The Hachi Chronicle

It's been a week of Hachi getting back to 100% since his illness. He seems like he feels great. We've kept him away from the construction because our guess was that stress was a big part of why he was so sick. Now, with Shyla having had seemingly the same illness, we are not so sure about that. However, whether it made him sick or not, it was stressful, and it seems better to stay away from the construction.

A couple of good things came from Hachi's bout with this illness. We learned more about the best place to get him veterinary care, and we learned about what an amazing resource our behavioral vet is. We found out that the method for sedation used for most dogs didn't seem to slow him down at all. The vet went to Plan B which did work. As hoped, the sedation prevented the long period of fear that resulted from Hachi's previous visit to the vet. That is good.

On the day when Shyla went to the hospital, we both had to be away from home at Hachi's medication time. Yet, we were pleasantly stunned that it worked well to have our and Hachi's good friend come into our house to give him his pill pocket. Hachi has known this friend since he was a teeny tiny puppy, and he loves to see her on the trails. We didn't know for sure how he'd handle her coming into our house when we were gone. But, she says that he wagged his entire body from inside his ex pen. She gave him his pills and patted him. Yipee - that is a big step for Hachi! Learning to trust is a challenge for Hachi.

Now, all of us are hoping for a very boring week. No illnesses and little stress will make all of us happy, including Hachi.