Dog of the Day

December 11, 1998

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Calvin, the Dog of the Day
Name: Calvin
Age: Three years old
Gender: Male
Breed: German Shepherd
Home: Chicago, Illinois, USA
 
   Say hello to Calvin, our German Shepherd. We think he looks quite handsome, pictured last Christmas, in his holiday best "formal" bow tie. He is very special to us and to everyone he meets. We got him from a breeder when he was four months old. He came running out of the breeder's house and started rolling in the grass with us. We fell in love with him and we're pretty sure it was mutual.

    The ride home was a bit shaky. He was scared, but after settling in the first few hours, he realized that we were ok. And he started to show his personality. Which is how he named himself. He is named after the cartoon character from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Calvin, the cartoon character, is into playful mischief, creates his own fun and always has a perfectly good explanation for why he did - (fill in the blank). Our Calvin is funny, quirky, creative, thinks of his own games and probably does have an explanation for the times he has found all matter in the garbage very interesting to go through and leave all over the kitchen, dining room and living room.

    The first time he figured out that he could throw his ball down the stairs, watch it bounce, and then watch it land... he headed right down those stairs for the grand finale... get the ball!!!! Wonder of wonders, he has discovered that his game works inside and outside. He loves playing with his ball so much that we have a secret code word for it (bud-a-lud-lud). (Hope Calvin doesn't read this!!) He will happily go to the park at a moment's notice. He gets excited and does the "Calvin Circle Dance" every time we get the leash out for a walk. Calvin runs errands with his dad, loves the French fries from the local hamburger joint, (where the owner puts in extra fries when she sees him in the front seat), thinks the hardware store is swell and loves when dad runs in to the grocery store after he's been to the meat market...leaving "our boy"alone in the car with U.S. Grade A steaks. That was the day that the Apres-dinner chops-licking was fast and furious because Calvin had managed to savor and devour both filet mignon steaks in record time.

    Calvin is a gentle soul. After about a year together, we awoke one Saturday morning at 7:00am to see and hear him having his first epileptic seizure. Through all of the seizures (about 20 in the past year and a half) and all of the treatments...going to strange doctors offices, having his head shaved for an EKG, staying overnight, more blood tests than you or I would hope to have in a lifetime, experimenting with drugs, dosages, and food he has been scared but trusting, brave and loving. He now sits and puts his head up when he hears the pill bottle coming down from the shelf. He knows, and obeys without hesitation.

    And he doesn't let his condition or its inconveniences stop him. He still plays with us and all of his friends from his dog-walking group, especially his beloved girlfriend, Hannah. And at night, after his medication, he starts to get drowsy but tries to fight sleep so that he can play and be with us.

    When my husband works in theatre, he and his pal Calvin are together most days and I get to come home to him in the evening. He keeps both of us company. We love him to pieces and don't know what we would do without him. Nor can we ever remember our life before he came along.

    Shepherds and Collies are two of the most common amongst the breeds to "inherit" epilepsy. Our vet (who is the head of neurological vet medicine at the University of Illinois) has been practicing for 25 years and believes that epilepsy is caused primarily by bad breeding and inbreeding. A good vet will test a dog who has had his/her first seizure. There are a series of blood tests that "rule out" possible causes in order to find the cause. For instance, we were hoping that it was the antihistamine that we gave him that triggered his first seizure, but in fact it was not. In most cases, all tests prove negative. Vets can't find a reason for the epileptic seizures, which is why they call it "idiopathic" epilepsy... If people want to contact me to ask about epilepsy and what we have gone through, please email me at [email protected]. I have talked to several owners whose dogs have seizured. I know that it is a comfort to talk to someone and only wish that I had someone with "more experience" in the seizure category when Calvin was going through all of his initial testing and such.
 

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