It has been a disappointing few days for us. For one thing, concern over Jackie fairly well consumed our attention. Since Monday evening when he began acting so strangely we could hardly credit his behaviour, we've been trying to come to grips with it all. He was hysterically excitable, restless, panting, trembling, tail permanently parked between his two back legs, insisting on being held. He has never been a cuddly dog, and now suddenly he has needed the comfort of being held to somehow pacify some unknown demon that had taken up residence in his little head.

A visit to the veterinarian clinic the following day gave us the seeming assurance there was nothing immediately identifiable physically wrong with him. No fever, eyes bright, no throat obstructions, heart beating within the normal range, albeit obviously stressed, and his legs and chest seemed fine. Everything checked out, everything with the exception of the mystery of what it was that had and continued to give him so much stress.

He behaved as though he was terrified of something. At first raced about madly, then jumped as high as he could to attain height; atop the sofa, our bed pillows, atop a basket holding some of our outdoor gear sitting on a bench in the laundry room, even leaping up to the counter top of the powder room vanity sink. As though the higher he got the safer he would be, trembling all the while.

We've been administering a calming and pain medication every eight hours prescribed by the vet who wasn't able to diagnose anything wrong and thought we would have to go for diagnostic blood tests, X-rays, a visit to a veterinarian neurologist. Gradually he improved, began resting calmly. He ate his meals, but didn't want to go out to the backyard to evacuate. He would hold his urine a full day and then squat for a prolonged release, rather than lift a leg as he normally does.

Early this afternoon I managed to enthuse him enough to play some rough-and-tumble games with me and his sister, and he was enthusiastic and seemed happy, finally. We had already missed two days of heading out to the ravine for hikes in the forest. It had rained the previous two days so it didn't seem urgent given that we knew that whatever it was troubling him wouldn't be conducive to his enjoying a hike, but today we felt in reflection of his improved state, we would give it a try.

Walking him on the leash to ensure he didn't dash off anywhere, we realized he was hobbling along with his right back leg lifted. Poodles tend often to do that; Button and Riley frequently did, skipping along with one back leg raised, on occasion. When we saw Jackie doing that we thought little of it at first, and that was early Monday before the occasion of his startling reaction to something that left us in the dark.

And then we realized he was asking to be picked up because walking was difficult all of a sudden, and presumably painful. And thinking about it, that's why he shied away from peeing, because normally he would raise one leg, place his weight on the other ... which led to his doing neither, and eventually squatting to eliminate urine.

The trails were drenched, so was the foliage, since rain had just stopped as we had ventured out. More foliage was down off the trees, and on the forest floor. The beech trees which tend to be among the last to change colour, had done so in the last several days, and their bright and deep bronze colour glowed in the rain-soaked landscape; beauty aplenty.

My husband had lifted Jackie and carried him throughout a truncated hike. We ended up on a much shorter circuit than usual, Jackie being carried in my husband's arms to spare him any further discomfort, while Jillie went on ahead, as she usually does. Now, at least we have the relief of knowing that it was the shock of sudden pain and discomfort that had provoked such a peculiar reaction in our little dog. He had injured his leg and we hadn't realized that, and when it reached a point where it was seriously painful, he had reacted. Who wouldn't?

He needs more rest to aid recovery before he can be exposed once again to our usual routine.