TV Commercials and It's a Dog's Life

Have you ever seen a TV commercial for a new medication, and listen or read all the potential side effects? Like one that is for migraines, that can cause headaches and blurred vision? ( Isn't that a migraine?" How about one that can cause death?  My favorite is , If you are allergic to this medication, or any medication containing this medication, stop taking immediately. How did you know you were allergic until you tried it?  If it causes death, is that immediate enough? Things that make you go hmmm....

Another pet peeve of mine is.. why, I ask WHY.... do they advertise restaurants with delicious you have to have it NOW food at 10 pm and beyond, if the restaurant is not open at that hour? I mean, now I a starving, and drooling , and angry at the restaurant that caused this. Right? Seriously? Who would not be craving Lobster and a good juicy steak at midnight?

How about all of the commercials letting you know that if YOU or a loved one have died from...( insert the disease here), you may be entitled to substantial compensation. Um, what?  There is a new settlement :"If you're developed ovarian cancer from talcum powder,, " etc,,,don't you all wonder, how do they prove you used it? How did  they know back when we slathered that stuff all over our bodies, including all of our babies bottoms, this would cause cancer?
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There are some really good commercials, too. A recent one airing on current television, is for  Heartworm prevention, and has the dogs hiding in camouflage, such as a plant surrounding his body! Cracks me up!  I remember the dogs, but, I have no idea at this moment what brand of treatment the commercial is for. Go figure.
(update, I found the commercial. Heartguard! Inserting You tube video here:)



Speaking of dogs, my dear husband decided when I retired last year, that I should have a companion, ergo, a dog.  So, off we go the the local animal control shelter, formerly known as the " pound", on the first Saturday of the month. They have a " First Saturday Celebration" , oddly, on the first Saturday of the month, drawing in a lot of people with  pets that are " ready to go", at a substantially reduced fee.

I live in an " Active Adult Community",  a manufactured home community, formerly known as a Senior Citizen Park, also formerly called a mobile home park. Rolling my eyes. We are restricted to having one pet per household, and that pet is not supposed to weigh more than 20 pounds. ( Yes, because a 20 pound dog will make me feel secure, or as my husband would say, that is not even a whole dog.)

None the less, we are searching for the holy grail of small dogs, and a Chihuahua is definitely not my favorite dog. ( ok, I do not like them, they are under your feet and yipping all the time). There were a lot of big dogs, really big dogs,  and a lot of Pit Bull types, etc. Small breeds, not so much. I saw one with these HUGE eyes, and a ball of fur that kept watching me walk back and forth. Big eyes.

I finally take a look at him closer, and read the information on his kennel. " Ferdinand" is a Pekingese, found as a stray, he is 13 yrs old , has sclera of the eyes so, he is nearly blind, and he has hip dysplasia, so, he is nearly crippled. I go UGH,  he is old! ( I am old.) Ugh, he can't see well. ( neither can I). He can barely walk he has bad hips. ( Snap! me too!)  He is severely underweight, and can feel his ribs ( um, never mind, we won't discuss that comparison to me.)  Guess who we took home?

The adoption process was easy. they were amazed anyone was taking this little guy home. As he was a senior dog, he had a reduced fee, and as I was a senior human, I rec'd a reduced fee... so, the fee was $5. As we left, we were paraded up and down the fair booths, in the walk of honor, for taking home the oldest dog ever. Cool.

Well, the poor guy's hair was so badly matted, he could not even walk up or down the steps to the house, and the bad hips did not help.  So, first order of loving him, was to the groomer and get him shaved and cleaned up.

He looks like a puppy

First Saturday love at first sight

Shaved.. naked, thin, and crippled up

                           


Well, from day one, I realized that at  some point in his former life, he has been spoiled.  The second I went to the stove, there he was. He would alert me as soon as the timer went off that dinner was done. I also knew he deserved the best chance to live a bit better than he would have on his own, or worse yet, left to die in the shelter. So, his new Mommy chose to make his dog food, added a senior vitamin with glucosamine, coconut oil,  and to go ahead and give him some of ours now and then.

He loved us from the first day, too, although he could not jump up on the couch, or in our bed, we helped him up, however he could not sleep with us, or sit too long on the furniture. I made hm a " pet bed", but, he preferred to sleep either on a blanket nearby, or on the hard floor near an air conditioner vent, even on the vent itself. He began to be a " new" dog.

Look Mom, my ribs are not showing!

Puppy? or Senior Citizen?

He filled in nicely, going from the 7 pounds I brought him home at,  to 10 pounds of fluffy cuteness. He could RUN up and down our steps to go outside. He stood up straight and proud. Our neighbors asked me 3 weeks after we brought him into our home, where did the first dog go, and were amazed this was that dog! We continued to groom hm, and I bathed him in between. He was very " mean" during grooming, as it caused pain. I took him to Pet Smart for a 3rd grooming, only to be told, he was not welcome back there EVER again. What? LOL

Lion cut? Seriously?

We tried another groomer, and was called back 10 minutes after dropping him off, to come get Cujo. Oh, boy. Kicked out of another groomer's. Geeze, we are blackballed from grooming. I bought a razor.. that did NOT work out... he would not sit still, I had no idea what I was doing, left him near bald on half his body, and totally unscathed on the rest. I surrendered my razor. I think my husband uses it as a trimmer on his beard occasionally. Good Boy! LOL

Ferdinand was with us for 2 yrs, and he was beginning now to be in constant pain. He cried and moaned most of the time. He continued to eat, but each move, or laying down hurt. I could not bear it any longer, as he had no quality of life, and my keeping him was becoming pure selfishness on my part.

I did research on euthanasia, and was assured by other pet owners, that this was the best option, and humane thing to do for a 15 yo dog that was in pain all the time.

Reluctantly, my husband and I came to terms, and brought him to the Humane Society to be euthanized. They were very compassionate and gentle with him, and us. I could not bear to watch the procedure or stay with him while he passed, so, my big, brave, loving husband promised to stay with him. I left that room hysterical, and had to go outside to sit, as my crying was upsetting children, whose pets were in for vet care, and did not need to know my purpose.

Mac  was gone only 5 mins at most, and when he came out to me, I snapped " Why are you here, you are supposed to be with Ferdinand!" He gently wrapped his arms around me, then took my hand and said " Baby, after you kissed him, and left, the tech inserted a needle, and told me it will not be long, as he is so small. Ferdinand licked my face as I held him in my arms, and just went to sleep. The tech checked, and he had passed away. Two minutes, that is all it took."  He then led me to the car, where I remained inconsolable for the next 2 days.  Then I finally made peace with myself, as he reminded me we gave him 2 good years he would not have had without us.

RIP my friend. I loved you.

One week later, my dear beloved husband decided, I needed a companion." Look for another dog." Enter a real life Cujo named Corkie, and another day's blog.