Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Talk about spoiled.....


I never thought that I would ever be doing something like this. As a kid, we always had cats and dogs plus various other animals on the farm. They were all healthy and lived nice long lives. I have to be honest and say that we didn't do anything special for our cats or dogs. The cats would come inside during the day if they wished, but were put outside for the night. The dog stayed outside all day long but was brought inside for the night. He was given dog food as a supplement but he mostly lived off of table scraps. He was given bones to chew when they were available.
He lived to be 19 years old.

Now my dog just had her yearly checkup at the vet's, much to her dismay. I swear when we get within a quarter mile of that place her whole demeanor changes. She becomes a quivering mess by the time we get into the waiting room. All the dogs in there are the same way. The looks on their faces go from extreme nervousness to pure terror. I think they mentally communicate with each other and they are all convinced that what lies beyond the waiting room door is a fate worse than death. I can't understand why they don't feel the vibes of relief and jubilation coming from all the dogs who are finished and are coming out and will be now going home....tails up in the air wagging furiously instead of tucked between their legs and hugging their bellies. Prancing merrily, instead of having to be dragged. Ever notice how a 15 pound dog can make itself feel like it weighs 198 pounds when it doesn't want to go where you want to go? I especially like the ones who seem to grow an extra pair of legs and place them strategically alongside the doorway so moving them is next to impossible. Some dogs actually hold grudges. I once had a toy manchester terrier who wouldn't even look at me, let alone come to me, for approximately 2 weeks after a visit to the vet. After that I made my daughter take her.

But anyway, my dog, pictured above, is perfectly healthy.....she's had all her shots and her nails clipped and has a shiny new license. However the vet did tell me that she's getting a "little buildup" on her teeth. They try and push teeth cleaning and when I find out the price, my brain shuts down and my head automatically starts shaking no. Well....she asks.....do you give her any bones to chew to help clean her teeth. Yes I reply....I have tried to give her bones....all varieties...flavors, colors and sizes. My dog has.......issues. Maybe it was something her mom said to her at a young age or possibly it was caused by being bullied by the neighbor's cat....I don't know....she just has ISSUES. When I give her a bone....no matter what kind it is....she will happily take it and then her mood immediately changes. She starts to fret and then she starts to whine and cry. She will carry the bone all over the house....going from room to room frantically searching....here, there....everywhere. After about 20 minutes she will reappear, sans bone. She has 'buried' it somewhere. I have found bones in my basket of clean clothes, under the bed, under the couch cushion, in the laundry hamper, under the pillow on my bed and under a throw rug...just to name a few spots. She will never chew the bones....she only HIDES them.

So now I have to brush the dog's teeth. Yep, you heard right. I actually have a tube of doggie toothpaste, which tastes like chicken (and this is not from personal knowledge) and a toothbrush, along with a rubber thingie that goes over my finger if I would rather use that. Fortunately she's been very good about it and actually LOVES to have her teeth brushed. Good lord.... what's next. I suppose I'll be shaving her legs and armpits soon. Bikini wax .... pierced ears.... plumped lips....good grief, this could get totally out of hand.

10 comments:

Karen said...

I laughed out loud when I read this because I have two little Maltese Shi Tzus who act like I am taking them to the torture chamber when we go to the vets and mostly we are only going to have them groomed. The trembling starts the absolute moment their butts hit the car seats because in their little minds car rides = HELL.


They cry and carry on and make me feel like a mass murderer or something. I have had it suggested to me that perhaps my dogs would benefit from me cleaning their teeth. yeah right...just bathing their weepy eyes takes all the strength I have and is an ordeal I have to psyche myself up for.


Your dog is a little cutie Val and there's nothing wrong with spoiling them. They are part of the family after all.

SOUL said...

your dog and my dog, sushi, would get along perfectly...with their issues. ahh. but , ya gotta love em.
vets always push the teeth cleaning. i always pass. if they could do it for a few bucks i would maybe have no problem. but-- if you would believe it-- one of mine and hubbies first arguments in our marriage was because he paid over 80.00 to have his dogs teeth cleaned. ugh. a rotti-- so of course he was put to sleep. well, he was already put to sleep anyhow -- to remove a rib bone that was trapped crossways on the roof of his mouth-- imagine the extra cost of being put to sleep if he didn't have a bone trapped up there. haha- speaking of bones.

anyhow-- of course when he took eevee to have her tumor checked out-- guess what came up-- yup you guessed it-- she could use a cleaning. hubby responded with a polite-- no thanks, my wife would kill me. :))

perhaps we should get some chicken tooth paste.

i wonder if that makes kids brish more? hmmmm.

happy tuesday charlotte-
happy brushing

happyone said...

So true - you've stated it perfectly and had me laughing out loud!

I used to brush my dog Sam's teeth too and she also liked it!!

Smocha said...

That was so funny and so true! Cat as well as dogs. Cavuto has some pretty damn yellow teeth going on for such a young cat but even I have my limits.I refuse to wrestle down a cat and brush his damn teeth.

They can fall out when he's old like those of his ancestors. I'll feed him soft food then.

Your doggy is adorable!

fiwa said...

Well at least she submits to having her teeth brushed. Bitsy just keeps licking the brush and trying to chew it. Thankfully she loves to gnaw on bones though. She sometmes does that weird whining thing at it though - I wonder why they do that?

Forsythia said...

Our beagle, Arlo, was the same with dog biscuits (bones). He'd trot through the house whimpering and whining, "What to do? What to do?" One time he solved the problem by lining his biscuit up with a pair of 5-pound dumbbells in the bedroom.

boneman said...

well, I fall into the first description.
Vet always looks at us in amazement when we bring in a sick dog and he asks, whatever happened to Tug? or Max?
Oh. They're back at the house.
?

Then again, now the days are out here. 15 year old Belgium Shepherd (close to a German Shepherd, but with HUGE ears)walked in out of the corn fields one day.... 15 year old bull, dropped off at a local park....terrier somewhere around 16-17. Third owner said she'de take it to the pound. Have it put to sleep. I took the dog. Now it's ten years down the road.

But, oh golly!
Like pill heaven around here, now.
Aspirins for the big boys, some kind of pill grouping for Gni Gni because of her cancer (she's still in charge, too. No slowing down here, though when I took her to the vet last, he said it could be any time.

Dang!

Guess I'll just have to throw an extra piece of chicken in her chow.
Again.

So, it sounds like you already know the answer to your bone delemna....
they still sell them at groceries.
It's a shame, really, but one day, butchers everywhere suddenly realized that people BUY dog bones!
And, I think there wouldn't be much whining or fussing other than....keep'a you fingers'a off'a d'bone!

d=))

Gianetta said...

My cat, Littlebit, was a holy terror when it came time to visit the vet. They had to wear those think leather gloves and usually ended having to sedate her. It took three people to subdue 9 lb calico cat...She was a Pistol...and I miss her greatly.

Margaret said...

((Grinning from ear to ear))..Oh, I so identified with this post! I have a 14 yr. old Lhasa Apso, and he thinks that the vet is the executioner! I, too, almost fainted at the price of "teeth cleaning"! So, great post!

Maria said...

Isn't it funny how times have changed? When I grew up on a farm, our dogs never came in the house, they lived in the barn with the cows.

When I was in high school, we finally got an inside dog and we never gave it dog food. He lived off table scraps too. And he lived to be almost 20.

Now, we take Socks to the vet for shots and check ups. We don't brush his teeth yet, though. I imagine that is next.