After two days in the hospital being treated for aspiratory pneumonia, Pappy came home to the ranch this evening. He seemed just a little put out with me for having left him at the hospital for a couple of days. (Animals do know how to lay guilt trips, don’t they?) But once Pappy got settled in his favorite spot — the back seat of our Chevy pick-up — he decided to forgive me.
Ever the willing chauffeur, I drove this wonderful old Shepherd back to the sanctuary. As we wound our way up Montana Highway 200 along the Blackfoot River, he alternately looked out the windows at the passing scenery or snoozed. It’s about an hour drive from Missoula, so he had plenty of time to do both.
Pappy will need to stay on a daily antibiotic for the rest of his life to prevent the aspiratory pneumonia from recurring. It’s called Orbax and he’ll be on a full strength 68 mg dose for two weeks, then we’ll cut that in half and monitor how he does. Since we can’t restore complete nerve function to his larynx, he will continue to ingest food and fluid in his lungs. The drug should help keep it from developing into pneumonia.
I took the photos of Pappy this evening at the clinic right after putting him in the truck. There next to Pappy on the bed in the first photo is the box of Kodiak’s ashes I also picked up at the clinic. So in their own way, both old dogs came home this evening.
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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