Friday was fairly straight forward. We picked the hound up in the evening, getting back late from the burb that her foster parent was located in. After the entire hour-plus ride with me holding her in the front seat (our adult pooch was in the back) she puked as we rolled into our parking garage. I was covered in puppy vomit. We got things set-up at home and bedded down for her first night. Short of a few barking fits, the puppy was fine. My wife slept with her, and we got up every few hours to let her out.

As background, our Rhodesian Ridgeback-Boxer mix has quite a history. We got him from a shelter that my wife volunteered at for several years. He shows sign of past physical abuse as well as severe seperation anxiety. He's the poster pooch for rescue merits. From a stray found on the street to two squares of raw diet and a daily dog-walker, he's got it great. We were looking for another dog that would complement his insecure-alpha personality. He's not great with other animals, ignoring most other dogs and asserting himself with everybody else. We call him our old man. He is so undog like - chews, toys, treats are all useless with him. He never plays, period. So, that's why we picked a very young female that was submissive.

So the first night found the new puppy sleeping on Franklin's bed and he sleeping huddled in the corner. All-in-all, a decent first night. Saturday was another story.

By the time I had gotten back from a morning trip to the store, my wife informed me that our adult dog had what appeared to be a petit seizure. She said that he had a clenched jaw and foamed while mildly convulsing. She said it was quick lasting just long enough to make you wonder what the fuck that was.

As the day progressed, Franklin is not taking things well with the new addition. We set up a kennel that we were going to use with the puppy. He ends up seeking refuge in it to get away from the coonhound, who by the way is the sweetest thing.

By the mid afternoon my wife had decided to take Fanklin for a walk by himself. Before they could get out the door, Franklin had another seizure. This one I witnessed first hand. There is nothing like seeing your dog turn into what looks like a rabid animal. He appeared to be able to hear me, but he had zero control over his body. And the foam was lathered everywhere.

So by now we are thinking things are not going so well. Aside from an application of Frontline Plus flea and tick medicine, which we have used before, the only new thing is the coonhound. Given the stress that Franklin has been through in his past, it is totally possible that his epileptic seizures are brought on by the new arrangment.

After diner and well into a cocktail hour, Franklin had his third episode, a grand mal on the kitchen floor. All I could do was guide him to the floor and keep him from hurting himself any more. The convulsions were full body and severe. The foam lather was immense. My wife and I took him to the Vet ER immediately, with a couple house guest watching the uppy while we were gone.

After the second episode, he had a near seizure while I was sauteing some veggies on the stove. Again, he get stressed at odd times. If the kitchen gets alittle smokey, he wants to leave. So, I had soem asparagus on the flame and did his usual thing, only this time he had some odd facial expressions that were very reminiscent to the epileptic episodes. We were able to calm him down. But both the wife and I were thinking that any more trauma and we would strongly consider relinquishing the puppy in favor of not stressing out our first-born.

After seeing the grand-mal, and a trip to the ER followed by an overnight stay that was highlighted by a black lab that was brough in dead by the family members after being hit by a car, we decided to take the hound back to the foster parent in the morning. Which is what we did today. The $300 adoption fee as well as all the peripherals - kennel, leashes, toys, etc - we donated to a house that just got another liter of nine labs. So it goes, right? I mean we didn't want to leave the new puppy home with Franklin is the dog may have a seizure while we are gone. I couldn't go to work everyday with in the back of my mind.

Only, as it turns out, there may be a side-effect of the Frontline product that can cause seizures. While we were at the ER, we mentioned that we had applied the topical product to our dog the same day. They quickly discounted it,as well as the stress from the new hound, and told us to monitor the symtoms and consider epileptic medicine if they persist. We got that story after we had taken the coonhound back to her original home.

So here were are, Sunday evening. Franklin appears to be fine. The ER did not do a tox screen. So we have no way of knowing if it was the Frontline product or the stress, or quite frankly BOTH. The coonhound has been returned and we are left wondering if we are not complete fucking idiots. I need a god-damn drink.