Many Lessons from a Beloved Fur Friend

Eat well, sleep well, relax, and changing routines is good

There are many things I learned and enjoyed with him, Yu-chan.

Eat well

Veggies: He loves Asian pumpkins or Kabocha. He had it almost every day for at least his last five to seven years, as far as I know. Our doggie came to the house when he was about two months old. He then had a bad stomach. My mom and brother, who brought him home, worried about him being too small, so they went to see a vet. The advice they got was giving him a bit of yogurt. Since then, yogurt has become part of his course menu almost every day in his whole life.

Don’t eat what you can’t or don’t want There are many things dogs shouldn’t eat: garlic, chocolate, caffeinated things like coffee, tea, the big family of onions, and some citrus fruits are dangerous. Yap, the list can be completely different from us! Those are dangerous to them.

But we also need to be aware of what we can eat. We need to be careful with foods we are allergic to. Foods need to be fresh and cooked, of course, especially when it’s summer unless you are eating raw foods like sushi.

We have to try to eat well-balanced foods. When we crave something, it might suggest to us our body needs nutrients from that food. When we don’t feel like eating something, it might not be so important to eat that food. I’m still impressed with his meal. I think that’s how he was pretty much healthy until a few days before he passed at about 15 years old. His meals were served twice a day. They were well mixed with small appetizers sometimes falling from the higher above his head like a tiny bit of cheese or steamed chicken breast or thigh. The main dish was his dog food (small pieces, half-soft, and colorful ones) mixed with a bit of meat and veggies, like microwaved or boiled carrots, beans, or pumpkins. For his desert — it is very healthy, as you have read above, it’s his yogurt, and with or without a special drink which was water added milk. With a big appetite, he would happily finish everything like he just washed his white and round ceramic dish. His mouth would be wiped clean by one of his owners.

Between those two meals, there was snack time. By the way, he had never been on an airplane.

We usually asked him if he liked to have the milk bar or cigar. We loved to see his reactions, and we played with him. He could wait for 10 seconds with the snack sitting in front of him. He could also make a turn. His legs are too short for high fives, but he could shake hands, right and left. If he was still happy playing, he would also do a few more with me, sitting and lying down. Yap, I’m usually the one teaching our dogs tricks.

We would place the snack somewhere while he was not watching and let him search for it. It was a type of snack for doggies. It smelt like milk, so I called it milk bar, but my mom sometimes said cigar. When he was happily taking one from us and walking away, he was like the cartoon character Popeye got his pipe in his mouth.

Before, during, or after eating, water was the important source of avoiding dehydration and choking. He was very good at taking enough water. Whenever he had human foods, which were little but still could be too salty or too sweet, he would go to his bowl and drink water. Good boy!

Sleep well

We can’t beat the sleepyhead. Sleep well when you need it. Use a towel and a pillow well to get cozy to sleep, especially in winter. During hot summer days, he slept with his tummy side up on the floor in the afternoon with paw pads touching the cold wall. But only his paw pads of back legs. It was fun to find him in that position. He was creative! Did he know feet are the second heart?

On the bed He just loved sleeping on his back or his side. Yap, relax, and sleep in whatever position you like. Just don’t snore too loud. It’s the way to relax, recover, organize information in our mind, and much more. We need it for sure. I sometimes write on the bed. I bet some writers write on the bed with cats or dogs next to them?

Relax

By the window He was sometimes half-covered by the curtain, which was very adorable. I called him, and he was still covered by it when he turned. Like right now, I’m on the weekend mode, looking out of the window and writing. Also thinking about whether I should get a coffee. By the sea We enjoyed the sea breeze. It was a lovely memory. Walking on the sand, not so much for him — tiny and big sands went into the spaces between fingers of his feet.

Right, be prepared. Get a pair of sandals or shoes. If you don’t know much about the beach, it might be a good idea to do so. I even see big greyhound dogs wearing two pairs of tiny shoes these days walking down the street.

On the sofa It was a bit too high to jump up and relax. When he was allowed to be on the sofa, he loved it. He would flip, and showed his tummy, and moved like a fish just being caught out of the water, twisting his body, and scratching the back of his head and ears with his front feet, like a cat cleaning its face from the back of its ears. Get the non-fabric sofa! Then, enjoy the texture of it with no worries whatsoever about fur sticking into it, cleaning, or any micro-sized bugs living on the surface of it. I guess that’s what my mom has noticed the most and applied to her life. Good hugs and snuggling He would be happy, and sometimes he would do the fish and cat things and kiss the person who held him. Kids, humans, and animals need love and cuddling. We need to boost our happy hormones. I just learned to love him more — after waking up, I would go to see him right away and increase my happy hormone. I then volunteered to give him a free facial massage (100 times of moving up and down or circling the muscles) in the morning when he was old.

I just now did my facial massage! What I did was just this: gently move the muscles below my cheekbones with my fingers 100 times. Yap, I do it sometimes for myself too. And this weekend, I relaxed, watching two movies on TV!

And a little walking exercise does help our psychological and physical well-being.

Changing routines is good

I thought keeping up with routine activities was good for dogs’ health, but it turned out not to be necessarily always right. I read about one article or two quite a long time ago, and the idea changed my perspective toward dogs’ activities or routines.

Routines are good for dogs and people to do whatever they or we need to do. For dogs, owners do things such as taking them out for a walk, feeding, bathing them or bringing them to the professional, cleaning the living area, playing with them, etc.

Humans, other than doing those things, people need to check emails, write articles, read articles, drink a cup of coffee :), go back to thinking, do some grocery shopping, prepare meals, and so on. Doing the same things all the time can be stressful, boring, or even painful, as you may have heard or read about from many people. We can do something to make our lives less painful, boring, and mundane. I can always add something to my life and subtract things out of my life, or rearrange them.

From what I read, it was saying this: routines (doing the same thing at the same time of a day all the time) may induce dementia-like behavior in dogs. Like humans, as they get older, their eyesight declines, hearing ability declines, experiencing joint pains, hair loss, cancer, and dementia-like behavior walking around the same spot/in the garden/or somewhere without stopping. But, by changing their routines, owners may help them avoid exhibiting the behavior — walking and circling in the garden.

So as he got older, I tended to do different things to him, getting his attention with different kinds of things, giving him foods/snacks at a different time of the day, avoiding walking the same route all the time, etc.

Speaking of walking, an adequate amount of walking exercise is good for both dogs and humans, yap, for him and me. After coming back from a walk, did a cleaning of his feet. He would do the fish and cat things while I was still wiping him or after it. He liked it.

From what I saw in him, and the other two dogs I dog-sat in the past, they LOVE to have their body and feet cleaned after coming back from a walk. You see, they are walking with their bare feet unless they wear tiny shoes like the greyhounds. Besides, all dogs have an extraordinary sense of smell compared to us. Plus, practicing good hygiene is never bad for the dog, for people you are living with, and the place you are living in.

And I did well on my walking exercises last month by the way — daily average 5,293 steps!

Oh, and lastly, I think brushing teeth in addition to cleaning his body (by the professional regularly for those spots we couldn’t do it) was also related to his healthy longevity. I learned a lot while having him as our family member.

This seems to be a bit long, but it is sort of I guess his memoir I write for him. It is a good one, right? It does not include any funny, peculiar, or awkward human behaviors or characters.

I do miss him. If you have had a dog or loved your pet, you would probably understand. There is an author on this platform who says that I miss all my pets. Another author calls his dog buddy his brother.

Here is another photo of him: his doggie pillow and one of his towels. Same posing — what was he dreaming about? His main dish? Snacks? Or dogs he met on the street?

My Thoughts on This Prompt

I guess that’s why parents want to have dogs to teach their children.

To grow together, learn important life lessons, take good care of dogs so they can take care of themselves and others.

Stay tuned, I will share my lovely neighbors’ doggies, my pet sitting episodes, and probably the kinds of dogs I want to have in the future.

Thanks for reading.

I’m tagging some writers who have shared their wonderful stories about their fur friends. Ellie Jacobson, Sally Prag, Susan Alison, Sean Kernan, Kim Zuch, Kathy K, Hollie Petit, Ph.D., Rose Malana, Zulie Rane, Jan Sebastian, Danielle Hestand, Penny Grubb, Michael Easter, Jennifer Dunne, Elin Melaas

And finally, thanks to Ravyne Hawke, jules, Diana C., and Spyder for this writing idea! The writing prompt:

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