Shiloh was diagnosed with GDV, gastric dilatation-volvulus, which basically means her stomach twisted on itself. Layne noticed her acting strange, and within thirty minutes her symptoms became alarming so we drove 3 hours to Elko, which isn’t even an emergency hospital, but the doctor was amazing and took her in despite it being midnight.

Since GDV is fatal, they took her into emergency surgery right away. Honestly, we didn’t know what to expect; she’s thirteen and the vet told us there was a chance she might not make it. An hour later he called us to say she was waking up from anesthesia. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Shiloh and I have had an action-packed thirteen years so far, she’s been with me through everything. With Layne we have lived in Colorado, Tennessee, Montana, Nevada, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Florida.

Anyone who knows Shiloh will say she’s more wolf than dog, and they couldn’t be more right. She’s solitary, loves the outdoors with her whole heart, is a full-fledged carnivore (won’t even eat carrots or peanut butter), loves the snow and cold, and at thirteen she is bursting with energy. Just recently went with Layne, Elliott, and I on a very tough 10 mile hike in Idaho without skipping a beat. She’s really an amazing and enduring dog, so I knew she would pull through the surgery.

Interesting fact about Shiloh, she went missing in 2015 and I didn’t find her until four months later. She was pretty famous by the end of it. A woman I wish I could have thanked more profusely commented on one of my FB posts. I was still posting regularly four months in. There’s another backstory involving some detective work on my part. Even the cops and ASPCA got involved.

Layne and I would do anything for either of our dogs, but the surgery was, of course, very expensive. Anything helps ❤️