roommate, Ashley, returned home from her three-month-long trip to teach in Africa this summer and finally met Margot for the first time on Sunday night.  I’m pretty sure that she and Margot fell instantly in love, and Ashley seems excited about having a new puppy in the house.   Ashley is also a lot of fun to have around, so I’m looking forward to many laughter-filled nights hanging out with her at home. 

Finally, I wouldn’t dream of ending this blog post without saying at least a few positive things about Miss Margot.  For one, I couldn’t believe how much she grew during the one short week that we were gone!  She’s so long and lanky now, and her paws are absolutely HUGE.  I don’t know how she’s ever supposed to grow into those paws if they just keep getting bigger as the rest of her grows!  I was a little worried that she may have become a little less disciplined while we were away, but thankfully Margot is still a very good puppy.  Don’t get me wrong, she has her moments, but overall she really is surprisingly well-behaved for being only 11 weeks-old.  I also think that she may be officially entering the teething stage, as chewing on the Nylabone is her #1 favorite thing in the world right now.   She continues to show bite inhibition when she plays, though, and she is still happy to redirect her play-biting to a toy when one is given to her, so I’m very happy about all of that. 



Teething time!



I will also say that, despite all of the above-mentioned doom and gloom that is currently hanging over my head, it is impossible not to smile, laugh, or feel at least a small amount of happiness when I’m playing with Margot.  She is so much fun and such a joy to have around.  I wish with all my heart that she and Sam were getting along better, and I hate, hate, HATE that Sam may occasionally have to stay somewhere else for the sake of giving her a “happily ever after,” but I am still so thankful that Justin and I decided to bring Margot into our lives because, otherwise, I feel like we would just be holding our breath and counting down the days until we have to say good-bye to Samul, too.   Margot gives me a reason to look forward to what lies ahead instead of just dreading what might happen next.  She also continuously surprises me with her ability to lift my spirits, no matter how overwhelmed by sadness I am or how hopeless I may feel, even if it’s only for a few minutes at a time. 

On Vacation

Well, for better or for worse, Justin and I are officially on vacation. I honestly wasn't sure how I'd feel this week after the complete emotional meltdown I experienced Friday night after saying good-bye to Jocie, but now that we're here in Emerald Isle, NC, I actually do feel happy to be at the beach.

My mood was enhanced greatly during the 9-hour drive yesterday when Justin purchased tickets for us to see one of my favorite bands, Silversun Pickups, play in Cleveland this October! I saw them live a few years ago in Lexington, and I've been dying to see them again ever since. The fact that Justin gets to see them with me in a couple months just makes me look forward to this concert a million times more! (I love having something to look forward to.)

Another reason why my spirits improved during our drive yesterday was because Justin's Dad sent him a couple of photos of Sam and Margot. Sam was laying on the sofa on their wrap-around porch grinning from ear to ear, and Margot was sitting on the other sofa giving Justin's mom a kiss. They both looked very happy. After we arrived at the hotel and Justin called his Mom, she told him that Sam absolutely loves sitting on their enclosed porch, and Margot had discovered Samantha's old dog bones and was hoarding them in her crate (Samantha is Justin's 16 year-old Boxer mix). Knowing that both of my girls are enjoying themselves and being cared for so well definitely contributed to my ability to relax last night.

I'm sad to say that I haven't even seen the ocean yet because Justin and I basically crashed after we arrived at the hotel last night. The rest of our friends are arriving today, though, and we get to check into our GORGEOUS oceanfront beach house. I miss Sam and Margot, but I am definitely ready to have a little fun this week.

Preparing for Jocie's Diagnosis and Vacation Tomorrow (Fantastic Timing)

Waiting for the vet to open this morning.

I just dropped Jocie and Margot off at the vet, and then dropped off my car at the garage for a state inspection and oil change before we leave for Emerald Isle tomorrow morning.  I wish I could say I was more excited for our vacation, but this Jocie situation is completely stressing me out. 

Sometimes I look at her and think, “This is it…” and other times I look at her and think, “She doesn’t seem that bad…”  Yesterday afternoon, after coming home for lunch and finding that Jocie hadn’t eaten any of the food I had left her and it looked as though she may have even vomited at some point, I gave Zach and Kristy the heads up that “Jocie doesn’t look good.”  Justin even asked me if I was “prepared for what the vet might tell me tomorrow.”  I still felt less than hopeful after I got home from work and couldn’t get Jocie to eat a peanut butter sandwich.  However, when Justin got home about an hour later, he managed to get her to eat the sandwich by breaking it up into little pieces, and her mood even seemed a little better.  This morning when I asked Jocie if she wanted to go for a ride, she actually got excited and practically ran and jumped into the back seat of the car! 

So, I don’t really know what to think about Jocie’s current condition.  All I know is that she’s not eating, she’s vomiting occasionally, she’s using the bathroom in the house occasionally, she’s more lethargic than usual, there’s a growth/sty on her left eyelid, green mucous has started forming in her eye, and her eye appeared to be swollen yesterday.  The good news is that she is still drinking plenty of water, she moves around just fine, and she still gets excited at the prospect of taking a walk or going for a ride.  Needless to say, I’m extremely anxious for Dr. Ellis to call me after she’s examined Jocie.  (I forgot to mention that the reason I dropped Margot off at the vet this morning, too, is because she needs to be weighed and given a de-worming treatment.) 

We will be taking the girls over to Justin’s parents tonight and dropping them off for the week since we plan to leave for the beach super early tomorrow morning.  I am going to miss them so much, especially little Miss Margot.  I know it’s silly, but I just don’t want her to be scared and wonder where her Mommy and Daddy went.  I also hate to think about how much she’ll have grown by the time we get back.  Again, I know these things seem a little silly considering we’re only going to be gone for a week, but as you have read in Margot’s weekly progress reports on this blog, a LOT seems to happen with her from week to week.  I just don’t want to miss anything.      :(

Anyway, I’ll post an update as soon as Dr. Ellis calls, which I’m hoping will be before noon.  Is it weird that I’m hoping Jocie has diabetes???  (I mean, as opposed to other, more life-threatening illnesses, of course.)

10-Week Progress (and Worrying) Report

10 weeks-old today!

Margot is 10 weeks-old today, and she made a BIG step towards being housebroken this morning!  I let her out as soon as I took her out of her crate, but as soon as she peed she wanted to go back inside.  I knew that she needed to do #2, as well, but I was late getting out of bed this morning and needed to grab some clothes out of the laundry room.  I figured I’d let her come back inside to get a drink of water or something while I gathered my clothes, then I’d take her back outside again before I got in the shower.  While I was rummaging through the laundry basket, however, I heard Margot run out the back door again.  She was pretty full of energy since she had just woken up, so I figured she was just going back outside to run around and play.  When I stuck my head out the door to check on her, though, I found her using the bathroom in the yard!  She actually chose to go outside instead of just finding a spot in the house!  HOORAY!!!!  (I’m actually surprised I didn’t wake the neighbors with my cheering.)  So, I guess I can add that little victory to Margot’s 10-week progress report, along with her improved bite inhibition, improved willingness to redirect play-biting, and being able to sometimes perform “lay down” on command, although we’re still working on this daily. 

Practicing "lay down."

Another big change we’ve seen in Margot is that she seems to be napping less and less these days.   As I mentioned in my previous post, Margot barely napped at all on Monday evening, and last night she didn’t really nap, either, although she was much better behaved than she was the night before (thank God!).  When Margot finally started to wind down around 10:00 p.m., Justin and I couldn’t stop giggling at how hard she was resisting falling asleep.  Just like a human toddler, Margot would get this really far-off, sleepy look in her eyes, and then she would start long-blinking, but as soon as her head would fall forward even the slightest bit, she’d jerk awake and look around to see if she had missed anything.  Then, she would immediately reach for a nearby toy and start lazily chewing on it, as if she didn’t want anyone to notice that she had just dozed off.  (“I was chewing on this toy the whole time, you guys.  I swear!”)   I tried to take a video of her doing this with my iPhone last night, but the picture ended up being too dark and you couldn’t really see her long-blinking or dozing off.   I hope I’ll be able to capture her doing this on video at some point, though, because it is beyond adorable. 

Sam tolerating naptime with Margot.

As far as Sam and Jocie go, Sam is more tolerant about allowing Margot to climb on her to take naps occasionally, but she still doesn’t appreciate it when Margot tries to play with her.  They’ve gotten into some pretty decent barking matches this past week, but it’s obvious that Margot is just barking out of playfulness while Sam is barking out of pure annoyance.  It truly is one of the saddest little relationships I’ve ever seen, because all Margot wants is for Sam to play with her, but all Sam wants is for Margot to leave her alone.   It makes me feel sorry for them both, but they’re just going to have to figure out a middle ground on their own because there’s nothing Justin or I can really do to help the situation, other than make sure they don’t get into any actual fights.

As for Jocie, I’m still worried about her, especially since she threw up a little bit during the day yesterday (twice) and she still isn’t eating much.  However, I will say that she did seem somewhat better last night.  Justin fed her a hotdog and she managed to keep it down all night, plus we saw her drinking water on several occasions.  Her eye also looked good.  I didn’t see any green mucous, and the whites of her eyes aren’t red or anything.  She also isn’t having any trouble getting up and down the stairs or moving around in general.  So, I’m not really sure what’s going on with her, but now I can’t decide if I should take her to the vet to get checked out before we leave for vacation this weekend, or if we should just keep an eye on her and play it by ear.  The sad fact of the matter is that I am BROKE right now and I’m really only going on this vacation because my share of the house has already been paid for and it’s non-refundable.  I’ve managed to save JUST enough money to pay for gas and food while I’m there, so can’t really afford to take Jocie to the vet right now unless it’s absolutely, without a doubt, 100% necessary.   Trust me, I would forego my vacation entirely if it meant saving Jocie’s life, without hesitation; however, for all the reasons I mentioned above, I don’t feel like her condition is that bad.  In fact, it may be improving, but it’s hard to say at this point.   

Ooooh, Jocie.

So, we’ll continue to keep an eye on her tonight and try to get her to eat more, and if she throws up again or seems worse in any way I’ll call the vet tomorrow to see what we can do.  If she does well today and tonight, is able to keep food down, and continues to drink plenty of water, I’ll probably hold off on calling the vet.  I’m just so thankful that Justin’s parents are going to be watching the girls for us next week because I know his mother will keep a close eye on Jocie and take her to the vet for us if it becomes necessary.   It just sucks because missing my girls was already going to be hard enough, but now I’m also going to be worrying about Jocie’s health the whole time.   So, please cross your fingers that Justin’s parents give us some very good progress reports so that Justin and I can actually relax and enjoy our vacation next week.  Lord knows, after all we’ve been through this summer, we deserve at least one week free from stress, drama, and sadness.

Margot's Insane and Jocie's Not Right

Last night, Margot was INSANE!!!  I don’t know what got into her, but she went non-stop at a million miles per minute from the time I got home from work until we finally put her to bed around 10:30 p.m.  Usually, she has what we call “crazy puppy time” where she’ll run at full throttle for about an hour or so, but then she eventually sputters out and takes about a half-hour nap.  Lately, she’s been going through the crazy puppy time/nap time cycle about twice every evening before finally going to bed.  Last night, however, she took only one little 10-minute disco nap before she was up and running around the house again.   She was an absolute terror!  She kept picking on Sam and trying to get her to play, but of course Sam wanted none of that.  She also kept getting into the laundry basket and shoe basket.  I swear, I probably used half a can of that spray that repels cats and dogs.  I had a lot of house cleaning and photo editing that I was hoping to get done last night, but I seriously couldn’t let Margot out of my sight ALL night long.  Like I said, I don’t know what got into her, but I REALLY hope she got it all out of her system last night.

In other news, I’m starting to worry about Jocie.  She’s my oldest dog, a Border Collie/Golden Retriever mix , who is around 12 years-old now.  I’m trying not to be a Nervous Nelly, which I kind of have been ever since we went through all those medical emergencies with Lexie a few months ago; however, my gut is telling me that something really isn’t right with Jocie lately.  Well…let me rephrase that.  Something hasn’t been “right” with Jocie for many years, as she is referred to as my goofball and has many hilarious little personality quirks, including an OCD eating ritual that you’d have to see to believe.  What I mean, though, is that she’s been keeping to herself a lot more than usual lately, and what worries me the most is that she’s not eating well.  It’s been almost three days since I’ve seen her eat a whole bowl of dog food.  We’ve gotten her to eat a few dog biscuits here and there, but not a whole meal.  So, last night Justin went out and bought Jocie some canned dog food in gravy, which she usually LOVES.  However, I was only able to get her to eat two bites of it, and that is NOT like Jocie. 

I’ve noticed that she’s got what appears to be some kind of a little growth or maybe a sty on her left upper eyelid.  It’s been there for a while, though, and never seemed to cause her any problems.  Within the last month, however, from time to time she’ll have a build up of green mucous in that eye.  After I clean it out, her eye looks fine.  It’s not red or anything, but the green mucous will build up again within a day or two.  I know I need to take her to see Dr. Ellis, but I’m terrified of what it will end up costing, as I’m now thousands of dollars in debt over Lexie’s surgeries.   The Nervous Nelly in me is also worried that the little “sty” might actually be a cancerous tumor or something.  I know that ignoring the problem won’t make it go away, but I honestly cannot afford any sort of medical treatment right now.  I can’t even afford this vacation we’re going on next week!  I actually tried to back out of the trip shortly before Lexie died because I knew I wasn’t going to have any extra money to spend while we’re there, but at that point it was too late to get a refund. 

Anyway, I’ve got a lot of antibiotics at my house that Lexie never had the chance to take, so I think I’m going to try giving Jocie some of those for a week or so.  Hopefully, that will take care of the problem.  If not, I guess I’ll just have to bite the bullet and take her to the vet after we get back from vacation.  I swear, these dogs are going to give me a heart attack and/or cause me to be homeless before I’m 40.