Running ghost of the rescued puppy

This is Tino, the puppy that’s been staying here at the campsite for a while now, who I tried to keep away from my tent before (he had strange skin diseases and infestations) .

He has this wonderful talent for just being too impossibly cute to chase away and has become best friends with Aquila the boerboel, so really I had to allow him the same rights. 

Saturday was a pretty cold day around here when in bounced the puppy, ever curios of his surroundings and wanting to explore.  So he sneaks into my caravan and spots my bed.  Irresistible.  So there I leave him be.  How can I take away that happy face.  I let him take a nap and snuggle his nose into my blankets for the afternoon. 

At some point he starts making funny sounds and I think he’s going to vomit, so I take him outside.  He starts foaming at the mouth and looks a little bewildered.  I thought maybe he ate something funny and is just feeling a little sick.

On Sunday afternoon I got home and found him in my tent, foaming even worse and losing all balance.  I decided to take him to the only lady I know in town, that has some dog medicine and would probably know what is wrong with it.  When I got to her house, they just told me that it’s a highly contagious dog disease called Parvo and I have to get it out of the yard and away from their dogs.  There was apparently nothing I could do and the dog is going to die.  I have no idea how long it’ll take.

I took him back to his owners and told her the story.  There’s not that much we could do, phone reception was off the whole day yesterday and only got back on late this afternoon.  The closest SPCA is in Umtata. 

This morning I woke up and the puppy was in my tent, just looking tired.  Soon it had another attack of foaming and started shaking terribly.  When it was over he ran down crazy to the river, I thought it was going to drown itself. But he just ran in circles in and out of the water, falling over getting back up again.  Eventually he came out, running around disoriented.  Finally he went to sit under the caravan, shaking.  He wouldn’t come out, but I pulled him and wrapped him in an old blanket.  I put him inside my washing tub and there he lay shivering until the sun finally came out to warm him up.  Then he was up again, running around aimlessly.

I don’t know how long this is going to carry on…