Tuesday, January 5, 2016

About The Dog


My son's dog has hurt herself. It snowed and she went outside to do her thing. When she came back in she acted like her paws were really really cold. We gave it little thought because she warmed up right away.

When she went out again later she acted even worse. We chuckled and teased her a bit about becoming a soft old house pet.

Later in the day my son was in his room napping. I was beginning to fix supper. The dog came into the kitchen for a drink of water. The poor thing could barely walk. It looked like she was having a hard time with the pads of her fromt paws gripping the tile floor because she was slipping as she tried to walk.

I was appropriately sympathetic. I told my son about it when he came from his room. He clucked over her because she likes nothing better than to be babied by him.

The next time she tried to get up she could not do it. My son lifted her back end and she stood but put no weight on one of her back paws. She could barely walk.

The dog is much too heavy to try to carry her. When she needs to go out my son goes with her to help her maneuver down the steps. He waits patiently in the cold for her to do what needs doing.

When it is time for her to come back in my son helps to boost her from the back so she can get up the steps. I hold the door open for her.

This happened a couple of days ago. Today she is doing much better. She is able to stand by herself. She still limps and gives muffled cries of pain when she is trying to rest. And we are still a two man crew assisting her in and out of the house. But as I said she seems much better.

Last year my son bought one of those cheap little laser pointers. His thought was to tease her a bit with the light from it.

He would point the dot of light on the floor. When the dog went to pick it up with her mouth her would move it quickly. The dog would chase the dot of light until she would finally give up and take a nap.

My son was amazed when he realized that she knew where the dot came from. When he reaches for the laser pointer she immediately goes into a pounce position.

Every time we go to the grocery store we buy the dog a cheap little toy. She has so many toys in her toy pile. Many of them she has not seen for a long time.

Recently we went to the grocery store and... forgot her toy!

As we brought in the groceries she sniffed at each bag to see which one held her toy. She kept sniffing.

My son snuck over to her pile of toys and pulled one from the bottom of the pile that we had not seen in a long time. He put it in a grocery bag and pulled it out grandly to give to her.

She sniffed it once. She took the toy in her mouth and dropped it to the floor.

Then she gave my son a look of such disdain. It was as if she were saying, "How dare you think I am that stupid!"

The next time we shopped for groceries he bought two toys. One for her to have that day and one for the next time we forgot.

Well the next time we went for groceries my son decided not to buy her a new toy. He would just give her the one he had in reserve.

Do you know that she sniffed it, took it in her mouth, then dropped it in disgust! She knew it was not freshly bought from the store.

I will repeat myself to let you know that this is the funniest animal I have ever seen.

P.S. We ended up taking her to the vet. She has arthritis and he gave her some medication to take. It may take a few days to work so we  will have to see. Otherwise she is well. And funny.

13 comments:

  1. My arthritis sympathizes with your dog's arthritis. My doctor has no solution; let me know what the vet thinks.

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    1. I think it is something more than arthritis unfortunately. She seems to be worse rather than better. We need to give her a month according to the vet but we are concerned.

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  2. She's a real part of the family with a unique personality. I hope she feels better soon. I wonder if the cold touched off the arthritis.

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  3. She's a real part of the family with a unique personality. I hope she feels better soon. I wonder if the cold touched off the arthritis.

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    1. The vet was not too worried about any of this. She did not exhibit any cold symptoms.

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  4. I hope the dog is better by now - it must be the cold that makes her arthritis worse.

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    1. She seems to be a little better today. I think she may have caught a stomach bug in her weakened condition. She has been going out a bit more but she still needs help to navigate the steps. She seems to be getting her appetite back too.

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  5. Sorry to read this post, a bit late, Emma, but do hope that your dog is feeling better (sorry about forgetting her name here). Our pets are also family members and we hurt when they do too. When I first read your post, I was thinking it could be arthritis and hope she gets some relief.

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    1. She does not seem to be in pain. Sadly I am not sure she is getting better. She has days that are a bit better than others. I think she had a little bug in her stomach too because I think she gave it to me. At leas she is beginning to eat better.

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  6. I was going to say I bet the pup has arthritis. Cold triggers the pain in me so I'm guessing it would do the same for the dog.
    We do get attached to those critters.

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    1. Because of all the pets we lost when I was a child I learned to not get too attached. But the last two dogs we have had I care for so much. I worry about her not getting better and then she perks up and acts like herself.

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  7. The dog is thus one of the family members.
    So is my poodle.

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    1. She had a real good day today. It gives me hope that she will get better.

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