Blowfish on Land?

Although the post title might have intrigued you or perhaps you really have a penchant for blowfish, either way I hate to disappoint you because my story isn’t about a blowfish (only some part of it); it’s about Kermit, not the frog in Sesame Street singing “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow,” but my 2-month-old puppy, whose mischief resulted to the blowfish incident.

Two weeks ago, I was busy preparing lunch in the kitchen for our 3 dogs and Kermit the playful puppy was running back and forth as if she’s my supervisor monitoring the improvement of my task. After calling Kermit several times, still she didn’t show up; usually, when she hears any sound caused by movement of plate or metal, she would instantly run, even without being called. I found her at the back of the TV, showing no intention of going out; thus, I picked her up and distributed their lunch.

Later on my sister noticed Kermit’s transformation: not like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon, but more like a blowfish walking on land. In 3 years of having dogs, this is the first time we’ve seen a puppy’s face swelled like a boxer’s face after a 12-round bout. The culprit was never found; it must be a small insect that bit her or something she munched that caused an allergy.

Apart from having a puffy face similar to the wolf in the story, “The Three Little Pigs,” Kermit also had rashes in-between her eyes and above her nose. But the moment, we could hardly see her eyes rendered much alarm. We put a dog leash around Kermit’s neck to keep her from getting into another mishap.

Kermit has undergone observation for hours. At first she wouldn’t want to eat, but later on, to our relief—she ate as if nothing happened. And as she ate with gusto, we noticed the swelling is abating. We’ve never been happier to see Kermit’s face, her well face—resembling neither the bad wolf nor the poisonous blowfish. Kermit, who used to be a sick puppy, is as agile as ever but also protesting: she doesn’t like being restrained by her leash. If this will prevent any mishap, however uncomfortable she is, expressed by her vexing cry, so be it.

From then on, the leash is her personal bodyguard: preventing her from squeezing underneath or behind our appliances or furniture, at which she could possibly stumble upon the culprit again. Vigilance must be constantly practice. After having dogs for almost 3 years, I sometimes let my guard down. I still have a lot to learn about dogs and perhaps about blowfish too.