Hope could take first place in the Olympic snoring competition.

Talking dogs would make life easier when illness strikes.

Last week Hope started snoring like a chainsaw. I’ve had dogs snore before, so I wasn’t concerned.

A few days after the snoring began she was making sounds from her throat—the kind of sounds you make when you have a sore throat. I called the veterinarian.

Hope’s tonsils were inflamed, and she had had a fever of 103. A normal temperature for a dog is 101.

“I’ve never see tonsils so red and large,” my vet said. At least Hope’s lungs were clear.

Hope received injections of an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory drug. I also took home an antibiotic pill. A huge pill.

It has been a few days and she is perkier but still snoring like a chainsaw. The real challenge has been the pill.

She found it in lunchmeat, she found it in cheese, she found it in those little “pill pockets” you can buy at a pet store, and she didn’t like it crushed in baby food.

Peanut butter saved us. We chop the pill in little pieces then stick it in the middle of a gob of peanut butter. We do this several times at morning and night. It is a slow process, but she eats it all.

With the continued snoring a concern, we went back to the vet yesterday. Her tonsils were no longer red, but Hope got a shot of depo-medrol to help with her enlarged tonsils.

Today Windy started feeling lethargic. I have a sneaky suspicion we have something communicable here and may be back to the vet tomorrow. I am watching Windy closely.