Dog @ soapcentral.com

I had mentioned that I hadn't been around too much the last month or so.  I did a couple of Cheater survey's to occupy my mind for a while.  On Christmas Eve, we had to "put my dog to sleep".  It was the most difficult thing that I've had to do.  I loved that dog, he was part of my family.  He turned thirteen on October 1, 2007 so he wasn't as old as I was hoping he would make it to.  I had mentioned a few months ago in a blog that he had a cough.  His cough began  last Septmeber so I took him to the vet. and they put him on antibiotics, he ended up being on them for a month.  At first I thought they were helping but they didn't.  We took him back to the vet. the day after Thanksgiving and they took ex-rays and told us that his esophagus was weakening/softening and when he was coughing it was to get his esophagus to open up to get air flow going so he could breathe.  He wasn't coughing all the time, just when he was laying in a certain position, etc. and some days were worse than others.  Since it wasn't constant and there wasn't anything that could be done, we didn't do anything.  Other than the coughing he seemed pretty normal.  In May of 2006 he had been diagnosed with diabetes, we chose to treat him rather than "put him down" then.  After he was gone I wanted to know, for myself (and him), that I had done everything I could to keep his quality of life as good as possible for as long as possible.  So every twelve hours, everyday, for 19 1/2 months I gave him his insulin shot and fed him, because now his food had to be regulated.  Let me add that while he was not a skinny dog, he was not terribly overweight.  My Grandma had a dog when I was a kid that looked like a cube with legs she was so fat, Woofie wasn't like that.  Anyway, we got him when he was a puppy and he was the best, sweetest, smartest, most loyal dog.  He was a white, miniature poodle.  Any time I ever cried he ALWAYS came to my side, he was very tuned in to me.  When he was a puppy my husband taught him to play ball.  I bet I've thrown his tennis ball for him two million times!  He loved to play ball and he was really good to bring it back and drop it so he could go again.  He was a good little companion.  So fast forwarding to Christmas, his cough was getting worse, and he was getting worse faster than we expected and hoped.  So then we agonized over when to "put him to sleep", how will we know, how difficult it will be, etc.  We had talked about it since he was diagnosed with diabetes.  I had thought since we knew he had diabetes I could prepare myself for the end.  I was wrong.  For several days before Christmas Eve his cough was really bad.  It wasn't just a little hacking, it was big, deep coughing that would prevent him from walking because he'd have to stop mid-trip and try to get his coughing under control.  It was really pitiful.  Then his coughs were so deep that he would vomit a little.  He couldn't go from our bed to the door to go outside without coughing.  So now we know that the end was near and how do we make the decision to end the life of our family member?  People who don't love and respect animals would probably think that I'm being dramatic, but this was  very hard for us.  So do we "put him to sleep" before Christmas knowing how it would effect Christmas or prolong his misery another day or two and let that hang over us, knowing how it will effect Christmas because what will be coming shortly after?  After he was diagnosed with diabetes, I always said that I didn't want to be one of thoe people that kept their pet around for longer than he should have been just for my own sake.  I didn't want to be selfish if he was miserable.  So, at the begining of this blog I told the decision that we made.  It was excruciating.  Other than the terrible coughing he was still cruising around the house fairly normal, so we wanted to tell ourselves that maybe there was more time, but then he would cough, it was awful.  So my husband took him to the vet. and stayed with him, which I so appreciate.  I cried everyday for weeks.  It was harder on my husband than either one of us expected it would be, not that he wouldn't care , but it hit harder than he was expecting too.  I miss Woofie but it is better than it was at first.  I choose to believe that he is in Heaven, he had such a beautiful spirit.  I thought I could get through this without crying, I didn't make it. 

I don't know if his esophagus problem was due to his diabetes or if it was something that would have happened anyway.  I know his diabetes was doing pretty good, his blood sugar numbers were good. 

So this is what has been swirling around in my life for the last month.  It was really weird at first to not need to be giving him his shots and not to hear him and not need to take him outside.  It took a while to not expect to see him on our bed when I walk into our room, sometimes it still takes a second.  I spent a lot more time thinking about him and taking care of him when he was here than I realized at the time.  He was a really good dog and I loved him. 

Hey everyone!  I'm not sure if you will be able to tell what this little guy is, but we are pretty sure he is a young prairie dog (or maybe he's a she?).  He lives in the alfalfa field across from our house.  He's really cute and fun to watch.  We're wondering if there are more setting up housing (digging tunnels) because I know prairie dogs live in groups.  This little guy is quite trusting, we were about six or seven feet from him on the quad which is kind of loud.  We just go very slowly by him when he's out so that we don't scare him.  I googled prairie dogs and apparently they are related to squirrels, which are all rodents.  He's still cute and fun to watch, rodent or not.

Okay, I just got back from my afternoon walk with my dog and I have a story for you all.  It isn't that interesting but I thought I would share it anyway.  My dog Jessie and I were nearing the end of our walk and we were crossing the street and I saw a woman who lives on the corner house of the street walking her dog.  I saw her watching me and was wondering why she was doing so, but I soon found out.  My dog and I were passing her house and then Jessie started sniffing her yard, like all dogs do, and then I heard this woman start yelling at me.  She screamed "you better get that dog away from my trees" and I yelled back "she isn't doing anything" and I just walked away to avoid a confrontation.  That's when I remembered a few weeks ago my Dad came back from walking our dog and said that this woman on the corner came up to him and started cussing him out because our dog was sniffing her yard.  My Dad told her that once again our dog wasn't doing anything and then this woman preceded to say he better get moving because she would come after him if he didn't. That's when my Dad started laughing and said like she could take him on anyway, lol.  Anyway, I thought this whole thing was funny and this woman is a little crazy. And what is even funnier is a few days ago her dog was sniffing people's yards while she was taking it for a walk.  Oh the hypocrisy!