... and "The Marley" goes to...

'Tis the season for award shows. The Golden Globes have come and gone, Oscar nominations are out and soon we'll hear about the Grammys. However, there is one little known award that was recently bestowed upon a certain member of our family and we want to make sure that the winner of this award is properly honored and recognized.

• The award? "The Marley" named after the crazy and neurotic dog "Marley" from Marley and Me.
• Who is eligible? Any dog who does anything remotely stupid which then causes his/her owner(s) to pay great sums of money for veterinary services. (Bonus points will be given to dogs requiring "EMERGENCY" veterinary services.)

And so... without further ado... the winner of the 2009 "Marley" award goes to... (drumroll)

REUBEN MCDOUGALL!!!

Yes, Reuben is the proud recipient of the 2009 "Marley" award. And to what do we owe this great honor... well, just sit back and we will tell you...

On Saturday, January 10th, 2009 we came home to a very happy dog, a seriously shredded Ibuprofen bottle, and 3 pills laying on the floor. (Just an FYI - "Child-proof" does not mean "Dog-proof!") To this day we have NO IDEA where Reuben found this bottle of Ibuprofen. With 2 young kiddos we are VERY careful about where we keep meds! Nevertheless, Reuben somehow found a bottle of Ibuprofen gel caps, shredded the bottle, and then consumed an unknown number of pills. John and I both decided that Reuben was acting fine, whipped out the vacuum, and cleaned up the mess. At the moment we were more concerned about our very busy and crawling 9month old finding the pills and jokingly concluded that Reuben would just be "arthritis-free" for like the next month.

Sunday, January 11th - no apparent change in Reuben and the Ibuprofen incident was pretty much forgotten.

Monday, January 12th - We came home after a long day at school and routinely filled Reuben's water dish.

Tuesday, January 13th - Same as Monday - we came home after a long day of school/work and once again filled Reuben's water dish.

Wednesday, January 14th - John stays home because he doesn't have class and notices Reuben is comsuming COPIOUS amounts of water. Like, seriously, HUGE amounts of water. If the water dish was empty Reuben would paw at it... very abnormal for our very laid back and relaxed dog. But we pretty much just kept refilling his water dish and then went on to the normal business of getting dinner on the table, kids in the bath and then to bed.

Once the kids were in bed and I had time to fully think about, and observe this strange doggy behavior I began to think "maybe there is something wrong with him." (Still forgetting the Ibuprofen incident...) So, I googled "Why is my dog drinking too much water?" and a gazillion things came up. So, I called our regular vet and left a message stating my dog was drinking excessively and requesting an appointment first thing in the morning. (Still thinking that nothing was seriously wrong.) Then I started to think a little bit harder and that was when the memory of the Ibuprofen came racing back and the thought "maybe Ibuprofen is really bad for a dog" hit me like a truck! I quickly googled "My dog ate Ibuprofen" and really terrible stories started popping up on every web page I clicked. I instantly became extremely worried and mentioned to John that I thought we needed to consult an emergency vet.

As I dialed the number for the Clark County Emergency Vet Clinic visions of dollar signs started dancing in my head... After a brief conversation with the vet, they recommended that Reuben be seen immediately. (More dollar signs dancing...) So, at 8:20pm Reuben and I headed out to the emergency vet. On the way the dollar signs quickly faded and I began to play scenarios of having to say goodbye to Reuben, for good, simply because I was a bad dog owner and didn't do something sooner. It soon became the longest 8 mile drive I had ever driven.

When we arrived Reuben was quickly checked in and taken into the back where dogs and cats are held while awaiting diagnosis and treatment. Meanwhile I sat waiting, worrying, and attempting to read as many People magazines as I could to keep my mind off of what I thought was going to be a final goodbye to Reuben. I had no idea how I was going to be able to drive home that night if I had to leave without my dog.

For those of you who don't know, Reuben is my dog. Yes, he is the family dog, but he is really my dog. John and I were married for just over 2 months when John left for Iraq and I was depressed, lonely, and needed companionship. So, against my new husband's wishes I got a dog. Not just any dog - a roly-poly, chubby, adorable little yellow lab puppy. I named him Reuben and he's really been my dog ever since. He plays with John, tolerates the kids, but when it comes to knowing who to obey and who really spoils and loves on him - that's me!

So, there I sat at the emergency vet. I kept trying to force myself into becoming totally engrossed in People, trying to ignore the crying and heart-broken families leaving without their dogs and cats, and trying to hope against hope that Reuben would be OK. Finally at 11pm the vet called me into an exam room to give me the prognosis. Basically, he said, Reuben had kidney damage due to the Ibuprofen and we wouldn't know to what extent his kidneys were damaged unless we treated him with continuous IV fluids to flush out his system for 48 hours. (The visions of dollar signs and my teacher's salary were back!) After 48 hours and blood test we would know whether or not his kidneys were responding to treatment. So there I sat with a decision. Treat him and he'll get better. Treat him and maybe still have to put him down because his kidneys were too far gone. Or (the unthinkable in my opinion) put him down without attempting treatment. I chose treatment, signed the paperwork, handed over the credit card, and drove the long drive home without my dog. The vet said they would only call if things got worse.

For the next 48 hours every time the phone rang I got a pit in my stomach and felt like I was going to throw up. I kept re-thinking that Saturday and finding the Ibuprofen and was kicking myself for not doing something earlier. I broke down in front of my 1st grade class trying to explain what was going on in order to prepare them for a sub in case we had to put Reuben down. John was having equally as hard of a time. Lydia was confused and just wanted Reuben back.

Finally the moment came when the conclusive blood test results were to be shared... John and I waited on pins and needles for Dr. Elliot to call. When he finally did John answered the phone and we were elated to find out Reuben had responded well to treatment and that we could pick him. We were warned that we weren't totally out of the woods. We needed to be aware that they still weren't sure Reuben's kidneys could function on their own. There were several symptoms we needed to watch for and an additional blood test was required 5 days later to give us a final answer on his kidneys. With those instructions we took a deep breath, paid the rather large bill, declared that with our next dog we'd get doggy insurance, and then all too thrilled took Reuben home.

Reuben has been home for a week today. After his final blood test on Wednesday he was given a totally clean bill of health! We are relieved. We are so very grateful. We are in disbelief that Reuben has once again been spared... this is afterall, the dog who at only 5 and 1/2 years of age has been hit by a car (while on leash in a crosswalk), had 2 major knee surgeries, and now has survived the consumption of major amounts of Ibuprofen! And while he doesn't chew through drywall during thunder storms, or eat mangos like it's going out of style, or run away while tied to a table at a restaurant, Reuben still has his moments... which is why he is the recipient of this year's "Marley" award! (And, in my opinion, the world's BEST dog!) :)