High Maintenance Furry Friends by Christine DePetrillo

If you hang around Facebook at all and are friends with me there, you know The Werewolf. He’s my 120-pound, all black German shepherd dog, whose real name is Anubis. Unusual name, I know, but Google it and you’ll see why it makes sense. Of course, I call him every other name you can think of and probably some you’d never guess like Jimmy, Tuna, The Buddy, and when he’s being difficult, Mephistopheles.

While Anubis is a sweetie to my husband and I, his grandparents, and one other friend we have, he basically doesn’t “do” people (which we don’t really either, by the way). Everyone is considered dangerous in his eyes and must receive the warning growl which quickly escalates into the foaming-at-the-mouth bark of a raving lunatic dog which can sometimes result in a hole being nipped out of your pants if you don’t move fast enough.

Yeah, anxious dog? A bit. Okay, more like a lot of bits all piled together to make a pooch who would rather scare you first before you get the chance to be scare him.

And let’s not forget car rides. Oy.

A four-hour ride to Northern New England is a festival of whining, whimpering, crying and dramatic yawning the likes of which you can’t even imagine.

Did I mention we make that drive almost every other weekend?

Yeah, so…

We’ve tried the following to alleviate his complete and utter loathing for car rides:

-calming tablets and chews

-aromatherapy sprays

-toys/treats

-spraying him with a water gun

-making stops along the way

-several car harnesses

-therapeutic Native American flute music (or Rage Against the Machine blasting to drown him out)

-completely removing the back seats in our truck and stuffing his mattress-sized bed into that space so he could travel in leisure

-Benadryl

-XanaX (prescribed by vet)

-begging him to stop

-screaming at him

-consulting an animal medium who described his troubled past lives

None of them helped with any lasting results. The only two things that seem to work are:

1. spending the entire day outside, walking, playing, running, chasing, fetching, before having to go on the car ride, which is only feasible in the summer when I’m home from the real job. Thank the goddess for July and August!

2. a sedative prescribed by the vet, which we don’t love giving him, but knocks him out for the four-hour ride and gives us peace and quiet

I always laugh when I see dogs on TV or in movies or read about dogs in books who just hop into a car, bundles of excitement and joy radiating off them as they hang their heads out the windows, tongues lolling and ears flapping in the breeze.

Not my dog.

My dog’s what you call “high maintenance.”

But I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

What “quirks” do your furry friends have?

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

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Fall to Pieces: That's Just What I Did by Margo Hoornstra



"I don't want another dog."

New empty nesters, and with our beloved German Shepherd Jennifer having passed at seventeen, I wasn't interested in being tied down. Except, my husband wouldn't give it up.

"Okay. Okay." I agreed at last. "But only if one finds you. I don't want to go the puppy route another time."

Never again will I underestimate his networking abilities. In just a few short weeks, he made sure that 'one found him'.

"It's us or they're going to put her down."

What's the proper response to that?

We got Heidi when she was two. "She's a good dog," the vet said. "She's too much for me to handle," said the lady who was letting her go.

It turned out both of them were right. Heidi certainly did have issues.  Aside from being very, very timid, her right shoulder was out of joint, but you wouldn't know it to watch her run. X-rays showed the leg had healed that way and didn't seem to bother her. She'd been abused from birth, as near as we could tell. For the next seven years, we tried to make it up to her. From the very first, my husband had to use the treat system to teach her how to fetch. It was something she'd never experienced. Once she caught on though, fetch became her favorite game.

Despite her rocky beginning, she was a gentle and loving soul. From the very beginning, she followed me everywhere. Trusted me from day one. Somehow, I always found that amazing.

Then something was going on with her eyes. Pannus, we were told, a disease unique to the breed. We used the eye drops the vet gave us on a daily basis, but still Heidi pretty much went blind. Perpetual antibiotics came next for some teeth issues. "If she was a human, she'd be in assisted living." That's what we were told at her next yearly vet appointment. "Keep her comfortable as best you can."

"Okay. We will."

We did too. For the next couple of years.

Finally, it was becoming a matter of time, as they say. She'd have good days and not so good days.

"We need to do something," my husband said.

"I can't yet," was my stock reply.

After all, she trusted me, and I vowed to never betray her. As it turns out I did. We were out of town when she died. Thankfully, my son was with her, but I wasn't.

My husband swears Heidi's in a much better place now. Running and jumping and playing. Having a good time. Which made me wonder, did I do enough for her, or too much? Did I keep her going for her sake or mine?

My daughter-in-law sent me the following as we were driving home from vacation to bury Heidi in the back yard. That's the point when I, well, fell to pieces.

So this is where we part, My Friend. And you'll run on, around the bend. Gone from sight, but not from mind, new pleasures there you'll surely find. I will go on; I'll find the strength. Life measures quality, not its length. One long embrace before you leave. Share one last look before I grieve. There are others, that much is true. But they be they, and they aren't you. And I, fair, impartial, or so I thought. Will remember you well all you've taught. Your place I'll hold, you will be missed. The fur I stroked, the nose I kissed. And as you journey to your final rest. Take with you this...I loved you best.

Take care, Heidi. You did so much more for us than we ever did for you.

MJK