Tales of a Very Bad Dog Owner

[robinmckinley]

 
I probably shouldn’t even be telling this one, but it’s so striking, to me at least,* about . . . well, dogs, and human frailty.  Also that Chaos is nuts, even as sighthounds go.

I have not been keeping you up to date about the hellhounds’ latest cycle of digestive mayhem.  I think I told you about taking them to the (standard) vet a

Comments

[robinmckinley]

LOL! I especially liked the moving bag with the tail.

Oh, so you're a yarn freak for your FERRETS. I get it now!!! :)

[robinmckinley]

To love is to suffer. I read that somewhere . . . :)

[spindriftdancer]

Oh, your poor head!!!

Just on the off-chance... I haven't followed your hellhound escapades from the beginning... but do you think it might be emotional with them? I know that humans can have all kinds of GI troubles because of anxiety issues (myself being one of them)...

I know you're very much into homeopathy, but what about antidepressants? I know for a fact that you can get them for dogs. You can still be a lovely, apparently normal person (or dog) and have so much internal anxiety that you don't express that it (ahem) comes out in other ways... Brain chemistry isn't something you can do much about sometimes.

[robinmckinley]

I wish I knew!!! I can say that they don't give the impression of being anxious. They're nervy little gits but in their wired up way they're also surprising mellow and laid back. Stuff doesn't GET to them . . . the way it gets to me, for example.

Um. I really, really, really, really don't like antidepressants. The side effects are ***scary*** and I'm not crazy about the success rates either.

[spindriftdancer]

I completely understand. I had to take some for a while to keep things on an even keel when my life fell apart spectacularly. It wasn't easy finding the right kind, but when we got it right I was able to take a bit of a mental break.

Going off them was absolutely horrible. Even worse than the ones which made me feel like I was going insane.

However, it made life bearable for the bad bits, and I stopped having intestine troubles for a little while. If it makes it any easier, my husband's mother is on a constant minimal dose and will do so until the day she dies... she seems to be dealing with it with no troubles.

Your call, (of course and always) as their mom. Just suggesting an alternative.

[robinmckinley]

it's absolutely a judgement call. But I've been forced to become JUMPY AS ALL GET OUT about doctor's drugs because I react so badly to them . . . which is how I got forced out onto the fringe, and became a homeopath. And I do believe that homeopathy DOES have all the answers . . . it's the HOMEOPATHS that are the problem. :)

[southdowner]

I know I shouldn't have, and I sympathise immensely, but I think that's why this made me howl with laughter - it has all the ingredients. There's drama, slapstick (how can you hit your head acidentally twice in the same spot? And you can. I do regularly.) and contrariness - there is absolutely nothing you can gather from this incident about why your hounds eat... shrugs & rolls eyes.

And to cap it all there are messy clothes, without which no one can truly call themself a dog lover.

Oh, thank you, I really enjoyed that. So sorry that you had a terrible day. I hope you have forgiven England. Thank you for being SUCH a marvellous writer.

[robinmckinley]

I hope you have forgiven England

********** I'm working on it. The universe, I'm not so sure. I'm VERY RELIEVED it made you laugh. You professional dog people with millions of dog hours make me NERVOUS, speaking of being made nervous by things. I@m also glad you're not telling me, oh, the answer is OBVIOUS. It's because . . . I mean, it'd be *great*, but . . .

[southdowner]

I wish the answer was obvious, because I would love to give you a simple effective solution... sigh

The homeopathic dog vet sounds like an excellent idea, and talking crunchy granola, have you heard of Zara's herbal tea? It is "brewed for 2 days in the purest water filtered by Reverse Osmosis" - ?? but my friends who have rotts swear by it.

and I'm still learning from every dog I meet. I know how much I don't know and there's still so much I want to know that I have to, umm, "integrate" from conscious to automatic, or cell memory Lol. (I still try not to be nervous writing to a WRITER ( a proper writer!)

Hope the snow misses you tonight, hugs

[robinmckinley]

The homeopathic dog vet sounds like an excellent idea, and talking crunchy granola, have you heard of Zara's herbal tea? It is "brewed for 2 days in the purest water filtered by Reverse Osmosis" - ?? but my friends who have rotts swear by it

[mallory_blog]

I don't have a hellhound but I have a dog that is sensitive to dog food and was never too enthusiastic with eating - then I put him on what we call a RAW diet - which are commercial patties that are meaty looking and supposedly meaty for real in a good and healthy way for dogs. His coat massively improved, his desire to eat massively improved and my wallet is now massively less inflated every month because the stuff is about 5 times more expensive than kibble.

Let me know if you would like more info - I could copy out what the label says at any point...

[robinmckinley]

YES PLEASE. I know about 'BARF' but it's impractical, not least because these guys are not terribly interested in eating bones.

[jgtanthony]

I am soooooo impressed! You experience such a sequence of disasters (painful and funny simultaneously), then write about the whole mess with such verve!
May good spirits keep your head away from the pillow all night. Comfort, healing, hugs and much better times soon to you.

[robinmckinley]

Thank you! (My head is still sore!)