Thankful

One of the things I'm thankful for is my dog. I want to share a story that happened exactly a year ago today, and it works perfectly with Thanksgiving being tomorrow.

It was November 21, 2011 and I wasn't on Thanksgiving break yet. My brother, who was a freshman at University of Southern Indiana at the time, was heading home on his break. He came home right about the time that the following events occurred.

We have a golden retriever named Champ, who was 11 at the time, and a miniature dachshund, named Peanut, who was 4. My parents, for whatever reason, let Peanut outside by himself on that cold November night. We have to keep Peanut on a chain in our backyard because he can get under the fence. He's rarely outside for that long anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. That chain was the first thing that saved his life.

My parents heard a strange noise and let Peanut back in the house. When he got inside, they noticed that there was blood dripping on the kitchen floor. Because we didn't actually see what happened, the vet (by his wounds) hypothesized what happened. Peanut was outside when a coyote grabbed him, shook him violently, the chain kept the coyote from just running off with him, and the noise of my parents opening our back door scared the coyote off.

My parents didn't tell me that all this was happening because I was at school and they didn't want me to worry and forget about the project I had due the next day. They let him sleep in their bed that night and he had multiple seizures, which the vet thinks was brought on by the shaking that the coyote did. They weren't sure that he would made it through the night, but miraculously, he did. They took him straight to the vet the next morning as soon as they opened at 7am. He spent the entire day there. I came home from school that day and I remember walking in the house, walking to the kitchen, and seeing Peanut's collar on the counter. I heard my dad in the backyard with our other dog and went out there, thinking Peanut just got a new collar. When I got out there, I didn't see my little guy. Seeing that I was confused, my dad told me everything and I just broke down crying.

It was also conveniently my brother's birthday the day before, so we were going out to dinner that night. We went to eat with my other brother and my grandma, but we could hardly eat anything because we were going to pick Peanut up from the vet that night around the time they closed. He had surgeries and the vet couldn't even tell us for sure if he would make it or not. He was concerned about the damage that may have happened to his brain, and even told my dad that further surgeries may be required at Purdue. I can't remember exactly where, but they specialized in this certain brain surgery that Peanut may or may not need depending on his progress.

One of my favorite things about Peanut is seeing his pure joy and happiness when he sees me or anyone in our family. I think one of the most devastating things about picking him up at the vet was seeing his lethargy and pain killers not allow him to be excited when we picked him up. He also HATES car rides with a passion and whines and cries the whole time, but he didn't do that when we took him home. Things like this make it obvious that he wasn't himself.

 That night, and many nights after, I slept on the floor with Peanut. We had to give him antibiotics to heal the wounds around the clock. Peanut also loves to eat. Nothing can prevent this guy from eating, but he had no interest in eating that night. Another sign that he wasn't himself. The next day we had to take him back to the vet to make sure the wounds weren't getting infected. We came home that day and he actually tried to eat. I took this picture of him because I was so happy that he was eating.

 The whole time this was occurring, Peanut just wanted to be held or be on someones lap constantly. As you can see from the pictures, his wounds were kind of gross so we always had to have him wrapped in a towel so that we wouldn't get blood on us. The next day was Thanksgiving and we brought him to our grandma's house with us because we obviously couldn't leave him at home. My mom and I have gone Black Friday shopping for the last 4 or 5 years, and I was torn because I didn't want to leave my little guy. My dad convinced me to go, saying that he would watch him the whole time. My youngest brother also kept an eye on him.

The vet couldn't believe that such a little guy was able to survive an attack like this. I completely credit his stubbornness. He is the most stubborn dog ever, which I guess is a characteristic of his breed. I never thought I would say this, but I am so thankful that he is stubborn. He wasn't ready to leave this earth, and there was nothing that could stop him. It's absolutely a miracle that he's still here with us. He's experienced so much in his short 5 years, but I'm thankful that he gets more time. He's as spunky as ever, and there don't seem to be any long-term affects. I remember the vet comparing his brain to that of a baby that had been shaken (aka Shaken Baby Syndrome).

Now Peanut is a happy 5 year old. He loves his big brother Champ, loves peanut butter to the point of obsession, and loves to burrow under blankets. We also have a puppy, who is 7 months old. Her name is Ava and she is a Miniature Australian Shepherd.  He's not so sure about his baby sister because he thinks she is too hyper, but we're thankful that he is around to even be annoyed by her. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Peanut, as well as one of Miss Ava.

Peanut will definitely get lots of extra hugs today! Hoping that nothing like this ever happens to anyone's pets because it is the scariest experience ever.

What are you thankful for?

xx Anna & Peanut