The Dixon Six: Jericho

While we enjoyed much of the month of December, especially the Christmas holiday; we did have a bit of a scare at the end of the month. Our dog Jericho who we have had from the time he was 8 weeks old and who we love as a true part of the family- our fur-baby, as we like to call him became very sick. We thought we were going to lose him. This came as quite a surprise, as Jericho has always been really healthy. We've only had to take him to the vet for check ups and to get vaccinations. Then all of a sudden we noticed that he seemed a bit sluggish. He wasn't running over to us right away when we got home, and if we called him he would kind of make his way over but slowly. He also wasn't following us from room to room as he usually does. This was odd for him, but we didn't think too much of it until we noticed that he was also a bit unsteady. When he would stand the back part of him would wobble a bit. This was happening right around Christmas time, so we just kind of watched him, and it seemed like he was getting better. He seemed to have had a few off days but then returned to normal.

Then, a few days after Christmas we were sitting around playing a family game- Headbands to be exact, and I noticed that he was breathing really loudly. It seemed a bit labored. Then I noticed that his belly seemed really bloated. I figured it probably wasn't good, but I don't think any of us thought he would get so bad so fast. Jericho is only 3 years old. He will turn 4 on February 14th of this year. He is an English Mastiff, which is a Giant breed, so he is actually middle-aged instead of young like some smaller breed dogs would be, but still none of us thought that we'd be facing losing him at this young age. So basically, what I am trying to say is that this all came as a really big shock to us.

The morning after we noticed that Jericho's breathing had become labored Rob called our vet to see if we could bring him in. It was a Saturday, so our vet wasn't in; we ended up taking him to another vet nearby. This vet seemed to feel that Jericho had a twisted stomach and that he needed surgery immediately because the complications from a twisted stomach could be life-threatening in a very short period of time. After running just a few tests and getting Jericho hooked up to an IV, they had Rob put him in the car and rush to a surgery center. He drove as fast as he could to get Jericho to the surgery center, and I met him there.

It turned out that Jericho did not have a twisted stomach. His stomach was filled with fluid caused by right-sided, heart failure. The vets were not sure what was causing his heart to fail. There were many different possibilities. At this point, we were kind of wishing it had been the twisted stomach after all because that could be repaired with surgery. This unknown "thing" that was causing Jericho to fail made it very hard to diagnose and provide proper treatment. We had them do an ultrasound to see if they could find anything, a tumor perhaps. They weren't able to find anything, and they kept having to tap off fluid from his heart and abdomen. He also had to have an oxygen tube placed in to help him breathe. He ended up staying in the ICU for a while, we ran several tests, got several scary late night/early, early morning phone calls, and in the end somehow he pulled through. We still don't know the exact cause of all of this or if there is some underlying condition that will cause all of this to return, but it's been nearly a month, and Jericho is doing well. He's still on some different medications. He will be getting tapered off of some of those, so we'll have to see how well he adjusts to that, but we feel very grateful for more time with our beloved dog! We feel like the Lord answered the many, many prayers that we offered on Jericho's behalf, and we are very thankful to all of our friends who prayed for him as well.

In addition to wonderful friends our family was amazing through all of this as well. In fact, I just have to give a big shout out to my family who all came to support us through this difficult time. We went to church the Sunday after this happened because Rob was giving a talk, and immediately after Sacrament Meeting we thought we were going to be heading to the ICU to say our good byes to Jericho. He had such a bad night the night before. We got a call at 2:38 am telling us that his oxygen levels were low and that he had already been tapped to remove fluid 4 times. The vet wanted to know if it was okay to put in an oxygen catheter and to continue treating the fluid. We told her yes, and we braced ourselves to have to put down another dog the next day. You see, we had been through a similar situation with another English Mastiff in 2010. His name was Opie, and he was diagnosed with bone cancer. We ended up losing him a few months after his diagnosis. We did all that we could to make him comfortable and treat the pain. We even looked into chemotherapy options, as well as amputation, but we decided not to put him through all of that. It was such a hard thing to do, putting him down. We had time to say our goodbyes and make our last days with him really special. Rob made him a 5 lb roast and let him eat it up, and we gave him lots of love, but it is so hard to be there when your dog is put down. We cried and cried. Dogs are so sweet and innocent and loving. It's hard to explain how difficult it is to have to make the decision to let them go.

Then the following Mother's Day, Rob surprised me with Jericho! My English Mastiff puppy! I was in tears. I was so happy, and even though Jericho was a very, very difficult puppy who seemed to destroy everything (doors, even) we loved him so much. That is part of why it was so hard to be back in this position just a few years later, so I cannot tell you what it meant to drive up to the vets office thinking that you will be putting down your dog and find that your family is there. Almost every one of them! The vets office staff couldn't even believe it! We told them that Jericho was really loved and that he had a big family. We had Rob and I and our 4 children. Then my sister, her husband, and their baby came, and my brother and his very pregnant (with twins) wife came as well along with my mom and my other sister. It was amazing! They came to say goodbye as well and to hold all of our hands. Again, amazing! How many people can say that their family would show up on a day like that? Putting your dog down?! Well, I can say that my family was there, and what an amazing feeling that was. It was absolutely over-whelming! I don't know how else to describe it! So thank you! Thank you to my family! You are the most amazing family on Earth!!!

What a sport, even with his cone and the oxygen tube: