I told you she was brilliant

Several weeks ago when my dog, Emma Belle, was very sick I rushed her to the vet's office as soon as they opened on Monday morning.  The vet took her to the back for an X-ray and some more blood work to find out what the problem might be, and said she would call me later in the morning with some news.  I fully expected to bring her home that afternoon.  Instead she called to say it was very bad, and our options were essentially nil.  I knew what had to be done, so I called K and we agreed to meet at the vet's office immediately.  When we walked in the vet met us in private and told us Emma had passed away about 20 minutes earlier.  


I always regretted that I wasn't with her when she passed.  Yes, I'm one of those people who "humanized" my dog.  I scratched her head, looked her in the eye and talked to her, asked her if she needed to go outside or was hungry, etc.  We talked a lot, she and I.  I had this haunting fear that she died alone on a cold, hard table, wondering "where is he?", or however you say that in dogspeak.


Last night on ABC Evening News, and also reported online, were the findings of a study that said dogs have cognitive abilities similar to that of a 2 year old child.  They listen, look you in the eye, follow your eyes if you turn to look at something else, know when you don't feel well, can understand a vocabulary of over 100 words, etc.  In other words, our humanizing efforts aren't wasted.  They know when they're loved and can often develop telepathic communication skills with their owners.  I guess you could say they're bilingual.


I'm glad to hear of this as it allows me to think she knew she was loved and that I had taken her to the vets office for treatment and was not abandoning her.  She knew me better than that.  :)


S

What a difference a day makes

Friday evening, our normal "date night", we celebrated our anniversary with dinner at Seasons 52.  Crab and shrimp stuffed mushrooms, fillet cooked just right, veggies, all advertised to be very calorie-conscious.  Then yesterday I gave back all my good eating habits and then some.  For lunch K and I split a BLT w/avocado pannini, then the rest of the day I had ice cream, 2 hot dogs, chips, peanuts, more ice cream, and several cokes.  Ugh!  It was one of those "do as I say, kids, not as I do" days.


Poor Emma Belle can't buy a break.  She's pretty much gotten over her episode with pancreatitis, but now she has a bum leg.  I think she jumped off the chair where she sleeps and somehow jammed her shoulder/leg when she landed.  The symptoms are the same as they were a year or so back, and that's what we deduced happened then.  Not much I can do for her...it just heals itself over time.  Poor little mutt.  :(


I mentioned to K that the week before Christmas will be a blow-off week for sure.  Always is.  Productivity slumps to near-zero.  So what if employers were to make their employees this deal:  If they go the 3 or 4 or 6 months (TBD) before Christmas absence/tardy free, they can have the week of Christmas off. They would get to keep employees working full speed during normally productive times of the year, but lose very little actual work around Christmas.  Would you go for something like this?  Just another odd thought from my warped little brain.


Have a good day, y'all.


S