Long time readers may remember when we got Darby nearly two months after I started my blog (back on the old blogspot platform) and about a month after my youngest was born. One night after Thanksgiving 2004, we had a notice in our Freecycle email that a woman in a town about an hour away was giving away several four month old Golden Retriever puppies. At the time we needed another dog like a hole in the head but that had never stopped us before, why should it now?

We responded that we wanted a male and loaded the kids in the car and drove over. We got there about 9 in the evening and while the kids dozed in the back seat SD got out and went to look at the dogs. To our horror we realized the place was a Puppy Farm. The dogs were all outside in kennels and Golden Retrievers were not the only breed on the property. But it was the only breed she was getting out of the business of.

We didn’t back out, mainly because it was a free golden retriever and SD had a wonderful one named Callahan when he was growing up. I knew Callahan back when SD’s sister and I were first friends in high school and the memory of Callahan was all the motivation either one of us needed to snatch at the chance for a free Golden. Even if he was from a puppy farm, we felt like we were rescuing him.

SD saw the parents but it was dark. Then he picked the puppy out (I think he was the only male left and I didn’t want a female) and brought him back to the car. He was filthy. He’d never been anywhere but his outdoor cage and there was barely any room in the car. I held him on my lap the whole way home and he was already pretty big. We settled on the name “Darby” on the drive home. It was partly taken from the old movie Darby O’Gill and had that nice Irish ring to it that we felt would give tribute to Callahan.

As soon as we arrived I gave him a bath to wash all the filth off him and discovered he was covered in fleas. I soaked him in flea shampoo and let him sit for a while, treating the infestation as best I could.

My baby wasn’t quite a month old and I was just getting all of my mobility back after my C-section. I was sore from leaning over the tub scrubbing away at the scared pup, but it was worth it for this or so I thought.

Soon I was posting about “Evil Puppy” and all his destructive tendencies including his stubborn refusal to potty train…or perhaps it was just that I was spread so thin with three children ages 3 and under that I couldn’t stay on top of getting him outside in time when he needed to go.

But he brought joy and entertainment as he discovered a new, less destructive obsession.

His connection to the kids, especially the boys, and even the cats has always been strong. And finally he did calm down and become a funny, sweet, and mellow addition to the family.

In January, while Snoring Daddy was away at a conference, our Golden Retriever suddenly had a seizure. It scared the crap out of me and at the same time I found it typical that it happened while Snoring Daddy was away. Everything goes to hell when SD is away for a day or more.

After taking him to the Vet for an examination they diagnosed him with epilepsy and advised us to keep a seizure log recording when and how long the seizures last. We went nearly a month before he had another one in February. Then it was a series of clusters in one day. Then we went about another month. On March 10th he had another and after a couple of days he began pacing restlessly, whining and drooling excessively. On Wednesday he spent most of the day outside because he seemed so restless. That night I found out why when he had two more seizures in the course of two hours. Thursday I took him back to the vet and he was placed on Phenobarbitol twice a day. The side effects aren’t pleasant right now. After dosing he is very lethargic for half the day and the other half he spends in a constant state of pacing anxiety. I’ve been assured that it will get better. I really hope so. Even if it doesn’t this is better than the seizures. Those are so violent (once he actually flipped in the air) and frightening for us and him. He’s not his usual sweet mellow self. He’s anxious, frightened and honestly comes off a bit brain-damaged.

Having to medicate him like this with such a heavy duty drug is also a bit anxiety-producing, though. Especially after yesterday. I tried to give him his medicine in the morning and he was so out of it he dropped the hotdog I had stuffed it into on the floor. Out of no where Sugar raced in and snatched it away. Darby was too out of it to defend the hotdog from her thievery and I couldn’t catch the little bugger.

I immediately called the Vet clinic and they said to bring her to the clinic to induce vomiting. Sugar weighs 19 pounds. Darby weighs something like 80. She had ingested a dose of a highly sedative and hypnotic drug intended for a dog four times her size. I was told that if we couldn’t get it out of her system either through vomiting or charcoal she could go into a deep depression and die.

I dropped her at the Vets and they went to work. Within a few hours I got the call. She had vomited the hotdog up and it was basically still in one piece with the pills still inside. Because the pills were a little wet, the Vet advised me to monitor her closely the rest of the day in case some of the drug had been absorbed into her system.

Thank goodness she was too greedy to truly savor the treat. If she had chewed it up it might have been a different story. In the meantime I’ve learned my lesson. Sugar remains out doors while I give Darby his medicine from now on.

And now I suspect we have finally discovered the reason the woman was getting out of the Golden Retriever business. I’m guessing that one of Darby’s parents developed seizures as it can be quite common in Goldens and can also be hereditary. It’s a shame. If that is the case, she really should have warned us. It might have stopped some people from taking a free puppy, but I don’t think it would have stopped us. We are risk-takers and would have calculated that it would be worth it.

We will be medicating this dog several times a day for the rest of his life. I just hope he can have a long comparatively normal one all things considered.

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