Tomorrow is my dog's birthday, and it will be a happier post, I promise. I saw something today that made my blood boil so badly that I can't NOT say something. I have to purge these feelings before I explode.
So, readers, as you know, I work in an animal shelter. I do not do the everyday things, like cleaning cages and taking in (or adopting out) animals - I'm the development director, and as such, I don't see many horrifying things. I know that they happen, but by and large, where I live, there are not as many terrible things that happen to animals - there are lots of resources for a fairly small area, and the impact of my organization is big and far-reaching. We're some of the lucky ones. I'm fairly closed off from the bad things that do happen - I hear about them, and sometimes see the animals that are affected, but that's about it. However, the amazing women that work in the shelter directly see all kinds of things that I'm sure I couldn't stomach on a day-to-day basis. They do it every day. At first, I couldn't figure out how they did it, some of them for many, many years. Then today, I figured it out.
It took seeing the picture associated with this story to get it. Warning: that link contains an extremely graphic picture of an animal who had its face blown off by a firecracker. It also has the story behind it, so read it if you must. You've been warned.
Since I started working at the shelter, I had felt like others had this X factor that made them satisfied and happy in their jobs and feeling like they were making an impact that I just wasn't getting. It wasn't just the ladies that work in the shelter - it was all of them. Except me. I couldn't identify it, and because of that, I couldn't quite tap into it or relate to anyone that I was working with.
Today, I was able to identify it: Rage. Unadulterated, unending rage. Rage that makes you want to vomit, or cry, but instead, you take it and put it into stopping whatever it is that's causing it. Every single ounce of your energy. It's bubbling there under the surface of every single person that works there, but they don't use it to do bad things. They use it to make an even bigger dent on the terrible things that happen to animals. They use it to do more good than they were before.
I saw that picture and became filled to my very core with the kind of rage that I'm talking about. Now that I know (instead of just suspect) that it was drunken teens doing it for sport, I can't even wrap my head around that kind of cruelty.
I don't believe in the death penalty. I believe that in the end, we are judged by how we treat the least among us, and karma will get the best of us if we do terrible things. If I did believe in the death penalty, I would reserve it for three groups of people, and three groups of people only: Murderers, rapists and animal abusers. The kind of cruelty exhibited on that poor dog is absolutely unspeakable, and I feel like an eye for an eye is not enough. The rage of every individual that has ever loved an animal or been forced to bear witness to the kind of cruelty shown to this animal should be rained down on the individuals who did this. Then they should be locked away and have to suffer the consequences of what they did for as long as they live. They should suffer for the rest of their lives as this dog did for five days before it was mercifully euthanized.
To cause that kind of suffering in another living being is completely unspeakable to me. I'm not sure where I'm going with the rest of this, but I just needed to get this out there into the universe. I need to do some serious meditation and reflection about my feelings in order to begin to reconcile them about this, but for now, this is all I have.
Rest in Peace, Vucko. I'm sure you were an amazing dog, and while I am so sorry that you suffered for so long, I'm glad that you are no longer in pain. I'm so sorry that there are people in this world that would do something like that to you, and I hope that you know that your plight won't be in vain - I'm positive that many, many people will make sure of that. If not many, many people, at least one.
PHEW. Thanks for reading.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Dogs vs. Puppies
I work at an animal shelter. As such, while I do not work directly with animals, I do get to hear stories. Something that is all too common (and makes me sick to think about) is the idea of people returning their pet once it gets to not be a baby animal anymore. Puppies and kittens are the cutest things ever, and some people just don't want to take care of a grown cat or dog.
I was never concerned that I would be like these people, but I always had a lingering concern that once Miles was full-grown, having a dog would lose its luster. I feel a little ashamed admitting that, but there it is. But then a funny thing happened. As our bond developed and our relationship started to mature, while his puppy hijinks were hilarious to be sure, the things he does now are WAY funnier, and I have such an appreciation of where he is developmentally. He still surprises me almost every day with how brilliant of a dog he truly is, and I have to say that I think I was worried that the learning and surprise would go away as he got older. It doesn't go away, it just changes shape, is what I've learned. It's way more exciting when he learns a new thing, because we're not just teaching him sit and high five anymore. I've started working on "roll over" and my favorite? "Where's the kitty?" It usually results in this:
Yup, he's sitting on the back of the couch, looking for kitties. I also went "Miles! Go get Bern!" the other day and he found Bernie and licked his bum for a little while. Bernie was not impressed, but Miles understood! So I was really excited. His favorite spot in the whole apartment has become the back of that couch, so I have started to call him my dogcat.
So, while reminiscing on hilarious puppy pictures every once in a while puts a smile on my face, things like that above picture do it more, because we're finally starting to understand each other. He makes me laugh literally every single day. For instance, today I laughed at him because the times where I have brought him outside, he stuck his nose directly in the snow and just loves digging around in it. He is a hardcore snow lover, and it's so fun to bring him outside in it because he just is so excited to be there.
I think I'm just sentimental because Miles is about to turn one, on January 31, to be exact. I still can't believe that we've had him for almost 10 months, and he's not only alive, but he's also an awesome, awesome dog. He's such a good boy.
I was never concerned that I would be like these people, but I always had a lingering concern that once Miles was full-grown, having a dog would lose its luster. I feel a little ashamed admitting that, but there it is. But then a funny thing happened. As our bond developed and our relationship started to mature, while his puppy hijinks were hilarious to be sure, the things he does now are WAY funnier, and I have such an appreciation of where he is developmentally. He still surprises me almost every day with how brilliant of a dog he truly is, and I have to say that I think I was worried that the learning and surprise would go away as he got older. It doesn't go away, it just changes shape, is what I've learned. It's way more exciting when he learns a new thing, because we're not just teaching him sit and high five anymore. I've started working on "roll over" and my favorite? "Where's the kitty?" It usually results in this:
Yup, he's sitting on the back of the couch, looking for kitties. I also went "Miles! Go get Bern!" the other day and he found Bernie and licked his bum for a little while. Bernie was not impressed, but Miles understood! So I was really excited. His favorite spot in the whole apartment has become the back of that couch, so I have started to call him my dogcat.
So, while reminiscing on hilarious puppy pictures every once in a while puts a smile on my face, things like that above picture do it more, because we're finally starting to understand each other. He makes me laugh literally every single day. For instance, today I laughed at him because the times where I have brought him outside, he stuck his nose directly in the snow and just loves digging around in it. He is a hardcore snow lover, and it's so fun to bring him outside in it because he just is so excited to be there.
I think I'm just sentimental because Miles is about to turn one, on January 31, to be exact. I still can't believe that we've had him for almost 10 months, and he's not only alive, but he's also an awesome, awesome dog. He's such a good boy.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Recent Happenings and A Post about the Human-Canine Bond
So! It's been a while. Recent happenings:
1. I got my hair cut. A lot. Three times, actually, before I finally felt like it was right. That's never happened before. My hair now looks like this:
2. Miles has hit the 60-pound mark. He will also be eleven months old at the end of the month, and you know what that means: BIRTHDAY PARTYYYY!
3. Miles destroyed every fitted sheet that we own at some point of the past two months. You see, what we started doing was leaving him out of his crate but double-baby-gating the door so that he can't jump over (that's one thing that the cats were willing to teach him - how to jump over a baby gate - so we had to make alternative arrangements), and taking everything that was potentially dangerous out of the bedroom. So, that made for a fitted sheet, and the curtains (and he ruined the curtain rod on the first day of this), and my side table. He'll learn, and it was my fault as well, because I didn't give him anything to occupy his time, so he was all "HEY! A TOY! I'M GOING TO DESTROY IT!"
4. We put up our Christmas tree in an unwittingly smart way - tree first for one week (which we couldn't really help - Rob put up the tree and it was a week before I had time to help put all of the fixings on), then decorations. He only plays with the tree skirt from time to time, and the cats are more of a danger to the tree than he is. It hasn't even fallen down once this year, which is an enormous victory.
5. I think that the cats are going through the "Just this one last push of meanness to the dog before we finally accept that he's going to be around, likely for the rest of our lives" stage. They have been so mean to Miles the past few days that it's not even funny. He is now legitimately scared of them, and I feel terrible about that.
6. I took a long hiatus from knitting - about a month. It was necessary, I think, and the project that got me back into it, and the subject of today's blog? This one:
My doggy day care woman, who I have come to really enjoy being around, had an akita. It's a very long-haired breed of dog, and when she brushed him, she saved his hair. When he died, it was really, really hard on her. People just get these bonds with their animals, and I completely get it. So, with all of this dog hair, her husband took it to a company called Hair of the Dog, and had it wound into yarn for their anniversary. Totally sweet, right? She asked me to knit her a scarf out of it. It still smelled like him and everything. I brought it to her and she was occupied, so her daughter took it. I was able to catch up with her the next day, and she was getting emotional just talking to me about how happy she was with it. I love that the things that I'm capable of doing have the ability to comfort someone just when they need it. At that moment, I realized that that's what the act of knitting was doing for me - giving me comfort exactly when I needed it. I don't do it as much as I used to, but when I need to work something out or just sit quietly but still want to be occupied, that's what I do.
Miles serves much of the same purpose for me - it's been a tough few weeks for me, emotionally. The holidays always are. On my hardest days, Miles has been there with his adorable puppy smile, just happy to be around. Every once in a while, I look at him and think "MAN, are we lucky to have this little man in our lives." No matter how bratty he can be sometimes, it always comes back to that.
Miles is such a good boy. :)
1. I got my hair cut. A lot. Three times, actually, before I finally felt like it was right. That's never happened before. My hair now looks like this:
2. Miles has hit the 60-pound mark. He will also be eleven months old at the end of the month, and you know what that means: BIRTHDAY PARTYYYY!
3. Miles destroyed every fitted sheet that we own at some point of the past two months. You see, what we started doing was leaving him out of his crate but double-baby-gating the door so that he can't jump over (that's one thing that the cats were willing to teach him - how to jump over a baby gate - so we had to make alternative arrangements), and taking everything that was potentially dangerous out of the bedroom. So, that made for a fitted sheet, and the curtains (and he ruined the curtain rod on the first day of this), and my side table. He'll learn, and it was my fault as well, because I didn't give him anything to occupy his time, so he was all "HEY! A TOY! I'M GOING TO DESTROY IT!"
4. We put up our Christmas tree in an unwittingly smart way - tree first for one week (which we couldn't really help - Rob put up the tree and it was a week before I had time to help put all of the fixings on), then decorations. He only plays with the tree skirt from time to time, and the cats are more of a danger to the tree than he is. It hasn't even fallen down once this year, which is an enormous victory.
5. I think that the cats are going through the "Just this one last push of meanness to the dog before we finally accept that he's going to be around, likely for the rest of our lives" stage. They have been so mean to Miles the past few days that it's not even funny. He is now legitimately scared of them, and I feel terrible about that.
6. I took a long hiatus from knitting - about a month. It was necessary, I think, and the project that got me back into it, and the subject of today's blog? This one:
My doggy day care woman, who I have come to really enjoy being around, had an akita. It's a very long-haired breed of dog, and when she brushed him, she saved his hair. When he died, it was really, really hard on her. People just get these bonds with their animals, and I completely get it. So, with all of this dog hair, her husband took it to a company called Hair of the Dog, and had it wound into yarn for their anniversary. Totally sweet, right? She asked me to knit her a scarf out of it. It still smelled like him and everything. I brought it to her and she was occupied, so her daughter took it. I was able to catch up with her the next day, and she was getting emotional just talking to me about how happy she was with it. I love that the things that I'm capable of doing have the ability to comfort someone just when they need it. At that moment, I realized that that's what the act of knitting was doing for me - giving me comfort exactly when I needed it. I don't do it as much as I used to, but when I need to work something out or just sit quietly but still want to be occupied, that's what I do.
Miles serves much of the same purpose for me - it's been a tough few weeks for me, emotionally. The holidays always are. On my hardest days, Miles has been there with his adorable puppy smile, just happy to be around. Every once in a while, I look at him and think "MAN, are we lucky to have this little man in our lives." No matter how bratty he can be sometimes, it always comes back to that.
Miles is such a good boy. :)
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Running with your dog and what to do when it's raining
I've heard numerous things about running with dogs - namely:
1. Never, ever run while your dog is still growing.
2. Wait until the dog is at least a year old.
3. Wait until the dog is at least two years old.
4. Never run on pavement.
5. Always run off leash.
I have come to realize that there are as many opinions on this subject as there are breeds of dog. Also, a lot of the suggestions that I've read are downright impractical. Off-leash? Right. When my dog sprouts wings and learns to fly is the day he will be taken off leash.
We have decided to use the one-year rule, mostly because Miles has pretty much stopped growing. He'll get wider, to be sure, but his paws now fit his legs. I'm not that worried about it. I read this article and found that it made the most sense. There are two main reasons not to run with a dog before they're full-grown:
1. Their growth plates haven't closed. If you run with them for long periods of time on things like pavement, it will cause irreparable damage to their joints, which has obvious implications.
2. Their heart could become enlarged from being worked too hard while it was still growing.
Both of these things make sense, and now that Miles is a ripe 9 months old, I've really started thinking about just jogging with him a little bit. So, for the past two days, I've jogged -very- short distances with him. Yesterday I tried it with the collar - no dice. He pulls way too hard, because he thinks I'm chasing him and is trying to get away. Not only is that teaching him to pull, it's also teaching him that he should run away from me. No thanks on either count. Today, I tried it with the easy walk and had him run next to me (and when I say "run", i mean quick trot. This dog has large legs.). It really, really worked. So, Miles will start training with me and it will be awesome. Being that I'm still getting over the Ebola of The Century, my lungs still cannot support running long distances, which is perfect, because Miles' can't run quickly yet, either.
What else did I want to talk about? Oh, right. What to do when it's raining, like it has been for approximately 4,000 days.
So, the past few days, I have not wanted to take Miles outside.
"It's raining."
"He hates the rain."
"I hate the rain."
"It's raining. I don't want to go anywhere."
Lather, rinse, repeat.
I woke up feeling awesome this morning (by comparison, I had barely been able to get out of bed for the past two weeks, I was feeling so gross) and went to the chiropractor, which made me feel even MORE awesome. So, it was decided - no matter what it was doing outside, Miles and I were going for a walk. He needed exercise (so did I, for that matter) and I just wanted to get him outside.
We walked/jogged for approximately two miles, and it was awesome. Because of the rain, he was a bundle of energy, even when we got home (where he usually flops on the floor and sleeps for hours).
What this taught me is that dogs need exercise, regardless of what it's doing outside. I mean, really - what are we going to do when winter comes? Not take him out to exercise? Just leave him inside all day long every day? That's really unfair to him and will make him both bored and destructive, as well as make him really, really unhealthy. So, as winter marches closer, that is the pledge I'm making to our dog: to exercise him no matter what the weather. Plus, the close second on my List of Favorite Things to Do is walking Miles - it gives us bonding time, and lets me praise him all the time, which he so loves and deserves, because he's such a good boy.
1. Never, ever run while your dog is still growing.
2. Wait until the dog is at least a year old.
3. Wait until the dog is at least two years old.
4. Never run on pavement.
5. Always run off leash.
I have come to realize that there are as many opinions on this subject as there are breeds of dog. Also, a lot of the suggestions that I've read are downright impractical. Off-leash? Right. When my dog sprouts wings and learns to fly is the day he will be taken off leash.
We have decided to use the one-year rule, mostly because Miles has pretty much stopped growing. He'll get wider, to be sure, but his paws now fit his legs. I'm not that worried about it. I read this article and found that it made the most sense. There are two main reasons not to run with a dog before they're full-grown:
1. Their growth plates haven't closed. If you run with them for long periods of time on things like pavement, it will cause irreparable damage to their joints, which has obvious implications.
2. Their heart could become enlarged from being worked too hard while it was still growing.
Both of these things make sense, and now that Miles is a ripe 9 months old, I've really started thinking about just jogging with him a little bit. So, for the past two days, I've jogged -very- short distances with him. Yesterday I tried it with the collar - no dice. He pulls way too hard, because he thinks I'm chasing him and is trying to get away. Not only is that teaching him to pull, it's also teaching him that he should run away from me. No thanks on either count. Today, I tried it with the easy walk and had him run next to me (and when I say "run", i mean quick trot. This dog has large legs.). It really, really worked. So, Miles will start training with me and it will be awesome. Being that I'm still getting over the Ebola of The Century, my lungs still cannot support running long distances, which is perfect, because Miles' can't run quickly yet, either.
What else did I want to talk about? Oh, right. What to do when it's raining, like it has been for approximately 4,000 days.
So, the past few days, I have not wanted to take Miles outside.
"It's raining."
"He hates the rain."
"I hate the rain."
"It's raining. I don't want to go anywhere."
Lather, rinse, repeat.
I woke up feeling awesome this morning (by comparison, I had barely been able to get out of bed for the past two weeks, I was feeling so gross) and went to the chiropractor, which made me feel even MORE awesome. So, it was decided - no matter what it was doing outside, Miles and I were going for a walk. He needed exercise (so did I, for that matter) and I just wanted to get him outside.
We walked/jogged for approximately two miles, and it was awesome. Because of the rain, he was a bundle of energy, even when we got home (where he usually flops on the floor and sleeps for hours).
What this taught me is that dogs need exercise, regardless of what it's doing outside. I mean, really - what are we going to do when winter comes? Not take him out to exercise? Just leave him inside all day long every day? That's really unfair to him and will make him both bored and destructive, as well as make him really, really unhealthy. So, as winter marches closer, that is the pledge I'm making to our dog: to exercise him no matter what the weather. Plus, the close second on my List of Favorite Things to Do is walking Miles - it gives us bonding time, and lets me praise him all the time, which he so loves and deserves, because he's such a good boy.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The mark of an Amazing Business and an article on Predatory Drift
Readers, I had a very stressful morning.
Let me preface with the fact that two weeks ago, give or take, I read this article.
This morning, it all started when I brought Miles to daycare. I dropped him off, and someone was waiting outside, and they had a beautiful dog. I said hi to the dog in my little "you're-so-stinkin'-cute" voice, and started to make my way toward the dog without asking. If I were being responsible, and had I thought it through, I should have asked.
I started to make my way toward him to pet him, and and without warning, the dog bared his teeth, started growling and barking, and it was at this point that I stopped. He then lunged toward me (luckily, he was leashed, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd be in the hospital right now...he was about a 70-pound dog), ready to attack. His owner was yelling "DOWN!" at him, to no avail. He was ready to turn on her as well when the owner's husband came out and made him lay down right on the pavement. I rushed to my car just as the dog started to lunge, and sat there until it was safe to go. I felt terrible, and continued to on my way into work.
My terrible feelings were both that the situation was my fault, and also worry that Miles might be in danger. I know that the owner of his daycare exercises common sense, but I didn't assume that she didn't admit him for the day. I figured she would isolate him until he calmed down, and have him play with the dogs when she was absolutely sure he was ok. I figured it was something about me that made him afraid, and he would be fine once I left and was able to take a minute.
Not able to let it go, I texted the owner of the daycare to apologize, and she said to me to not worry about it one bit, and that he would not be admitted back into the daycare until his behavior was addressed and she could be sure that that would never happen again.
This tells me two things about this daycare:
1. Safety of her clients, both of the human and canine persuasions, is paramount to her.
2. Safety is so paramount, she is willing to lose clients in order to ensure the safety of everyone.
Truth be told, she was in danger too. I was not even anywhere near this dog when he started to come after me, and what if she had done that to her, in a place that not only is a dog not regularly leashed, but also not even collared? Either her or someone in her family could have been seriously, seriously hurt by this dog. But there are many business owners that would put the Almighty Dollar over anything else in this situation, and when I think about how she didn't, it makes me even more sure (as if I needed to be) that we picked the right place to send Miles when we need someone to take care of him during the day.
I checked out three other places for daycare before landing on Lucky Paws, and the owner, Christine, was the only one that offered to have me come in and take a look around with Miles. She introduced me to the other dogs, and let Miles play when we came - she was interviewing us as we were interviewing her. She really works hard to make sure that all dogs are safe in her care, and today, it showed. She kept a cool head (at least in front of me), and handled the situation as any responsible business owner would or should. I read that article a couple of weeks ago, and as someone who's neurotic, I worried that something like that would happen at daycare to Miles. However, she has two separate areas - one for small dogs and one for large dogs. All of the dogs that Miles plays with are his size or very close to it in either direction, and after today, I no longer worry one bit about Miles' safety from things like predatory drift while he's there. I know, without a doubt, that she would never put Miles in a situation where something like that could happen. Not that I didn't know that he was safe before, but sometimes I just get that affirmation, ya know?
So, while this morning was scary to be sure, by the time I had resolved it in my own brain, I felt even more confident about many things related to Miles. For that, I am thankful.
With that, I will go pick up Miles, and leave you with this picture. We had him for two weeks, and I am pretty sure that we were on our way for him to meet his cousin Yogi for the first time. Look at his little face. He's such a good boy.
Let me preface with the fact that two weeks ago, give or take, I read this article.
This morning, it all started when I brought Miles to daycare. I dropped him off, and someone was waiting outside, and they had a beautiful dog. I said hi to the dog in my little "you're-so-stinkin'-cute" voice, and started to make my way toward the dog without asking. If I were being responsible, and had I thought it through, I should have asked.
I started to make my way toward him to pet him, and and without warning, the dog bared his teeth, started growling and barking, and it was at this point that I stopped. He then lunged toward me (luckily, he was leashed, otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd be in the hospital right now...he was about a 70-pound dog), ready to attack. His owner was yelling "DOWN!" at him, to no avail. He was ready to turn on her as well when the owner's husband came out and made him lay down right on the pavement. I rushed to my car just as the dog started to lunge, and sat there until it was safe to go. I felt terrible, and continued to on my way into work.
My terrible feelings were both that the situation was my fault, and also worry that Miles might be in danger. I know that the owner of his daycare exercises common sense, but I didn't assume that she didn't admit him for the day. I figured she would isolate him until he calmed down, and have him play with the dogs when she was absolutely sure he was ok. I figured it was something about me that made him afraid, and he would be fine once I left and was able to take a minute.
Not able to let it go, I texted the owner of the daycare to apologize, and she said to me to not worry about it one bit, and that he would not be admitted back into the daycare until his behavior was addressed and she could be sure that that would never happen again.
This tells me two things about this daycare:
1. Safety of her clients, both of the human and canine persuasions, is paramount to her.
2. Safety is so paramount, she is willing to lose clients in order to ensure the safety of everyone.
Truth be told, she was in danger too. I was not even anywhere near this dog when he started to come after me, and what if she had done that to her, in a place that not only is a dog not regularly leashed, but also not even collared? Either her or someone in her family could have been seriously, seriously hurt by this dog. But there are many business owners that would put the Almighty Dollar over anything else in this situation, and when I think about how she didn't, it makes me even more sure (as if I needed to be) that we picked the right place to send Miles when we need someone to take care of him during the day.
I checked out three other places for daycare before landing on Lucky Paws, and the owner, Christine, was the only one that offered to have me come in and take a look around with Miles. She introduced me to the other dogs, and let Miles play when we came - she was interviewing us as we were interviewing her. She really works hard to make sure that all dogs are safe in her care, and today, it showed. She kept a cool head (at least in front of me), and handled the situation as any responsible business owner would or should. I read that article a couple of weeks ago, and as someone who's neurotic, I worried that something like that would happen at daycare to Miles. However, she has two separate areas - one for small dogs and one for large dogs. All of the dogs that Miles plays with are his size or very close to it in either direction, and after today, I no longer worry one bit about Miles' safety from things like predatory drift while he's there. I know, without a doubt, that she would never put Miles in a situation where something like that could happen. Not that I didn't know that he was safe before, but sometimes I just get that affirmation, ya know?
So, while this morning was scary to be sure, by the time I had resolved it in my own brain, I felt even more confident about many things related to Miles. For that, I am thankful.
With that, I will go pick up Miles, and leave you with this picture. We had him for two weeks, and I am pretty sure that we were on our way for him to meet his cousin Yogi for the first time. Look at his little face. He's such a good boy.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Mmmmm...marrow bones.
We've always been hearing from fellow dog owners that marrow bones are the cat's meow. For dogs. They love the taste, it keeps them occupied, and they're just all around awesome.
So, we finally broke down and bought one for Miles. It REALLY helps with the chewing, and it literally kept him occupied all night last night.
However, I definitely had a moment of panic when I realized that he was able to chew off chunks of bone from the side instead of just hollowing it out. I had heard that it's really dangerous to feed dogs bones because they splinter in their stomach, and that's exactly where my brain went, and I was like "WEHAVETOTAKEITAWAYFROMHIMRIGHTNOWORHE'SGOINGTOGETSPLINTERSINHISSTOMACHANDDIE!"
Rob, the cooler head of the two of us, said, "I really don't think that's going to happen, but we can take it away if you want."
So, of course, when my husband and I have such polar opposite reactions, because he's had a family dog before that he can remember, I always have to find out why he's right. It turns out that only cooked bones have the splintering danger, and Miles wasn't chewing off huge chunks, so it wasn't a big deal. Crisis averted. Chew away, Miles. Chew away.
The big thing that I want to talk about today is antibiotics. Over the past few years, I have really adopted an anti-antibiotic stance. I try to avoid them at all costs for myself, and so does Rob. They do terrible things to humans, not the least of which is diminishing ability to fight infections on our own. Animals are no different. Miles is now on his fourth round of them since we've had him, and knowing how much antibiotics can damage humans, and my research about how damaging they can be for dogs, naturally I'm pretty worried about it. I am also starting to realize that the lesson here is to check him whenever he comes home from daycare for cuts and clean them immediately, because that's how two of the infections have happened. We generally don't have to put him on antibiotics for very long (one course was three days, two were five), but this time the infection was bad, so we have to give them to him for fourteen days.
We have been feeding him probiotics with his food (alternating with the antibiotics, and with breakfast and dinner when he's not on antibiotics) in order to promote healthy bacteria growth in his gut, and it seems to be serving him just fine. But the idea of prevention of these infections is more compelling to me, because I would really like to not have him on antibiotics at all if I can help it. It can cause a whole host of problems, like bloat, food allergies, and secondary infections because of lack of good bacteria, just to name three of the laundry list I've found.
So, I think that solving this issue is going to take a plan from two angles: Checking him whenever we get home from anywhere for cuts and to clean them immediately, and looking for natural remedies so that we can avoid antibiotics altogether. It looks like I'm not the only dog owner who's worried about this, and this blog looks like a great start. :) I'm going to also talk to my vet and do some more research to figure this out.
For now, I will leave you with an adorable picture of Miles chewing on his favorite thing on earth, his marrow bone.
He's such a good boy.
So, we finally broke down and bought one for Miles. It REALLY helps with the chewing, and it literally kept him occupied all night last night.
However, I definitely had a moment of panic when I realized that he was able to chew off chunks of bone from the side instead of just hollowing it out. I had heard that it's really dangerous to feed dogs bones because they splinter in their stomach, and that's exactly where my brain went, and I was like "WEHAVETOTAKEITAWAYFROMHIMRIGHTNOWORHE'SGOINGTOGETSPLINTERSINHISSTOMACHANDDIE!"
Rob, the cooler head of the two of us, said, "I really don't think that's going to happen, but we can take it away if you want."
So, of course, when my husband and I have such polar opposite reactions, because he's had a family dog before that he can remember, I always have to find out why he's right. It turns out that only cooked bones have the splintering danger, and Miles wasn't chewing off huge chunks, so it wasn't a big deal. Crisis averted. Chew away, Miles. Chew away.
The big thing that I want to talk about today is antibiotics. Over the past few years, I have really adopted an anti-antibiotic stance. I try to avoid them at all costs for myself, and so does Rob. They do terrible things to humans, not the least of which is diminishing ability to fight infections on our own. Animals are no different. Miles is now on his fourth round of them since we've had him, and knowing how much antibiotics can damage humans, and my research about how damaging they can be for dogs, naturally I'm pretty worried about it. I am also starting to realize that the lesson here is to check him whenever he comes home from daycare for cuts and clean them immediately, because that's how two of the infections have happened. We generally don't have to put him on antibiotics for very long (one course was three days, two were five), but this time the infection was bad, so we have to give them to him for fourteen days.
We have been feeding him probiotics with his food (alternating with the antibiotics, and with breakfast and dinner when he's not on antibiotics) in order to promote healthy bacteria growth in his gut, and it seems to be serving him just fine. But the idea of prevention of these infections is more compelling to me, because I would really like to not have him on antibiotics at all if I can help it. It can cause a whole host of problems, like bloat, food allergies, and secondary infections because of lack of good bacteria, just to name three of the laundry list I've found.
So, I think that solving this issue is going to take a plan from two angles: Checking him whenever we get home from anywhere for cuts and to clean them immediately, and looking for natural remedies so that we can avoid antibiotics altogether. It looks like I'm not the only dog owner who's worried about this, and this blog looks like a great start. :) I'm going to also talk to my vet and do some more research to figure this out.
For now, I will leave you with an adorable picture of Miles chewing on his favorite thing on earth, his marrow bone.
He's such a good boy.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Miles has a new favorite toy!
The laser pointer! Watching him play with it is actually better than tv.
Plus, it provides rainy day stimulation and fun, which is important because we don't walk when it's raining.
In other news, we left Miles home alone for longer than 3 or 4 hours for the first time today. We kept him crated because we're still concerned that he'll rip the house apart, but overall, it was wildly successful.
We're also working on the barking, which is helping. We were at the beach yesterday, with TONS of stimulation, and he hardly barked at all, and only when he wanted to play because a ball got too close to him or someone walked by too quickly. So, we're working on the patience aspect of it from my end and it's definitely working.
Have I also mentioned that Miles is so good at self-entertainment that it's awesome? When we don't want to play and he does, he goes to his bucket-o-toys, and picks one out and throws it around, probably pretending it's one of us throwing it. Then he throws and chases. And throws and chases. It's hilarious to watch.
I heart my dog.
He's such a good boy.
In other news, we left Miles home alone for longer than 3 or 4 hours for the first time today. We kept him crated because we're still concerned that he'll rip the house apart, but overall, it was wildly successful.
We're also working on the barking, which is helping. We were at the beach yesterday, with TONS of stimulation, and he hardly barked at all, and only when he wanted to play because a ball got too close to him or someone walked by too quickly. So, we're working on the patience aspect of it from my end and it's definitely working.
Have I also mentioned that Miles is so good at self-entertainment that it's awesome? When we don't want to play and he does, he goes to his bucket-o-toys, and picks one out and throws it around, probably pretending it's one of us throwing it. Then he throws and chases. And throws and chases. It's hilarious to watch.
I heart my dog.
He's such a good boy.
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