Blog Posts About: mascot

A few months back, I introduced you to Bosco, our new puppy. He's not much help when it comes to making videos, but other than that, he's been an awesome addition to the Common Craft family. We call him the "mini-beast". 

Like almost everything in my life, I've taken a LOT of photos of that dog.  This post is really just a quick look at how he's grown since you saw him last. Here's a complete set of photos on Flickr. 

Here's the photo you saw when he was just weeks old. Our friend Tony Wright said recently the Bosco looked like a sad puppy in this picture.  We didn't know it at the time, but he was sick and quite sad.

But made a full recovery - and his nose started to get a little blacker.

And grew...

and grew... and got a totally black nose.

And started to have intelligent discussions with my brother.

And really, really enjoy the beach.

Notice the shadow of the ball on the sand - it's just in front of his mouth.

This is the mini-beast just days ago. He's almost 6 months and weighs about 40 lbs. 

You can follow Bosco on Twitter. He's a low-frequency twitterer. 

Through a rigorous search and even more rigorous interview process, we've decided to make our first hire. His name is Bosco and he's just over 6 weeks old.  Over time and with some management, we expect that he'll become a very valuable member of the team. Follow him on Twitter: @boscolefever

He's half-lab, half-springer spaniel, which is the same mix as Amos, our last dog.  Read more about Amos here and here.

UPDATE:  We've been through a lot with this little puppy.  From the moment we brought him home from the family that owned his Mom, he was happy, but seemed more lethargic than we expected.  He had some loose bowels and minor vomit, but we thought it would pass.  It didn't and he became more lethargic. Over a few days and many vet visits, he started to lose weight and had little interest in food or water. He was a very sick puppy and you could see it in his face.  Nothing so cute should be so sick. Heartbreaking.

It turns out that Bosco had Canine Parvovirus, an extremely contagious virus that attacks the intestinal track of dogs. It keeps the dog from being able to absorb nutrients. It's a very serious disease that is often fatal, especially if untreated.  On our vet's recommendation, we had him admitted to an Animal Hospital, where he would be isolated and cared-for 24 hours a day.  The treatment plan was long and included plasma infusions, feeding tubes, IVs and multiple medicines.  The idea is to keep him stable with supportive therapy and let the disease run its course. There is a vaccine for Parvo, but as a 6 week-old puppy, he had not yet been vaccinated.

Bosco was in the hospital 3 nights and came home on Sunday night, almost completely recovered. It seems that he had a light case of the virus and responded well to the care.  Now we have a lively, energetic and hungry puppy with no signs of disease.  We just need to put him to work so he can help with the pet bills.  

We quite literally owe Bosco's life to the care he received through our local vets. Both Four Paws Veterinary Clinic (our normal vet) and VCA Five Corners Animal Hospital were amazing. Professional, informative and empathetic. Highly recommended.