The best Christmas present I ever received was my puppy Bear.  Soren surprised me with him a few days before Christmas after moaning and groaning about how hard it is to have a dog, lots of responsibility, etc. etc.  Bear was 8 weeks old and THE cutest puppy you can ever imagine.  Even the vet asked if there were any more in the litter like him because he was that cute.  (there weren’t, he is one of a kind)

 

Bear is the best dog, he’s handsome, loyal, goofy, and loves both Soren and I unconditionally.  We love him just as much back and he really has enriched our lives.

 

He got sick this week and we were both so worried about him.  He is 13 years old and everyone is always marveling at how young he seems and energetic.  We are quite lucky in that regard.  When he got sick, we rushed him to the vet and worried about him all day while they ran tests.  What appeared to be a seizure that he had in the morning turned out to be vertigo and the thrashing/falling was him trying to  get his balance.  While the news was better than we feared, he still was a sick pup.  He couldn’t walk, was very dizzy and was just out of sorts.  But I took him home knowing that he would be much happier in his yard and the comfort of his little kingdom.  The first 3 days were rough, lots of falling down, and us worrying but on Friday he definitely improved and was able to go for a 2 block walk.

 

It is a slow but steady progress of him getting better.  The diagnosis is Vestibular syndrome/Old Dog syndrome and is quite common in older dogs and just strikes out of the blue.  If he follows the typical path, it will take about 3 weeks for him to get back to his old self but so far we are just happy to have him getting about (a little shaky/a little drunk) but he is wanting to play and go for his walks.