It’s time for a story. I can tell this now as we are a few days removed from the whole event and we want other dog owners to be aware.
On our first night camping we had Sadie, who is now 5 months, down at the lake’s edge with us. This wasn’t a made for man beach but a natural sandy alcove with lots of tree roots, and large stones. Sadie was following us everywhere and loved climbing up the stacked stones. Sadie ran ahead, and as puppies do, she got the zoomies. She took off across the alcove and when she rounded back to run towards us she ran full strength into one of the large rocks. We were all watching as her head and then body slammed into the rock. And just as puppies also do, she jumped back up and ran to Jacob. He checked her over and since she was acting fine, he determined she had evaded any injury.
Sadie climbed back up hill to our camping site on her own no problem. The sun was setting and it was getting to be her bedtime, so once we got back we laid out her blanket near the campfire so she could be with us while we made S’mores. Sadie passed out near the fire, and I remember commenting on how deep she sleeping, that I wanted to check for breathing. About an hour had passed and Ellee went to lay down and cuddle Sadie. She immediately yelled the blanket was wet. Now, yes Sadie is a puppy, but she has made big gains in the potty training so I just told Ellee her paws must have been wet. In true Ellee fashion she insisted it was pee, but we moved on to cleaning up the campsite for bed.
We had trouble waking Sadie to go potty, but we chalked it up to having so many new adventures. She went potty and Jacob brought her into the trailer. He placed her on the bed next to me, to keep her out of the way as we got ready for bed. She laid down immediately, and within a minute I saw a wet spot under her, and pee leaking out. I yelled to Jacob and we both told Sadie “no” and he took her back outside.
While Jacob was out trying to get her to go potty, I remembered the run in with the rock. I googled, puppy leaking pee after hit a rock. And the first thing that popped up was bladder rupture and seek immediate emergency veterinary care. Well, we have had pets for a while, and I was thinking “no way” so I try like 7 other google searches and essentially if the puppy is leaking pee the answer is to seek emergency care. I googled the closest 24 Hour Emergency Vet and sent a text Jacob as I didn’t want to freak the kids out.
He agreed we needed to take her in. As he readied the truck Sadie was swaying back and forth, couldn’t stand up, and was so lethargic. In a matter of what seemed like seconds our whole world had turned upside down. This wasn’t our sweet puppy. Jacob left with Sadie and I stayed wither the kids, as we were miles away from home, it was after 10pm and we couldn’t have the kids stay alone, nor go to the ER for who knows how long.
And then I waited. I text my family and explained what was happening. Spoke with my father as I waited for word from Jacob. I had reminded Jacob to be sure to mention the slam into the rock. And then my last text before Sadie was seen by the doctor was “Might be worth mentioning she has been putting everything she can find in her mouth too. And we can’t keep up”. I mean she is a 5 month old puppy.
When he arrived at the vet, they clearly thought it was an emergency also and they brought Jacob and Sadie right back to a room. Jacob explained everything as they started checking her over. And then I got this text “You're not going to believe this, they are pretty positive she ingested THC”
And he was right. I didn’t believe it. I had some choice words, remember we had been up since 4am, both worked 1/2 a day, then packed a trailer, drove to the campground, and set up a campsite 😂. His response was “Yes she is high. She must have found some on the ground somewhere”
Sadie spent an hour or so being observed, given fluids, and a full exam. Then released. We took our dog, who was high, to the ER. 🙃
Around midnight we had Sadie back in her kennel to sleep off her high from what we figure was someone’s gummy they left behind.
We tell this story for two reasons. 1- it is one of those things my mom likes to say “only happens to the Larkins”, because that is truth 😂 and 2- to let other dog owners know what the TCH ingestion signs are. Jacob learned this is something that happens too frequently to pets. Had Sadie not run into the rock I’m not sure we would have acted as quickly as we had, but I’m so thankful we did, as that was the right thing to do anyway. Looking back we noted Sadie’s symptoms were: she got lethargic quickly, leaked pee, couldn’t stand or sit unassisted easily. Once at the vet they noted she had low heart rate, white gums, and dilated pupils.
THC never crossed our minds as we do not partake. But for those that do, please keep an eye on your supply, and don’t leave them around. If it hadn’t been Sadie, it could have been a young child.
So there you have it. It took Sadie about 24 hours to get back to herself. We were even more vigilant about what she was sniffing and chewing for the rest of the trip. We joked about her jonesing, and looking for more 😂 but truly we will forever be thankful for our own quick actions and the care and love from the emergency vet.
For the love of a dog 🩷🐾
