Going Home

A walk and a smile

I was finishing up a long walk with my dogs this morning when a middle-aged woman, presumably on her way to work, slowed her SUV to get a glimpse of my two canine buddies -- a 10-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer called Patches and a 10-month-old Australian Shepherd-mix named Happy. The woman flashed a broad smile at us as she sped up again and headed on her way.

Based on the look on her face, the sight of me and the dogs getting a little exercise before starting our day lifted her spirits.

If only she knew the rest of the story ...

My walk with Patches and Happy this morning wasn't a casual, happy event. It was done out necessity -- for my sanity and for the dogs' survival.

[More:]

You see, Happy is a rescue dog we adopted back in August, and for the first two-plus months she lived with us, she was perfectly fine. Other than her rambunctious puppy ways, Happy was a gentle soul with all of us, including Patches.

But lately Happy has become more and more aggressive with Patches, culminating in two Christmas Day attacks that could have been deadly for Patches had we not acted quickly to diffuse the situation with a water bottle.

Conversations with a dog-training specialist led us to believe that the attacks are occurring because Happy has become comfortable in her surroundings and is guarding her resources. Each spat with Patches started over a toy or a bone.

We were told by the specialist to pick up the bones and the toys, and to walk the dogs together in an attempt to make them more at ease around each other.

I'm praying that it works, or Patches could end up mortally wounded and Happy could find herself on death row in a shelter.

As for me, I'm a complete mess today. My eldest son, Louis, had a seizure last night -- at least his third since midsummer. We've been told by a neurologist that his condition is temporary. He has a form of epilepsy that usually goes away during one's late teens.

Awesome news, but it doesn't make it any less scary when your kid shakes like a San Francisco earthquake and appears to be choking to death.

So we, me and my dogs, walked this morning to stay sane and stay alive -- nothing to slow down and smile about at all.

What you think you see is more often than not something completely different.

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: Mike Wisniewski [Member] · http://lacatholicworker.org

Scary indeed! Prayers, thoughts, and love are with you, Louis, and dogs.

We also had a pet problem this past week, but not nearly as serious as yours. Back in November we had to put our 14 year-old Pomeranian (Cocoa) to sleep because of age and failing health. Cocoa and one of our two cats (named Baby-a feral cat that we have had for 14 months) were best buddies. For over a week after Cocoa's death Baby moped around and cried as he looked throughout the house and backyard for Cocoa. On December 28 we adopted a 6 year-old part Pom and part Terrior named Fifi from the county animal shelter. While the mom cat (Mittens) tolerates Fifi, as she did Cocoa, Baby became upset and angry, rejecting Fifi and ran away at 3 pm December 31 for four days, returning at 9pm last night. Myself, my wife, and Mittens literally were sick during his time away. Lost appetite and sleep and much stress was prevalent among all three of us. It turned out that Baby was three houses away, and roamed the immediate neighborhood looking for food while gone. After many prayers and beseeching the Spirit's intervention, Baby got over the anger and came home meowing for real food and a nice spot to cuddle with mom. We are exceedingly grateful that our prayers were answered, as the Spirit led Baby back home, where for the moment, he too tolerates Fifi. Now to get back to the task of trying to domesticate Baby (Mittens was domesticated when she began coming around our house looking for food about 16 months ago).

Peace, Mike W.

Permalink 01/06/12 @ 00:25

Comment from: darlingdear5 [Member]

My prayers were answered! I now know why you have been so upset! Seizures are very scary, but they can/do go away. I am proof. I had them after an accident and after 10 years of being on a seizure medicine they went away. Have faith. And my Punky and Wishbone use to get into it like your two dogs. Punky (the older one) always put the other one in her place. They are both in heaven now probably still going at it! And I also used alot of bottles of water!!!!

Permalink 01/12/12 @ 14:09