Tails of Dogs, Cats, and other Furry Friends

OK, so I had to tell one more food or uh, crude story?  Either one.  You pick.  So if you read one of my earlier posts, my dog Barney liked to hike big rocks.  They were ironically about the size of a football.  There were a couple in my backyard.  But, also in my backyard were lots of little rocks.  And for some reason, he would sometimes eat those.  We actually never saw him eating them, but we would always know when he tried to push them out the backend.   I gotta say, I never thought I would have the task of trying to pull rocks out of places that strange…but I had no choice – right?  The cool thing is that it didn’t take long for Barney to make the connection that eating those rocks would inevitably end up in pain.  So why didn’t he make the connection that turd diving resulted in him being sick?  My theory is that the turd diving was worth it to him.  I hope he’s still enjoying that in ‘ol pet heaven.

So the other “food” story I wanted to tell was of course about Barney.  He used to do what we termed “turd diving”.  This is the act of “diving” into the cat litter box and chowing down on some…um…turds.  I hesitated to write about this one because some of you may think it is crude, but let’s be honest – dogs are sometimes, so I think it’s OK to tell about it.

Needless to say, turd diving would sometimes make Barney sick.  Like throwing up sick.  It’s bad enough picking up dog poop, but even worse is dog puke!  The really cool thing about Barney though is that he would actually jump in the bathtub when he had to get sick.  What a convenience for us!  OK, it’d be more convenient if he lifted the toilet lid and threw up in there, but hey – I’m pretty happy he got in the bathtub.  Usually, the consistency was ok enough to let drain…ok, we’re getting a little too crude here…I’ll stop now.  I do have yet another “food” story that some may think even cruder, so all you peeps that like that sort of thing – be sure to check back next week.  By the way, it’s probably nothing most of us dog owners have not seen before (or at least not any cruder than what we’ve seen from our dogs.  Until then…

When I was little (probably around 7 or 8 years old), one Xmas eve I left some chocolate chip cookies out for Santa.  After a night of very little sleep due to the excitement of Santa’s visit, I got up really early and rounded up my brother and sister for the sprint down the stairs to the living room where the chimney was – and not to mention gifts!

I noticed that Santa had only taken one little bite of the two cookies I left out for him.  His loss…then, my mom said she had to go get our “big” present.  She disappeared around the corner and a few seconds later, a blonde cocker-spaniel came running in the living room excited as he could be.  Like most dogs, he went straight for the food!  He practically swallowed the chocolate chip cookies and immediately turned around and threw them up right in my LAP!

This was my first dog, so I just thought that that’s what they do and I was in for a long, unpredictable relationship with Snuggles.  I think my mom named him.  How could you not love a dog named Snuggles?  I quickly forgave him and that’s where it all started with the dogs in my life.

Thanks again to Su-bones for inspiring me with the Good Eatin’ story.  Another one coming soon.

A friend who likes to cook left a pound of lard on the kitchen counter while she ran her daughter to a soccer practice.  When she came home it was gone, and her two dogs looked guilty.  They slept through the night, but when she awoke there was a nice  blob of undigested lard on the floor.

I once read about a dog who ate some bread dough that was in a bowl on the counter.  At the doctor’s office, its belly began to swell as the yeast started to rise, and they had to perform emergency surgery to remove the dough and save the dog’s life.

Ahh…dogs do love to eat, and many will eat just about anything.  My girl has been known to swipe the butter off the counter, and my daughter’s breakfast often disappears “mysteriously” when she gets up to pack her school bag.

When Cassidy was a puppy, I would come home to find her cheeks swollen out as if someone had blown large bubbles into them.  Nearby I would find a nice depository of partially digested snakes and bees.  Nothing has ever triggered my gag reflex like the smell of those little piles.  It didn’t faze her that the bees would sting the insides of her mouth as she ate them;  nothing seems to deter my girl when she sets her mind to eatin’.

When she was about 8 months old, my daughter and I took a trip.  I had packed a ziplock bag with our medications and vitamins, and when we got home I left it sitting on the counter.  A few hours later we returned to find the bag ripped open and Cass looking green.  My heart leapt into my throat as I realized what she had eaten – what these meds might do to her, and I frantically called the vet, who told me to bring her in to have her stomach pumped.  Despite some more serious medications she had ingested, I was surprised to hear that the only thing they thought might hurt her was the Flintstones vitamins…they contain too much iron for dogs.

We  got her into the back of the car and started driving towards the vet’s.  About five minutes into the drive Cassidy threw up, and from the length of time that took, I figured that was all of it  – no need to pump her gut – so we turned around to head home.

About a minute later we heard a slurping noise coming from the back of the car;  my pup was licking it all right back up.  Alrighty…I turned the car back around and we continued on to the vet’s office.

At least she cleans up her own messes.

OK, I have to admit that I probably don’t wash my dog’s food bowl as much as I should, but I think the dirtier it is – the more my dog, Bianca, likes it.  It gets real crusty at the top edge of the bowl, so before she starts eating the food – she licks the crusty part around the rim and then dives in.  She must have loved Margaritas in a past life.  I think I’ll try putting some salt on the rim and see what happens.  I hope she doesn’t get upset when she dives in and there’s not a margarita there!

So my late dog Barney used to hike rocks.  Yes, hiking like you would hike a football.  We had big 10 pound (that’s a guess) rocks in our backyard and he loved to hike them.  It was hilarious to say the least.  This was before the dawning of YouTube, so unfortunately  we do not have a video of it.  It was during the peak of the pet trick shows and we couldn’t find time to get this on video.  I guess we didn’t want to win $10,000.

Anyway, I have been trying to find a video of a dog that hikes rocks like Barney did, but every time I search on YouTube I get back dogs that are hiking in the mountains or something.  If anyone out there finds a video like this, please send me the link or if your dog hikes rocks – stop everything you are doing right now and go video it.  Then, post it on YouTube and send me the link.  I’d be forever grateful.  Barney would be too!

Some people have asked why my company, Pet Possibilities, uses a universal smiley face for our logo instead of a cute little dog or cat or some other pet.  Well, the answer is in our tagline: “unique pet supplies that make you and your pet happy”.  In other words, we want to put a smile on your face and your pet’s.  If we don’t accomplish that, then please let us know and we’ll turn that sad face upside down.

As Animal Week continues, there was another good interview on Fresh Air – at least the few minutes I heard.  If you missed it (or most of it like me), you can download it here.  Very interesting stuff.

Be sure to tune into Fresh Air on NPR for Animal Week this week.  Today’s episode is a good, but sad one.  Unfortunately, most of us pet owners at some point in our life have to face the decision of when to put our pet down.  A veterinarian and pet lover talks about it in depth.  I’ve heard the interview before and highly recommend it.  I wish I had heard it before we put Barney down.

Hooray!  I finally got around to resurrecting my Dog Blog.  I started one several years ago and then moved hosting companies and then got really busy (long story that I may share sometime).  Anyway, I am glad to be back and I am ready to tell some pet stories (among other things) and ready to hear yours!  I’m keeping this post short, but I hope to be back soon and keep the momentum this time.