I don't think I got to sit down and eat dinner until around 9:45 last night. Right after work, I had to run to the store for a gift. As soon as I made it in the door, Ryan and the boys were ready to go for a walk in the woods. The boys were excited because Ryan got a permit yesterday so he could start taking them fishing on the Eglin Reservation and this meant that we can now walk in the woods across from our house (without getting into trouble). So I changed really quick and off we went. We got about half way through the woods and we noticed Brodie panting really hard and making some weird noises. We didn't think anything of it until we are almost back to the house and his breathing seemed to be getting worse. Everyone that passed us would stare at him. Ryan even tried to carry him for a little ways but adding an extra 90 lbs was a little too much for him to handle. Once we got him inside we knew right away that he wasn't doing well and needed to take him to the vet. His breathing never calmed down, he was trying to stand up and his legs would cross and he would lose his balance. We packed the boys up, took them to Mimi's and then we were off of the doggie hospital. They immediately put him in a cold bath with ice packs and started taking his temperature. The first reading was 108 and they were worried. Since it took us so long to get home from the walk, he had been having these symptoms for over an hour. They were worried about him having a heat stroke and with that, there wasn't much they could do. They worked hard to get his temperature down and gave him some shots and an IV. After about an hour, his temperature started to drop back down to normal but they had to monitor him overnight. We said our goodbyes for the night and went to leave. We are horrible because we forgot to close his gate and at some point while we were paying, he decided to get up and try and follow us out. He pulled his IV out and caused a commotion. He looked pitiful standing there. He probably was trying to figure out what was happening and why we would leave without him.
We called at midnight to check on his blood work and he seemed to be doing a little better and we were told we could pick him up in the morning. We were told that he is too old to be walking outside in this heat and we are lucky we didn't wait any longer before getting him in. So... after a hefty vet bill, we have learned that Brodie will not be taking family walks any longer. He is allowed to go outside to do his business and that is it.
We are very happy that he is OK as last night could have had a horrible outcome. Lesson learned!!
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