Whew!

After 10 days of antibiotics and 4 days of feeling well, I can safely breathe a sigh of relief. Reese, my companion for 11 years and who loves to duck/squirrel hunt as much as I love to race, is infection-free. Last Tuesday he scared the hell out of me when I found him out in our backyard disoriented. When I reached him, he was burning up! Since Charlie was out of town, I called my Dad to see if he could watch Carly and get her in bed while I took Reese to the clinic. My dad, the greatest, came over. I rushed Reese to the clinic where I took his temperature and it was 104.5! Yikes! I promptly drew blood, placed an IV, and started administering fluids and antibiotics. Yes, I did this solo. Reese is the best when it comes to needles. He never flinched! Clean sticks both times. After a series of diagnostics, my diagnosis was a prostate infection. What irony. You see, Reese has not been castrated as we have been trying to get a pup out of him, but the poor guy is a virgin. He just gets too excited around women and is clueless in the "love department." And now the appendage(s) that are pretty much useless on him could have killed him.

I have been wanting to "fix" him for some time, but my husband has not. I guess it is a guy thing. But after this crisis, I might be able to convince him. Reese has never been sick; he has had some cuts, scrapes, and bruises, but nothing that required intensive care. Hopefully this has scared some sense into Charlie.

But what Reese lacks in reproductive skills, he more than makes up for in loyalty and unconditional love. He is wonderful with my daughter and two cats. He helps me thin out our ever growing squirrel population. All I have to do is show him the pellet rifle and he begins to shake with excitement. Wounded squirrels beware! In his younger (and my beginning days of biking), he loved to run the singletrack. Now we go on hikes; no worries of heat stroke that way. And come November, my husband and him are hunting ducks. They are "crazy go nuts" about ducks. And as with the squirrels, he has never let a wounded duck get away. One of his longest hunts lasted 20 minutes after Charlie "winged" a mallard. It fell out of the sky, and when Reese swam out to retrieve it, the bird kept diving on him. When it surfaced, Reese would paddle over to it, only to have the bird dive again. Finally the duck tired, and Reese was able to grab it.

Reese has been a part of this family for so long, I can't imagine us without him. Until that day comes, I will throw the ball a little longer, love on him a little more, plan an extra hike here and there, and cherish the moments when my daughter plays with him.