Dog Delay

Tenting in the Pavilion in the
City Park in Bowlus

After two days of rest while visiting friends in Minneapolis, Jay was keen to get back on the road.  So we drove from Minneapolis back to Bowlus, MN so Jay could resume riding.  Unfortunately when we got to Bowlus, rainy weather greeted us, requiring another delay.  At the time we thought “Okay, a delay, but nothing serious to be concerned about.”  Well, how wrong could we be?

The next day the weather cleared and Jay rode 65 miles from Bowlus to Dalbo, MN. Our “campsite” for this evening was the Adventure Cyclist’s Bunkhouse maintained by Donn Olson. The bunkhouse is a spacious, renovated 1880’s barn with private rooms, an upstairs dormitory, shower,

Donn's Bunkhouse for bicyclists. What a treat!

kitchen, refrigerator, microwave, etc., etc.  What a perfect place to spend an evening! Then our troubles began.

Our dog Nando, who had not been his regular self all day, vomited shortly after Helen arrived at the bunkhouse.  He threw up again and again.  More importantly, nothing was coming out his back end.  We grew concerned there was some obstruction in his intestinal tract.

At 8:00 Saturday morning Donn came over to the bunkhouse with a cup of coffee in his hand and a smile on his face. We immediately told him of Nando’s troubles and he recommended a vet in Cambridge, about 20 minutes away. We called and got an 8:30 appointment, jumped in the car

The vet Donn recommended

and were off.

The tech asked for details. The vet came in and offered Nando a treat. No dice. How about some yummy canned food? His nose turned up at that, as well. He wouldn’t drink any water. X-rays revealed a lot of air in his intestines, but the vet couldn’t see anything that would cause a blockage. She recommended we go to the Blue Pearl emergency clinic in Blaine, MN, about 30 minutes away.

By a stoke of very good luck, a surgeon and an expert at finding blockages on ultrasounds both studied Nando’s X-rays and ultrasound at length, and the only thing they could come up with is that he may

Waiting, waiting, waiting

have swallowed a piece of cloth. He has a cloth chew toy so that wasn’t out of the question, but we doubted it.

Regardless, since he hadn’t drunk any water or kept down any food for two days, he was dehydrated. We left Nando in the good hands of the staff at the Blue Pearl who started an IV almost immediately. We went back in about four hours to visit him before the hour ride back to Dalbo and he was already peppier. Helen took him for a walk outside and he had a bowel movement (the first in two and a half days), a good sign, so we were thrilled. That eliminated the need for exploratory surgery.

While sitting in the vet’s office, Jay was paging through a book of dog breeds. Much to our surprise, there was Nando’s picture under the name “Polish Hound.” Who knew? His new name is Nandoski!

Tomorrow morning is another trip to the Blue Pearl emergency clinic to pick up Nando. Hopefully all will be well and Jay can resume riding his bike.

A Polish Hound. Doesn't this look like Nando?

The sign in front of the barn welcoming bikers