Captain's Log...no idea what day

Well, things are a little stressful today. Tess has caught an upper respiratory infection and we are praying it doesn't lead to an emergency trip to one of the local hospitals. Dr. Stephenson sent us with antibiotics for just such an emergency, but as we all know, often times they are not strong enough to fight whatever virus Tess may have. At least we've got a chance though. We are well equipped with oxygen, suction and meds so we are in a wait and see pattern right now. It's up to Tess at this point to get better. I kept her with me at the hotel today to get some good rest while Charlie went to train with Oreo. I hate missing a day of training because you miss SO MUCH but Charlie can catch me up on it.

This morning, before leaving, both Charlie and I noticed that Oreo was acting kind of odd around Tess. Not "scenting" a seizure because we already know what that looks like, but more of a worried pace. She would wander from side to side of Tess's bed and then just lay her head down on it and look at Tess and sigh. Honestly, we think she knew that Tess was sick and she didn't like it. It was pretty sweet to watch. She is such a little "mother hen".

Yesterday was our first real outing with Oreo and we went to the mall. This mall is HUGE. Oreo did really well but we do need to work on her heel just a little and her excitement when she sees kids. Of course most of the kids would yell out, "oohhh doggy!" and want to pet her so I would tell them they could pet her just as soon as I put her in the DOWN command. Oreo did really well once in the DOWN and wouldn't try to get up or move when the kids were petting her. She did perform some tricks for them and two little girls told me, "You are very lucky to have such a good doggy! She's the best dog I've ever met!" Too funny.

Oreo is a bit of a wimp though. She gets freaked out by the elevator dings and hesitates to step inside them but we are working on that. She was awesome when I put her in the SIT command when I went to pay for something I bought, and she was equally great at rocking the UNDER command while Charlie and I ate lunch in the food court and staying under the table. I even tried to trick her with a distraction by throwing a piece of my chicken right down on the floor about 6 inches from her nose and she never once tried to get it. I know, mean mommy! But in my defense, we are told to do things like that!

We also got to see first hand, her open a handicapped door for us. We simply showed her the button and said, "HIT IT", and bam, she either made it work with her nose, or, if that wasn't enough pressure to open it, she would jump up on her hind legs and hit it with her front paw over and over until it opened. She would then stay there until she saw that the door was opening and then she would return to HEEL. Really cool stuff.

Anyway, as I said, I'm bummed I missed today's training, but what can you do? I am trying to not be super worried about Tess but the reality is, Tess doesn't usually recover from these things without hospitalization and IV antibiotics so I'm really quite stressed. Ugh.

Both Charlie and I were feeling somewhat sorry for ourselves this morning after a rough night with Tess and needing to get out the oxygen and realizing that she really was getting sick, and remarked that "Nothing can ever just be easy."  And I have to confess, sometimes it really does feel that way, but then I found this quote and decided to just focus on how grateful we are to even have this opportunity. I'm still scared and worried (and overwhelmed at the thought of trying to figure out how to manage the training and the dog if Tess has to go into the hospital), but not feeling quite as down as I was this morning. So here's a good quote to keep in your back pocket for tough days:

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” ― Theodore Roosevelt 

You said it, Teddy.