it was about 20 years ago, when Distemper was widely spread. Contacted it going to the clinic at the local HS for vaccinations. My pup was about 12 weeks old. He was initially diagnoised with Kennel Cough, put on some anti-biotics and sent home....to get worse. High fever, vomitting, diarrhea. A consultation at another vet revealed he had distemper.
He had developed all the classic symptoms by then, nasal discharge, chorea and brown teeth. However, he did survive it. But due to the extreme fever for too long he suffered permenant brain damage. Basically he was a 3 month old puppy that was unable to learn anything beyond what he knew. About 3 months later he began to experience seizures and we elected to have him put down. We knew he'd never have a normal life anyway. It was sad to see an 80 lb pup (Labrador BTW) who only knew what it was like to be 3 months old. I was only a child then, but I remember it vividly because this pup was my first "my" dog. Not a family dog, we had those too, but this was completely my dog that I bought myself.
Sorry my experience wasn't a more positive one. Distemper is making a comeback. What was once a disease that all but the oldest of veterinarians had never seen but in text books is unfortunately on the rise. As is Leptospirosis. I know someone in NY who just a few weeks ago lost a 5 year old female to this disease.