I’m Thankful for Dog Poop
And Other Thoughts From a Loving Dog Mom
“Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one is a life diminished.” Dean Koontz
A couple of days ago, I was outside cleaning dog poop out of the back yard. From the looks of things, my husband didn’t do a whole lot of picking up during his “work from home” status.
I started to grumble to myself about the state of the backyard when a thought crossed my mind. Maybe I should be thankful there is dog poop to clean up in the first place. I should also be thankful that we even have a backyard to clean.
Moving Day Back in June, our landlord let us know he had decided to sell his house. We could either buy the house or move. We were not in a position to buy a $400,000 house, so we began looking for rentals that we could afford. We also have two large dogs, so the rental had to be pet-friendly.
Moving during a global pandemic added that much more stress — would people even be showing their houses?
We were lucky to find a rental in a nice neighborhood that is affordable and pet-friendly. Our dogs have plenty of neighbor dogs to bark at, and, even better, a good-sized backyard to play in. The house even has a dog door in the garage so they can come and go as they please (our dogs are slightly spoiled).
Sunny Gets Sick In August, our Australian Shepherd mix, Sunny, collapsed with her first (and so far only) seizure. We had no idea what was happening. We thought she’d hurt herself in the backyard or had been poisoned. After an overnight stay at the emergency vet, she came home safe and healthy again. The vet said all the symptoms pointed to a seizure, but he couldn’t say what caused it. It could be a one-time occurrence, or she could have issues from now on.
We had just paid rent and then her vet bill was $800, after a $2,000 deposit. I reflected on how lucky we were to be able to pay rent and take care of a sick dog when so many people are out of work and struggling.
“The face of a golden retriever feels like home.” David Rosenfelt
Charlie Gets Sick In mid-October, our Golden Retriever, Charlie, got sick. We had just changed their food to a new “flavor,” and we thought the dogs would both get used to it. Charlie got sick one morning before breakfast, but we didn’t think anything of it. As much as we try to supervise him, he still manages to eat everything in sight. He gets sick occasionally, but it usually only lasts a day or so.
Charlie got sicker and sicker. He was interested in food, but couldn’t keep it down. He went out to the backyard several times a night with diarrhea. My husband was out of town for work for a week, so I kept a close eye on him, expecting the poor dog to start feeling better. After a week had passed and he still wasn’t able to keep food, we took him to the vet.
This was another trip to the emergency vet with another overnight stay. Charlie got IV fluid, heartburn medicine, and more. He got x-rays and blood tests. The vet called in the middle of the night saying there was no blockage, which was what we were really worried about.
He wouldn’t eat his food the next morning, so he got an appetite stimulant. The stimulant worked. He ate his food and kept it down, so the vet let him come home with prescriptions for antibiotics and probiotics.
A few hours later, it was apparent that the appetite stimulant was still working because Charlie almost bit my hand off for a bite of carrot! This vet visit was the equivalent of a month’s rent.
“Everything I know, I learned from dogs.” Nora Roberts
Both dogs are now healthy and safe.
As gross as it sounds, I’ll try to remember not to complain when I’m cleaning their healthy-looking dog poop out of the backyard.