Winston's arrival home was pretty much without fanfare. All the kids are used to dogs and understand what it takes to train them. Winston was introduced to Waldo first. The laid back attitude of Waldo and sheer size seemed to impress little Win. At the time Waldo tipped the scales at 140. Waldo accepted Winston without a fuss. Raymond the Tuxedo Cat educated Winston on the perils of trying to herd cats immediately. Winston wasn't Raymonds first dog to train. Waldo, at 7 years old, lived in deep fear of the 5 pound cat. He'd been educated at 4 months old by Raymond & never forgot that lesson. He always gave wide berth to the kitty. Rosie the Mackeral Tabby had no use for dogs-period. Winstons arrival didn't change her attitude one bit.

Winston was Dev's responsibility from Day 1. He was kenneled in Dev's room, potty-trained by Dev & started his basic 'obedience' for our household. We demand that each animal be house-broken, know the commands 'no', 'down', 'sit', 'stay' and 'get down'. They must also come when they are called, walk at heel & show no agression to people or animals. Then, of course, we start the fun stuff--learning tricks. Wnston, being the smarty-pants that he is, began learning tricks almost immediately. He was housebroken before we made it home.

Winnie made his first major trip in December 2006 into eastern South Dakota. I'd  heard the term 'bunny butt' before but really didn't know what it meant until I saw a bouncy pup in snow deeper than he was tall. The family was in love with him & he charmed all he met at every pitstop. His boy couldn't have been prouder. The little guy already fetched anything that moved, walked on a leash & came when he called. Not bad for nearly 4 months old.

I admit, I dropped the ball. Winston had had his first round of puppy shots at his breeder. I had started my Masters in the Fall of '06 and in the chaos of running a motel, studying & homeschooling, I never got around to finishing his series of vaccinations. In mid March of 2007 as I was preparing to leave for a weekend seminar in Laramie I connected some dots that concerned me. The pup had had some diarhea for a couple of days, he was off his feed, lethargic & that just wasn't the pup we knew. I asked my husband to take Win to the vet for testing because I was headed out early that Friday and wouldn't be back until Sunday night. I had a bad feeling about this. 

Devery called me in tears that afternoon while I was in class. Winston had stayed at the vet with a severe case of Ghiradhea (infectious dysentary). He was getting IV fluids & medication to treat it. I called the vet. She advised that the first tests showed he was not positive for Parvo, but she suspicioned he had it and was treating for it as well. They would run more tests Saturday morning. Those tests were positive for Parvo. We spent the next 5 days waiting to see if he would live.

He lived. This is what a 5 month old pup looks like after surviving Parvo. (only 30-50% of puppies survive Parvo) He was filthy-- all poopy, pee'd & puked on, so Devery gave him a bath.  He was worn out.

He came home completely changed. We initially thought we'd have to have him put down. He was vicious. He'd reverted back to 'wild dog'. He couldn't be given pills--he'd bite anyone that came near his front paws and would attack people attempting to pick him up. When the technician hadshaved his front leg to put the IV in they had scalped a hunk of skin off the top of his knobby knee. It had taken several attempts to get the IV because he'd been so dehydrated. His feet now became his 'issue'. One we would work on for months before he was 'safe' for folks to handle. It was by sheer luck that we found out that Tanner, the 14 y/o son, had the patience to work with & had the trust of the pup. Tanner was able to handfeed Win pieces of chicken, keep him dosed with meds and calm the poor fella down. To make matters worse, he was teething--he had 2 sets of teeth (which made for some nice scars on his people, two vets & one technician).

He looked and acted much better by Easter:

It took several months for him to gain weight up to where we thought he looked good, but he bounced back like a rubber ball.  We later learned that, while  Parvo is rare in Nebraska, it is epidemic in Wyoming. Vaccinations are uncommon on the Wind River Reservation (which we are immediately adjacent to)  & in most of our communities in Central Wyoming. We now warn everyone we know has a new pup to immediately vaccinate them & keep on top of the dogs health. My lack of organization nearly cost us a dog.