A Puppy named Piper

In the summer of 2012, my daughter Heather was looking for a dog.  They really liked the duck-tolling retrievers, so they went to the rescue website.  After a long vetting process, they were approved to get a dog.  The Wisconsin rescue center called one day and matched them up with a seven year old dog named Sammy.  She was being given up by a family in northern Illinois.  They met at an agreed upon location.  The man was upset but said they couldn't keep her because they couldn't give her the attention she deserved.  The first thing my daughter did was take Sammy for a check up.  They found out that she had a thyroid problem and allergies.  She needed thyroid meds and benadryl every day.  She was a wonderful dog, but was sicker than they knew.  We think the people gave her up because she was sick, and they couldn't deal with her death.  A few months after they got her, Sammy died.

They wanted to get another dog, but they were afraid to rescue another dog.  They decided to get a puppy this time.   About a month ago my daughter got her new cockapoo puppy.  She is a cute little thing.   She is all black and weighs about eight pounds now.  She is eleven weeks old and her name is Piper.  Three and a half years ago my daughter was expecting a baby.  It was supposed to be a girl.  They were going to name her Piper.  Well, when Piper was born, we had a surprise.  Her baby girl was a boy.  They named him Ewan.  He is the little firefighter I write about regularly.  Since they liked the name Piper and my son in law is into aviation, they named the dog Piper.

Everything was going good until four days ago.  They played outside,  and then went down in the basement.  Piper was doing what puppies do, nosing around.  When they came upstairs, she had something in her mouth.  It was a small sliver of a hard blue item.  Panic took over, and they thought they should make her throw up in case it was poison.  They used hydrogen peroxide.  They weren't sure what it was, but our daughter thought is could be a piece of D-con.  About seven years ago when they moved into their house, they put out mouse poison.  They live on the river and one day by their garage they saw a mouse or rat.  They put the poison out and they forgot about it.  Fortunately my daughter lives in a small town, and she had the cell phone number of the vet.  She called her at home because the clinic had closed and met the vet at the clinic.  The vet couldn't tell for sure if it was poison, but treated her aggressively as if it was.  Piper got a vitamin K shot and pills to take for 42 days.  She had to be watched for bleeding and lethargy for at least 72 hours.   I'm happy to report that she had no effects.  She is as wild and peppy as ever.  She is chewing on ankles and anything that moves.  Raising a puppy is hard work but well worth it.  They are watching her like a hawk and puppy proofed the house again.  It was scary but she is fine.  As she grows, I will write how she is doing.  Hopefully she will turn out to be just as nice a dog as Sammy was.

Piper is growing up.

Sarah, Heather and Piper