Friday, September 15, 2006

Dogs and Construction

The photo at left is an example of what happened pretty much every day this summer at lunchtime. I was rarely home for it, but Steve dealt with it every day.

You see, our contractors thought it was funny to feed our little dogs. They liked the dogs and have the view that "chicken bones are good for dogs-make them strong."

Please don't call us bad dog owners but in the midst of all the goings on, we let the "dogs don't eat people food rule" slide a bit. As a result, our dogs went a bit mad.

They had a sixth sense to when lunchtime was coming and would start crying and hurling themselves at the gate to get out into the yard where the guys would eat. It really was quite a sight and scene.


Mojo was especially bad about it and would sometimes even try to walk up the stairs to get to his "friends". He's a daschund and they are prone to back problems. Stairs are not good for a dachsie.

So Tuesday night when I picked up my little guy and he squealed in pain, I was alarmed. My first thought was, "Oh my God, he's bleeding internally from a chicken bone splinter and it's all my fault. If he dies, I will have to kill myself to escape the guilt." So I called the emergency vet to see what the signs are of internal bleeding or death by chicken bone.

They suggested it might be his back. This didn't make me feel much better. Again, guilt for neglecting our dogs this summer and working on the house all the time. We keep them company alright. We just are always working. They usually lay outside and watch us all day.

Anyway, he's doing okay now. I will be taking him to the vet soon to have his back checked out and he's due to have his teeth cleaned, which is another thing that scares me. What if they put him under and something goes wrong? As you can see, I'm a little irrational about my dogs. He was attacked by a German Shephard 5 years ago and ever since then I've been like this.

Just part of the chaos of construction that went on this summer. Ah, the memories!

1 comment:

Allison said...

Oh, poor little Mojo!!! I subscribe to the theory that it's not bad to feed your dog people food as long as it's healthy people food. Meat=good, chips=bad. Ours definately get tidbits of meat, fruit, and veggies. Jay used to live very close to a KFC. When we'd walk the dogs, our route was invariably strewn with chicken bones. Nellie has stolen and swallowed many a chicken bone before I could wrestle them out of her mouth, with no ill effects. I'm sure mojo will be fine