I live out the Highway on Mosquito Lake Road. I have two dogs, a terrier named Rocky and a German Shepherd named River. Rocky is known to eat everything he comes across, indoors or out. River is more circumspect. There lies the irony.

Last Friday night, River started to act pretty weird. Her coordination was off, her head was bobbing and she seemed fearful. These symptoms progressed during the night and she finally became almost completely unresponsive. I thought she was going to die.

The reason I am recounting this episode in this letter is that I have heard of other dogs showing these same symptoms in and around Haines. In fact, on April 22 an article was published in this paper about two dogs getting sick after walking out by Chilkoot Lake. So, I am hoping someone might be able to shed some light on the possible cause.

Since I had no access to a local vet, I was able to talk to a vet on “Vet Triage” a service of SE Alaska Animal Medical Center in Juneau. He was extremely helpful. I highly recommend it.

After two and a half days, River appears to have fully recovered.

Sincerely,

Julie Korsmeyer

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