SOL #6

SOL #6 

          

          My puppy has kennel cough. He hacks all day and all night, especially when he's tired. Poor little Mickey sounds like a rusted machine that works in short bursts. I hear him coughing when I come home from school. 

          We put Mickey and his "big sister" Daisy in Playful Pooch Doggy Daycare the day before we took a plane to San Francisco. At Playful Pooch, thirty-or-so dogs run around in a spacious yard or inside area and play with each other. 

          Playful Pooch is a small business with employees who know the dogs by name and have every single one's picture up in the front office. Daisy has been going there since she was a puppy. When you pick up your dog, Playful Pooch gives you a bag of treats and sends the dog home with a bandana. The bandanas are decorated with classic symbols for whatever holiday is closest. 

           I brought my banged-up old Toshiba computer to San Francisco with me. Playful Pooch has a "puppy cam;" a series of stop-motion-like cameras positioned all over the area recording in short quick bursts. 

           On the puppy cam, we found Daisy and Mickey. Daisy, a Golden Retriever who thinks she is the top dog, sat on the plastic toddler slide and smiled away like she ruled the world. Her big pink tongue was visible even with the gravely footage. 

           Mickey could be identified by the white spot on the butt of his all-black fuzziness. When he wags his short stump of a Cocker Spaniel tail, his little white bottom can be seen by all who look. 

           He looked fine on the camera; he looked like he was enjoying himself. 

           The evening we brought the dogs home in my mom's Daisy-fur-covered minivan, Mickey started coughing. 

           Mom took him to the vet, who diagnosed the pup. Mickey has gotten his shot for the sickness, but like a cold, he caught the cough anyway. 

           He is getting better with the medication placed in his food. The little sucker will eat anything with a trace of peanut butter on it. Daisy, who is also taking pills (we want to prevent her from getting kennel cough, too), must be bribed with lots of treats. 

          Mickey has started coughing less, but still hacks when he is excited, like first thing in the morning.