Monday, November 15, 2010

It's A Dog's Life

If a piece of gum falls in the woods will my dog find it?
Yes, yes she will.


And it doesn't matter how deep the leaves are, if there is a piece of gum out there she'll find it.
And chew it.
It's hilarious...why doesn't she swallow it?
It's like she watches us and knows you are just supposed to chew.
She doesn't limit herself to the already chewed variety either.
If there's gum in my purse and I've left it within reach she's been known to snag that too.

Hubs was out of town most of last week so I spent a few days with my mom.
My mom doesn't mind if my dog tags along when I come to visit because my dog is a very well behaved pooch.
Well, except of course when she has her nose in my purse.

Normally though, she is good as gold.
This past week?
Not so much.

She has allergies this time of year and they make her itchy.
And when she scratches her collar jingles.
Its hard to sleep with jingle bells playing all night long.
Only 39 days til Christmas by the way.

So I guess this week it is back to the vet we'll go.
I'm pretty sure my car can find its own way there.
We are quite well known at our vets office.
We were also quite well known at our vets office in the UK.
And our vets office in Maryland where she started life.


If ever a family should have purchased pet insurance it was this family.
It's not that she's sick a lot.
It's more like stuff happens.

We picked her up from the breeder in May of 2002.
Three months later she somehow managed to ingest a grass awn which then proceeded to abscess in her throat.
In case you don't know, a grass awn is what you see on the ornamental grasses people grow in their gardens.
Yeah, I didn't know they had a name either.
At least not until I saw it in black and white on the vet bill (s).
Seventeen stitches and one overnite hospital stay later she was good as new.
Did I mention it was a holiday weekend?
Of course it was a holiday weekend.
These things never occur during normal office hours.

We had the pick of the litter when we chose our pup and we got to meet her mama and her daddy and her granddaddy.
They were all lovely dogs with perfect teeth.
I'm guessing the perfect teeth gene must skip a couple of generations.


Everyone who knows her agrees that her teeth only add to her charm.
I think she is slightly embarrassed by them though.
Perhaps that would explain why she chewed up one of my Invisalign trays on Saturday night.
Fortunately I was only a day away from moving into the next set.
And truth be told she probably needs it more than me.

Picture it like this...
Hubs spent his Saturday night in San Antonio at a fun work event.
I spent my Saturday night wrestling a piece of plastic dental equipment from a 60 pound dog who thought it was all some kind of a big game.

Actually I do blame her behavior on the hubs being out of town all week.
She has not done anything like that since she was a tiny tot.


She was awfully cute back then, wasn't she?


Lucky for her she still is.

She's also a gentle dog who is friendly and loves people.
And she's a natural born bird dog.
We've never really encouraged the hunting thing but her DNA will not be denied.
She loves to stalk birds, squirrels, rabbits and the dreaded ground hog.
Oh what she wouldn't give to get her mitts on a groundhog.
Specifically the one living in our rock wall.
And I guess in that instance we might possibly be encouraging the hunting just a wee bit.

She's only ever managed to catch a bird she was stalking on two occasions.
Two out of thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Pretty much every time she's outside she is stalking prey of some sort.
Both birds she captured were already injured when she caught them.
Shh.
Don't tell her.
She thought she was hot stuff.

She is getting older.
I can hardly bear to think it.
She is the sweetest dog I've ever known.
Well, except when she's eating my expensive dental apparatus but you know, the rest of the time she's a sweetie.

A sweetie who thinks she's a lap dog...


She's not, but she thinks she is.
She's a lap dog who loves her walks...


and her naps...


and her rides in the car.


And most especially, a lap dog who loves the hubs...
where he goes, she goes...


When she hears his car pull into the garage after work she hurries over and scoots herself as close as she can possibly get to the door...she leaves exactly enough room for it to open.


Are you a dog person or a cat person?
I figure I can ask that question here because anyone who is neither one of those probably stopped reading many sentences ago.
If you're a dog person then you understand how a dog becomes part of the family...
that no matter what sort of day you may have had she is oh so happy just to see your face.

I remember a quote I read once somewhere that said,
"I want to be the person my dog sees me to be."

I think maybe we can learn a few things from a dog.

edited to add this post is linking to the synchroblog at Chaos Theory

22 comments:

  1. I am a DOG PERSON!!! Tucker sleeps that way too - his legs are soooo stiff! I love her teeth. That makes her unique! I love all dogs and loved all your pictures!!! I am going to do a post "calling all NJ bloggers" soon!

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  2. Well, I read the whole thing and I am neither a dog person or cat person. :)

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  3. Are you kidding? With four dogs, it is easy to see, I am a dog person, for sure!

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  4. I am a cat person and the mother of a dog person. In fact, I was thinking of doing a post tomorrow because the dog person is currently out of town, and the dog is missing his human immensely.

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  5. This was so enjoyable to read. She is precious.
    They sure can keep us on our toes. I am a dog lover for sure, can't live without one. We have had healthy dogs throughout our life but if something did happen it was always after hours!!! Thank you for sharing her adventures with me.

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  6. I'm a cat person, but love a well-behaved, loyal pooch like yours.

    BTW, try googling "quiet spot tag silencer" for my all time favorite doggie product. It's a little neoprene bag that the tags fit into and it fastens on the collar. No more noise! I love it.

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  7. We have a high-maintenance dog, too. And it, too, started early. She'd been with us for just a few weeks -- a wee pup -- when she had to have a taste of the dishwashing liquid I'd loaded into the dishwasher ... I had turned my back for a second to put the detergent away. Of course, that was late at night ... but thankfully I thought about calling the ASPCA poison control hotline ... and we were able to treat her at home without a costly trip to the emergency vet center. When she was about 6 months old, she developed a nasty case of IBS (upper digestive) ... she couldn't hold any of her food down. After hundreds of dollars spent at our vets, they referred us to a vet internist (yes, our dog goes to an internist) who did an endoscopy($$$) and has put her on a life-long course of prednisone to keep her stomach from flaring up. And of course, there was the time when she got into a FULL jar of ibuprofin ... by the time we got home and realized what had happened, she was beginning to exhibit some symptoms so we had to take her to the emergency vet center (our vet's office was closed of course!) ... it was touch and go for a couple of days. That set us back several grand. Now she's developed lower digestive issues ... because of her age, we're treating it without costly exams. At the first sign of "trouble", we give her the medicine and get it under control ... it's not a perfect solution, but it's working.

    Even after all the cost, we love that dog ... and don't even want to think about life without her. :-(

    Sorry to be so long-winded.

    Blessings!

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  8. I guess I would like cats if I was not allergic.

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  9. I grew up afraid of dog and never got a got a dog until my early 40's. I love both cats and dogs. Our current dog, Becke is getting older too but there are days when she is still the puppy I love to bits. Great post on your "baby"

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  10. Well, we have two labs, a yellow and a chocolate one, Rhett and Rosco. Think I qualify as a "dog person." They do become a part of the family for sure.

    A great post!!!

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  11. Sweet post. Suddenly, I love your dog, too. ;) We love us some Jasmine, too... only wish she were less nervous. :) Funny how they become such a part of the family.

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  12. Well, now you have made me miss Mabel.
    :(

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  13. What kind of dog is that? She's amazing. We tried raw feeding and all the allergies went away!

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  14. I love dogs, love visiting my friends with dogs, will pet a pooch for hours but don't love taking care of dogs. Does that make sense?

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  15. Such a sweet post that leaves no doubt about how much you love your dog. I am a dog person, in fact we were just talking about the $600 we spent on our dog at the vet last month.....because things happen.

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  16. Her teeth are...ummm...well they certainly add character ;)

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  17. I am so a Dog person. That would explain the two big labs sleeping on their bed in our entrance room. I often say when I come back in the next life, I am coming back as a dog!
    They do have the life.

    By the way, laughing at the gum:)

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  18. I love this post. I love my dogs - they are on my blog all the time. And I hate it when they are itchy! those are sleepless night considering they both sleep on our bed.
    Your pictures crack me up - especially in the car! Well, and napping :)
    She actually caught a bird? May I ask what she did with it? Well, maybe I really don't want to know.
    She is adorable and you can't think about the "someday". Just enjoy her while she is here and making you smile every day - love the gum chewing. My Jorja are my bite plate - what is it with dental stuff that they just feel they have the privilege of chewing up? :)
    This was great - what a nice way to start the day - cracking up!
    Have a good one! Karen

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  19. Gorgeous Pup you have! Love all the pictures especially the one where he drives!

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  20. I'm late stopping by, but I had to tell you how much I enjoyed this post. I am an animal lover, and "I get it"! We once had a dog that chewed gum, too, but only the already chewed kind!
    I just previewe tomorrow's Hodgepodge--great job with the questions! See you in the morning :) Kathy

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  21. You may have recycled a post, but it was a great one. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your girl better. Thanks for playing along.

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  22. What a great post! She seems like such a sweet girl, and I just love her smile - those teeth are too cute! Stopping by from the synchroblog!

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