Home for the weekend
I’ve been home the past couple of weekends because I’ve had time off (sort of) from school and need a little break from the academic madness. It’s also beautiful here right now, the iris are in bloom and you can sit on the porch swing and watch the dogs mill about the yard. Everything is rapidly flying to a close - just two weeks of class and a week of finals until I’m free from First Year. Dear Vet School: My life called and it wants me back for summer.
I’m going to be changing this blog this summer, most likely when I get back from Germany. I’ve been recently seduced by the world of writing about dogs and veterinary medicine, and although I don’t always do that here, I want to shift the focus of my blog more on to those topics onto which I enjoy talking about. Vet school is one thing of course, and I promise not to complain too much now that first year is over and I finally learned how to study. I’ve been reading a lot lately about the field I’m going in to (seems apt I supposed). I’ve always been of the school of thought that I shouldn’t really have an opinion about something unless I have the full story behind it, so I feel more ready now to talk about vet medicine and dogs than I did one year ago as I was entering this field. This will be the summer of Dogs - my reading list includes as many books about dogs or people and dogs as I could possibly find - with John Katz’s books first up since everyone seems to hate him so much and I want to find out why. Hopefully I can come to a valid, rational conclusion about the man that is reportedly so bad for dog training in America.
I’m getting ready to move too, and that’s always exciting. I’ve moved every year since I left high school and although it sure is a lot of work, I enjoy starting over again fresh in the summer in a new place. Today I bought a dining room table and two chairs… admittedly they cost less than my iMac, but not by much. At least my parents will pick it up for me when it is ready so I don’t have to pay for it to be delivered (and thus making it more expensive than my iMac). Luckily also it is the only piece of furniture I have to buy for my new place - which is why I splurged on it.
Mooseandgirl.com, get it? Like moose and squirrel, only I’m a girl and Beau is well, the moose.
old stuff | Comment (0)One of the best therapies
If you can afford it, that is.
At Open House on Saturday Beau was fortunate (in my opinion) or unfortunate (in his) enough to be a “demo dog” for the aquatic treadmill. I was co-chairing the Rehab/Orthopedics room (and working on promoting Natura and helping with boy scouts…) and I had the time of my life running the aquatic treadmill all day long. David (the tech who helped us) is an amazing human being and came in on his own time Saturday to let show the public the magic of the treadmill.
Beau was a star. He didn’t freak out even though 40 people were staring at him and talking loudly and waving their arms. And there were men in the crowd, of all things! We just turned the water on (a balmy 93˚ F) and started up the treadmill. He was perfect. He didn’t try and escape and he kept his “cheating” to a minimum. This exercise is great for dogs who’ve just gone through orthopedic surgery on any part of their limbs, for dogs that have hip dysplasia and for obese pets. Even cats can do it (David actually gets in the pool with them!). Lucky for me, Beau has no orthopedic problems and he has great hips (woo no thousands-of-dollars FHO or total hip replacements down the line for us!) and he behaved beautifully to show lots of children and adults the magic that rehab can work.
Did you know that because of all the dander, dirt and oil dogs produce, that one dog is a pool is equivalent to 85 humans?! Insanity. I knew I vacuumed up a lot of hair after I bathe Beau on Saturday nights!
old stuff | Comment (0)One year ago today
I brought Beau home. Excuse the nostalgia of this post, but it was a day that changed my life forever and did a lot to shape who I am today. He was a nervous wreck, a nervous smelly wreck. Stripped away suddenly from his less than ideal life in the 6×4 enclosure he had known for three and a half years, he was hoisted away on the end of a thin slip leash, loaded up into the back of a small car, and shuffled up the stairs into a small but strange apartment. He got a bath that night, or rather a shower, with a naked human who just couldn’t take the smell of dog urine permeating her home anymore. He was made to go out on a walk, made to sleep in a kennel, made to eat from a bowl that was not protected by walls. I wondered too at first if I had made the right decision. Wondered if adopting a psychologically damaged dog was the best choice for a first dog, if I would ever be able to get him to unglue himself from the door of the oven and adjacent cabinet.
I don’t know how I did it, and I know my work will never be over, but this afternoon - this beautiful sunny, breezy and cool afternoon - as I look down from my studies of neurology to the floor where he is snuffling around and chewing on a gift from my mother, I can’t help but feel both proud and amazed at the dog that he has become. Because really, he has actually become a dog - versus the empty, fearful shell I took home a year ago. We’ve been through a lot, made a lot of changes in our lives, and more are yet to come. He is the one constant of the past year however, and of the years to come. I seemingly can barely remember what life was like before Beau, before never-ending responsibility, daily walks, trips to the vet, obedience school, agility class, the dog park, boring anyone who will listen about the newest annoying thing he’s learned to do.
The best thing about Beau is that he’s a homebody just like me. While many of my classmates can’t stand to be home or loathe the presence of their families, are always out and about, partying or at the library studying - I enjoy being home, in the company of my family, in the company of my dog. Beau likes to be a homebody too. Sure, we like the park, sure we like going for a long, quiet walk - but nothing beats curling up on the bed and watching a good movie or just reading or just taking a nap. Nothing beats being where you are safe and can relax, where everything is yours and everything you need is right there. He is not a partyer - he only has eyes for me. Just as I am not a partyer, and only have eyes for him.
It just reaffirms my deep interest in animal behavior and the human-animal bond. It also reaffirms my inability to understand people who don’t connect so strongly with their pets, who have a dog just to have a dog and don’t find enjoyment in their care, the responsibility and the joy of having them always by your side. And I know people don’t understand me and my love of canines either. When I talk to people at the park about how I am excited about getting a second dog, most people think I am crazy and won’t have the time (especially for the dog I am getting - another neurotic dog like Beau). But there is the occasional person who knows that getting another dog isn’t just an excuse to neglect your first dog so it can “have a friend,” but rather an opportunity to form another bond of friendship and companionship; another excuse to get out of the house and go for a walk, to enjoy the world with someone other than yourself. Some people find that kind of happiness in other people; I find it in dogs.
So here’s to the dog who taught me about responsibility and staying in it for the long haul, about patience and success at the end of a long road. Because although he’s not “perfect,” he’s good enough for me and I can’t imagine it any other way. Here’s to the second year of my obsession with dogs, and to the future two-dog household I will be a part of.
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