Worried about Charley

Charley had a seizure today. It really scared me. I was afraid he was going to die. I kept thinking about how I hadn't had enough time with him yet. We were in the kitchen and he started breathing rapidly and was crouched down. I went to him and he fell over on his side and started seizing with his full body. After a minute or two he stopped and looked up at me with this confused and scared look. It was like he didn't know what just happened, but he knew it wasn't good. I laid on him and held his head the whole time. I kept asking him if he was OK, even though I know he couldn't have answered. I called John as soon as Charley was OK and he came home right away. Between the time I called John and when we got to the vet about 20 minutes later, Charley had had about 4 mini seizures. His head would start shaking, but he didn't go into full convulsions again. It happened again in the car and once in the waiting room. His blood panel was normal and because his dad, Winston, also has seizures we think it may be epilepsy. The vet didn't recommend medicating a dog unless he was having more than one seizure a month. So, we are just supposed to watch him and try to find patterns in his seizure activity. The vet said that most likely, he will have more seizures but there is no telling how far apart they will be.

My brother and his fiance own Charley's mom and dad. Winston is probably 4-5 years old now. In this picture he is about a year old and is wearing my shoes.
Sophia is about 3-4 now. In this picture she was about 8 months old and wearing her halloween constume!

When I found out they were pregnant, I knew I had to have a puppy. I tried to imagine a mix between the two, but couldn't. Winston is a very dark brindle with no white and Sophia is a fawn with lots of white. I wanted a puppy that looked like a mix of both of them! The morning after the puppies were born, my brother called me to tell me that one of the puppies had a swollen foot. Sophia must have bitten it on accident, trying to find the umbilical cord. Gabe said that he would have to take the puppy to the vet and that the foot might be amputated. I immediately knew that I would take the puppy if he got his foot amputated. Gabe wouldn't be able to sell it, but I knew I would love it just the same! When I went to Gabe's house that day, he hadn't taken the puppy to the vet yet. I went right in to see Sophia and the puppies. I just picked up the first one I saw and held him close. I loved it. My brother walked by the room and said, "that is the one with the hurt foot". I looked down, and it was. I also slowly started to realize that of the five puppies, this one was the only one that was brindle AND white. Two males were dark brindle and two females were fawn. The one with the hurt foot was a perfect mix between Winston and Sophia!

I went to visit almost every day. I held Charley as much as possible. He knew me by touch before he could see or hear. After a few weeks, he would run to the baby gate at the sound of my voice, he was always the first puppy to me. He was meant to be mine. Charley and I have never known time apart aside from one or two vacations over the last year and a half. I love that dog with my whole heart. I would give anything for him. It is really hard for me to describe our bond but the easiest thing for people to understand is that I have had him picked out from birth, and even before- but truely I think that fate put us together.

Here we are the day after he was born:
His foot was drained by the vet and he has a dark scar between his back toes on the left foot.

Here he is at about 4 weeks:

Here he is at about 6 weeks. His face is starting to shape up a little more already! Yes, I used to have dredlocks. That lasted about 6 months. I had wanted them for a long time and decided to do it my last year in college. I took them out because I had to wear a hat at the barn and even then I ended up finding hay in my hair while sitting in school.

Charley at three months. He was a very cute puppy! Looking at his puppy pictures makes me want another Boxer puppy!!! Shhh! Don't tell John!

Charley at 5 months. These are three of the horses I cared for on the Polo string of 11 horses. Charley got bitten by one once at feeding time and after that, I have never had a problem with him around horses!

This dog has some real personality!!!