At Sharon's - Stories
The second Christmas we were at Sharon's -- she and I decided to have Christmas dinner together Christmas Eve. We went to early evening church services; turkey roasting in the oven, Nee watching for us from the upstairs window. Came home and started some serious cooking, preparing dinner. We were back and forth oven to table to cupboards - distracted, hurried. Sharon had just carved the turkey - off the bone - and put a platter of it on the table. I was mashing potatoes, Sharon giving one more stir to the gravy, chit-chatting as we went along. Suddenly, from behind us we heard the clatter of a plate hitting the floor. Turned around and - yep, you guessed it. We both made a dive for Nee and the turkey. Sharon grabbed the turkey (or what was not in Nee's mouth by this time), I grabbed as much out of her full mouth as I could. I mean she had half the platter of turkey in her mouth. Did you ever see a dog with chipmunk cheeks? That's just about what she looked like. Nee was swallowing as fast as I was grabbing and I was scared she'd choke on it. I've never figured out how dogs can swallow such huge amounts of .... well, anything, without choking. When she finished chewing, I took her by the collar and led her downstairs. I hadn't reached the upstairs door before she started yowling and carrying on. Went in to find Sharon doubled over with laughter, trying to cut more meat for us; wasted half the darned turkey. We sat down to eat and could hear Nee from behind two closed doors. Sharon said "Aw, poor thing. I know you have to correct her, but she sounds so pitiful". I said No, she is NOT coming back up. Sharon ate silently for a bit, picking at her food, looking just as pitiful as Nee sounded. Then in a small voice ..."Well, it IS Christmas, after all". I relented - how could I not? Back downstairs, opened the door, Nee bounded up the stairs and stood eagerly beside Sharon waiting for more of that delicious turkey, no doubt. I looked sternly at Sharon and for once she heeded my warning. I called Nee to my side and she laid down, sighing. When dinner was over, I gave her the few little pieces of meat that I usually gave her when I was eating. Did she learn her lesson from that time-out?
I came home from work one evening, stopped at Sharon's door for Nee. Sharon and her brother Darryl were preparing their supper. Sharon said in a sad voice "Nee's not here. I had to send her downstairs; I know it's what you would have done." Uh oh, what did she do now? Seems that, as Darryl was peeling potatoes, one of the unpeeled potatoes rolled to the floor. Neea-Kha grabbed it, Darryl tried to get it from her but she snapped at him and chomped down on the tasty 'tater and started chewing it up frantically. He was scared she would choke on it (sound familiar?) and let her finish her meal. The decision to send her downstairs was not based on her eating the potato, but for snapping at Darryl. I was glad they knew my zero tolerance for that!
One evening, as Nee and I were just finishing our walk at the large park, someone across the far end of the park let her unleashed dog out of a car. The dog ran our way, running so fast, the owner - a young '20s something girl - was trying to catch up to him. I was leading Nee back towards our street. We had just cleared the park onto the sidewalk when the dog bounded up the hill and before I even knew what was happening - no warning of any kind - that dog had latched onto Neea-Kha's side. Just happened to be a pit bull. Nee was screeching, trying to get loose and trying to turn around to fight back. Of course, she was on her leash and I was scared to unleash her. I was hitting the dog over the head with my fist repeatedly, woman from a house across the road came over wielding a straw broom, trying to get a shot in at the dog. The owner finally got up the hill, Nee and the dog were rolling down the hill, I'm trying to get this damned dog off her, Nee's trying to get around the dog to fight back. The girl said "I don't know what to do" - I screamed at her "I don't care what you do just get this #(*#(*& dog off mine NOW. She reached down to grab the dog (no collar on him) and the dog bit her. That was enough incentive for her to reach behind him and grab on and drag him away. I was so scared to look at the damage and prayed all the while that Nee was okay. The way that dog had his teeth clamped onto her, I expected her whole side to be gone. She had a bit of blood on her mouth. The woman who had come down with the broom helped me check Nee over and to our utter amazement, there wasn't a wound to be seen. She tried to shake herself out but I could see she was sore and I worried about what was under her fur, but there was no blood. I checked her mouth -- no wounds there. She must have gotten in a bite or two of her attacker. As we started on our way home, the girl came back up the hill and said she'd give me her address in case there were any problems; said she'd worked at the SPCA and knew how these things worked. Woman with the broom told her that, having worked at the SPCA she, of all people should know not to let a dog run around unleashed. She apologized and said she had let him off leash in that park many times before and had never had anything like this happen. I warned her not to let me catch her out with the dog off leash again. She promised she wouldn't and, scared as she had been, I believed her. I got Nee home and called the vet. Given the absence of wounds and blood, the vet felt it would just add more stress to her if I brought her into the office. He told me what to watch for (they always do that, don't they?), told me to call his emergency number if necessary and to let her rest. I sat with her and talked to her and petted her and told her how sorry I was that had happened. She walked around some, seemed okay except for when she tried to shake her body - she did like to shake herself all up. She'd start to, then stop because it hurt. Sharon came down for a visit and was so upset to hear what had happened. Later in the evening, her brother Justin came over to see Nee - Sharon had called and told him what happened. He sat with her and petted her and she relaxed. Didn't have to take her up the steps for her nightly walk - we had an attached garage with an automatic door opener - the entrance came out onto flat ground. Only used it for an emergency and it came in handy that night. She slept on our nice comfortable bed with me all night and seemed absolutely fine next morning. She gave herself a full body shake without any problems and was up and about as usual. I thank God she had a halter on because it seems the dog's mouth had clamped over the halter and it protected her from the full impact of his teeth and jaws.
That evening, I was scared to take her for our walk but I had to. Even with a yard for her to run in, we had been walking two or three times a day every day for so many years. She was ready for her walk. When we reached the sidewalk, I turned opposite of that park - no way was I going there again. Too big, few people around, never knew what might happen. Well, Nee had other ideas. They must have run along the lines of "I am going to find that @**#*$** tonight - he's not gonna catch me unprepared this time - and I'm gonna @**#*$** his @**#*$** " I tried to turn her back the other way but she would not budge. She just pulled slowly forward, face set resolutely, she was going to that park and that's all there was to it. She wasn't pulling fast like she normally would when she wanted to go somewhere I didn't -- just slowly, forcefully forging ahead. I gave up and we walked to the park. She looked neither left nor right, didn't bother with her surroundings. She had a goal - she knew her destination. I stopped worrying, knowing the chances of that dog being anywhere near the park tonight were slim to nil. We got to the park, she stopped at the scene of last night's crime and sniffed around. She looked out over the horizon, back to sniffing the area. It's like she was inhaling that scent so she'd never forget it. Pity that dog if she did see him again. She didn't. Eventually, she allowed me to lead her around to do her business and take her back home. I had nightmares about that incident for weeks; what could I do if this happened again -- let her off her leash so she could fight back? But what if the dog ran and she chased it (I knew Nee would not run away from a fight)? Could get lost or hit by a moving vehicle. Bear spray? Could spray Nee accidently. Carry a baseball bat? Could hit Nee accidently. I obsessed about it for a while and never did get it clear in my mind what I would do. Had to go to that park for a week straight, morning and evening, until she got tired of it and let me take her around our other walking areas.
We were into our third year at Sharon's when one day, Nee started getting lethargic; not much of an appetite, wanted to sleep and lie around. I thought she might have a urinary tract infection, which she had been plagued with for a number of years. A few times a year, she'd get one. Easy to spot in winter, because of blood in the urine, difficult to tell when there was no snow. She was showing signs now, so off I went to the vet with a urine sample. Came back - yep another UTI. Another round of antibiotics. Only this time, the antibiotics didn't work; another urine test showed more white cells, along with more crystals. Hmmmm. Could be bladder stones - she'll need X-rays. Okay, appointment day I left her at the vet's. Picked her up on my way home from work. Talked to the vet about the X-ray. She did in fact, have bladder stones and would need surgery. Discussed the surgery and set up the appointment for two weeks. Nee was happy to see me - seemed none the worse for wear. A few hours of being home, walking around, going for walks she suddenly started limping - quite badly. Her right leg seemed to almost fold as she walked. Called the vet and asked if anything had happened while she was there -- did she jump off the table or something? He said well, no - we did have to hold her rather forcefully because she moves around so much. The two vets were big tall men - nothing lanky about them - they were big guys. I had visions of these two burly guys mashing my little girl between their massive bodies. Vet says "bring her in for x-rays tomorrow" -- no telling me what to watch for, just bring her in tomorrow. I was pissed! She was injured while having an X-ray, now she needs another X-ray! Yes, she was jumpy, yes she moved around - could you not have called me to see if you could give her something to calm her? This isn't a 150 lb dog we're talking about. Well, you won't have to pay for the x-rays. Well, I guess not!
Took her back the next day. They wouldn't let me go with her so I warned them to be careful - come and get me if you have any problems with her, don't use force. X-rays showed no damage from this incident, she'd be fine in a day or so, just over-exertion on the joints. However, those joints do show some signs of DJD (degenerative joint disease), that's why the applied pressure had hurt her. Well yes, we had talked about her joints a few months back -- I had noticed when she sat down a certain way, she would go down slowly and give a bit of a groan. Gave me some prescription food that she'd have to be on for the rest of her life; wanted to give me heavy-duty medication for the joints but I opted for glucosamine/hcl at this stage. I didn't want to put her on anything that strong just yet. She recuperated from her injury in a couple of days and I put her on the glucosamine. Trying to hide pills from her was impossible - put it in a "pill pocket" and she found it, put it in weiners, she refused the weiners, put it in her food and she wouldn't eat. Try to shoot it down her throat -- she'd gag and spit it up. I bought the gel-caps so I could open the capsule and mix the powder into her new food. Fortunately, she loved her new canned food and didn't seem to notice the taste of the powder. She did very well on these pills for a few years.
The day of her bladder stone surgery came all too soon. It was not a really invasive procedure and she'd be sedated. The hours crawled by and finally it was time to pick her up. She was a bit wobbly and somewhat disoriented but was otherwise okay. Vet told me what to watch for and call if there were any problems. I hated how sluggish and groggy she was; she looked at me as if to say "why am I feeling so strange?" I prayed that I'd never have to have her sedated again. We took it easy over the next couple days and she recuperated well. I was always amazed at how quickly her body healed.
We had been at Sharon's for 3 years - settled in comfortably, when Sharon came to us with some sad, unsettling news. She had suffered some unexpected and drastic financial setbacks and would have to sell her house. She was devastated and so was I. This had been the perfect arrangement for Nee and I hated the thought of uprooting her once again - away from people she had come to know and love.
The second Christmas we were at Sharon's -- she and I decided to have Christmas dinner together Christmas Eve. We went to early evening church services; turkey roasting in the oven, Nee watching for us from the upstairs window. Came home and started some serious cooking, preparing dinner. We were back and forth oven to table to cupboards - distracted, hurried. Sharon had just carved the turkey - off the bone - and put a platter of it on the table. I was mashing potatoes, Sharon giving one more stir to the gravy, chit-chatting as we went along. Suddenly, from behind us we heard the clatter of a plate hitting the floor. Turned around and - yep, you guessed it. We both made a dive for Nee and the turkey. Sharon grabbed the turkey (or what was not in Nee's mouth by this time), I grabbed as much out of her full mouth as I could. I mean she had half the platter of turkey in her mouth. Did you ever see a dog with chipmunk cheeks? That's just about what she looked like. Nee was swallowing as fast as I was grabbing and I was scared she'd choke on it. I've never figured out how dogs can swallow such huge amounts of .... well, anything, without choking. When she finished chewing, I took her by the collar and led her downstairs. I hadn't reached the upstairs door before she started yowling and carrying on. Went in to find Sharon doubled over with laughter, trying to cut more meat for us; wasted half the darned turkey. We sat down to eat and could hear Nee from behind two closed doors. Sharon said "Aw, poor thing. I know you have to correct her, but she sounds so pitiful". I said No, she is NOT coming back up. Sharon ate silently for a bit, picking at her food, looking just as pitiful as Nee sounded. Then in a small voice ..."Well, it IS Christmas, after all". I relented - how could I not? Back downstairs, opened the door, Nee bounded up the stairs and stood eagerly beside Sharon waiting for more of that delicious turkey, no doubt. I looked sternly at Sharon and for once she heeded my warning. I called Nee to my side and she laid down, sighing. When dinner was over, I gave her the few little pieces of meat that I usually gave her when I was eating. Did she learn her lesson from that time-out?
I came home from work one evening, stopped at Sharon's door for Nee. Sharon and her brother Darryl were preparing their supper. Sharon said in a sad voice "Nee's not here. I had to send her downstairs; I know it's what you would have done." Uh oh, what did she do now? Seems that, as Darryl was peeling potatoes, one of the unpeeled potatoes rolled to the floor. Neea-Kha grabbed it, Darryl tried to get it from her but she snapped at him and chomped down on the tasty 'tater and started chewing it up frantically. He was scared she would choke on it (sound familiar?) and let her finish her meal. The decision to send her downstairs was not based on her eating the potato, but for snapping at Darryl. I was glad they knew my zero tolerance for that!
One evening, as Nee and I were just finishing our walk at the large park, someone across the far end of the park let her unleashed dog out of a car. The dog ran our way, running so fast, the owner - a young '20s something girl - was trying to catch up to him. I was leading Nee back towards our street. We had just cleared the park onto the sidewalk when the dog bounded up the hill and before I even knew what was happening - no warning of any kind - that dog had latched onto Neea-Kha's side. Just happened to be a pit bull. Nee was screeching, trying to get loose and trying to turn around to fight back. Of course, she was on her leash and I was scared to unleash her. I was hitting the dog over the head with my fist repeatedly, woman from a house across the road came over wielding a straw broom, trying to get a shot in at the dog. The owner finally got up the hill, Nee and the dog were rolling down the hill, I'm trying to get this damned dog off her, Nee's trying to get around the dog to fight back. The girl said "I don't know what to do" - I screamed at her "I don't care what you do just get this #(*#(*& dog off mine NOW. She reached down to grab the dog (no collar on him) and the dog bit her. That was enough incentive for her to reach behind him and grab on and drag him away. I was so scared to look at the damage and prayed all the while that Nee was okay. The way that dog had his teeth clamped onto her, I expected her whole side to be gone. She had a bit of blood on her mouth. The woman who had come down with the broom helped me check Nee over and to our utter amazement, there wasn't a wound to be seen. She tried to shake herself out but I could see she was sore and I worried about what was under her fur, but there was no blood. I checked her mouth -- no wounds there. She must have gotten in a bite or two of her attacker. As we started on our way home, the girl came back up the hill and said she'd give me her address in case there were any problems; said she'd worked at the SPCA and knew how these things worked. Woman with the broom told her that, having worked at the SPCA she, of all people should know not to let a dog run around unleashed. She apologized and said she had let him off leash in that park many times before and had never had anything like this happen. I warned her not to let me catch her out with the dog off leash again. She promised she wouldn't and, scared as she had been, I believed her. I got Nee home and called the vet. Given the absence of wounds and blood, the vet felt it would just add more stress to her if I brought her into the office. He told me what to watch for (they always do that, don't they?), told me to call his emergency number if necessary and to let her rest. I sat with her and talked to her and petted her and told her how sorry I was that had happened. She walked around some, seemed okay except for when she tried to shake her body - she did like to shake herself all up. She'd start to, then stop because it hurt. Sharon came down for a visit and was so upset to hear what had happened. Later in the evening, her brother Justin came over to see Nee - Sharon had called and told him what happened. He sat with her and petted her and she relaxed. Didn't have to take her up the steps for her nightly walk - we had an attached garage with an automatic door opener - the entrance came out onto flat ground. Only used it for an emergency and it came in handy that night. She slept on our nice comfortable bed with me all night and seemed absolutely fine next morning. She gave herself a full body shake without any problems and was up and about as usual. I thank God she had a halter on because it seems the dog's mouth had clamped over the halter and it protected her from the full impact of his teeth and jaws.
That evening, I was scared to take her for our walk but I had to. Even with a yard for her to run in, we had been walking two or three times a day every day for so many years. She was ready for her walk. When we reached the sidewalk, I turned opposite of that park - no way was I going there again. Too big, few people around, never knew what might happen. Well, Nee had other ideas. They must have run along the lines of "I am going to find that @**#*$** tonight - he's not gonna catch me unprepared this time - and I'm gonna @**#*$** his @**#*$** " I tried to turn her back the other way but she would not budge. She just pulled slowly forward, face set resolutely, she was going to that park and that's all there was to it. She wasn't pulling fast like she normally would when she wanted to go somewhere I didn't -- just slowly, forcefully forging ahead. I gave up and we walked to the park. She looked neither left nor right, didn't bother with her surroundings. She had a goal - she knew her destination. I stopped worrying, knowing the chances of that dog being anywhere near the park tonight were slim to nil. We got to the park, she stopped at the scene of last night's crime and sniffed around. She looked out over the horizon, back to sniffing the area. It's like she was inhaling that scent so she'd never forget it. Pity that dog if she did see him again. She didn't. Eventually, she allowed me to lead her around to do her business and take her back home. I had nightmares about that incident for weeks; what could I do if this happened again -- let her off her leash so she could fight back? But what if the dog ran and she chased it (I knew Nee would not run away from a fight)? Could get lost or hit by a moving vehicle. Bear spray? Could spray Nee accidently. Carry a baseball bat? Could hit Nee accidently. I obsessed about it for a while and never did get it clear in my mind what I would do. Had to go to that park for a week straight, morning and evening, until she got tired of it and let me take her around our other walking areas.
We were into our third year at Sharon's when one day, Nee started getting lethargic; not much of an appetite, wanted to sleep and lie around. I thought she might have a urinary tract infection, which she had been plagued with for a number of years. A few times a year, she'd get one. Easy to spot in winter, because of blood in the urine, difficult to tell when there was no snow. She was showing signs now, so off I went to the vet with a urine sample. Came back - yep another UTI. Another round of antibiotics. Only this time, the antibiotics didn't work; another urine test showed more white cells, along with more crystals. Hmmmm. Could be bladder stones - she'll need X-rays. Okay, appointment day I left her at the vet's. Picked her up on my way home from work. Talked to the vet about the X-ray. She did in fact, have bladder stones and would need surgery. Discussed the surgery and set up the appointment for two weeks. Nee was happy to see me - seemed none the worse for wear. A few hours of being home, walking around, going for walks she suddenly started limping - quite badly. Her right leg seemed to almost fold as she walked. Called the vet and asked if anything had happened while she was there -- did she jump off the table or something? He said well, no - we did have to hold her rather forcefully because she moves around so much. The two vets were big tall men - nothing lanky about them - they were big guys. I had visions of these two burly guys mashing my little girl between their massive bodies. Vet says "bring her in for x-rays tomorrow" -- no telling me what to watch for, just bring her in tomorrow. I was pissed! She was injured while having an X-ray, now she needs another X-ray! Yes, she was jumpy, yes she moved around - could you not have called me to see if you could give her something to calm her? This isn't a 150 lb dog we're talking about. Well, you won't have to pay for the x-rays. Well, I guess not!
Took her back the next day. They wouldn't let me go with her so I warned them to be careful - come and get me if you have any problems with her, don't use force. X-rays showed no damage from this incident, she'd be fine in a day or so, just over-exertion on the joints. However, those joints do show some signs of DJD (degenerative joint disease), that's why the applied pressure had hurt her. Well yes, we had talked about her joints a few months back -- I had noticed when she sat down a certain way, she would go down slowly and give a bit of a groan. Gave me some prescription food that she'd have to be on for the rest of her life; wanted to give me heavy-duty medication for the joints but I opted for glucosamine/hcl at this stage. I didn't want to put her on anything that strong just yet. She recuperated from her injury in a couple of days and I put her on the glucosamine. Trying to hide pills from her was impossible - put it in a "pill pocket" and she found it, put it in weiners, she refused the weiners, put it in her food and she wouldn't eat. Try to shoot it down her throat -- she'd gag and spit it up. I bought the gel-caps so I could open the capsule and mix the powder into her new food. Fortunately, she loved her new canned food and didn't seem to notice the taste of the powder. She did very well on these pills for a few years.
The day of her bladder stone surgery came all too soon. It was not a really invasive procedure and she'd be sedated. The hours crawled by and finally it was time to pick her up. She was a bit wobbly and somewhat disoriented but was otherwise okay. Vet told me what to watch for and call if there were any problems. I hated how sluggish and groggy she was; she looked at me as if to say "why am I feeling so strange?" I prayed that I'd never have to have her sedated again. We took it easy over the next couple days and she recuperated well. I was always amazed at how quickly her body healed.
We had been at Sharon's for 3 years - settled in comfortably, when Sharon came to us with some sad, unsettling news. She had suffered some unexpected and drastic financial setbacks and would have to sell her house. She was devastated and so was I. This had been the perfect arrangement for Nee and I hated the thought of uprooting her once again - away from people she had come to know and love.