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Thread: Petmania

  1. #641
    Stuck on the Border LuvTim's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    Quote Originally Posted by Annoying Twit View Post
    Not sure if this was a pet or a working dog, but I had an unusual experience the other day. I was cycling through some pretty deserted countryside. When I had to stop to open a farm gate, I noticed a large dog appear and come running towards me. Not knowing what the dog would do, I waited. It ran up to me, climbing through a fence on the way, climbed up me, and then hugged me with its front legs. Quite tightly too. I waited a bit more to see what it would do, but it just held on. Eventually I said "down" in an authoritative voice, and it did.

    Unusual.
    -----------------------------------

    Very interesting, Twit.

    Actually, this reads like the opening scene of a quizzically compelling narrative. IMHO, if you are at all inclined towards expanding this into a longer format, you should pursue that. I would be interested very much in reading the finished product.


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  2. #642
    Stuck on the Border Annoying Twit's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    Quote Originally Posted by LuvTim View Post
    -----------------------------------

    Very interesting, Twit.

    Actually, this reads like the opening scene of a quizzically compelling narrative. IMHO, if you are at all inclined towards expanding this into a longer format, you should pursue that. I would be interested very much in reading the finished product.
    It's on-again, off-again, but I enjoy writing nanofiction. In that context, the post could be an entire story in its own right.

  3. #643
    Stuck on the Border NightMistBlue's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    That's a new term for me. Exactly 55 words long? Hmm, what a concept.

    AT, you must be irresistible to dogs. And wasn't that nicer than being hugged by a Gambian pouch rat? Quite.

  4. #644
    Stuck on the Border Annoying Twit's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    Quote Originally Posted by NightMistBlue View Post
    That's a new term for me. Exactly 55 words long? Hmm, what a concept.

    AT, you must be irresistible to dogs. And wasn't that nicer than being hugged by a Gambian pouch rat? Quite.
    The meaning of the term 'nanofiction' varies a bit. Typically it's for very short stories of about 100 words or fewer. Usually there is a challenge to get the number of words exact (as in the 55 word stories you mentioned.) The story lengths go down to about six word stories, such as the story often mis-attributed to George Bernard Shaw:

    For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

    So, we could write a story like this:

    Guitarist hired, then fired. Now rich.

    I do sometimes seem to get on well with dogs. Not all dogs of course. Mainly I apply two strategies. One is when meeting a new dog, get down to their height so that I'm not towering over them which can be scary for dogs, particularly small ones. The other is not to initiate contact but let the dog do that. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't, but I have managed to make friends with some dogs quickly whom I am told don't like many people.

    I did a similar thing with a neighbour's cat whom the owners told me doesn't like anyone outside his owner's family. It took a while, and I even applied cat body language. E.g. staring at a cat is a challenge. To turn and look away, or blink, is, I'm told, cat language for being friendly. It took a while but I made friends with him, but he runs if anyone else turns up except for his owners. (Note: I don't feed this cat nor allow him inside our house as this can lead to cats changing their owners, which seems to have happened to this family as their other cat moved down the road.)

    Still would like a Gambian Pouched Rat though

    Returning to the hugging dog, I didn't do anything there. I suspect that dog probably goes around hugging everyone. Or, maybe if it's a farm dog, perhaps that's part of its training to control livestock or something.

  5. #645
    Moderator Ive always been a dreamer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    I'm reviving this old thread because my beloved pup, Smuggler, has been facing some health problems. In December, I took him to the vet and they did a blood test and found out his liver enzymes were very elevated. They put him on a liver support supplement and told me to come back in a month to get him checked out. His bloodwork came back a little bit better on his follow-up visit, but were still pretty high. So, for the last several months, we have had to go through tests, ultra sounds, and other diagnostic procedures to attempt to find out what is causing his problem. I was going to schedule a liver biopsy, but about that time, he also began limping and losing use of his hind legs. They did another scan on him and did find arthritis in his hind legs and spine. I decided against the liver biopsy since the arthritis complicates things. So, he is on a low protein and low fat diet for his liver disease, along with his liver supplement. However, with the problem in his hind legs, he has to keep his muscles strong, which requires high protein, so I am just trying to split the difference. He also can't take the typical pain medications for his arthritis because they can also elevate his liver enzymes. So, they put him on a human medication called Gabapentin, that hasn't received FDA approval for dogs. We've had a rough few months, but he is finally stable for now. He is doing better now than he has all year and when he's better, I'm better. Just crossing my fingers that he'll stay stable for a good while. If he begins to deteriorate, I'm considering putting him on CBD. Smuggler turned 10 on March 17th and we celebrated our 10 year anniversary of his adoption on May 16th. I hope and pray every day that he still has a few more years of quality life left cause I love my little pup pup soooo much.

    "People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
    Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016

  6. #646
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    I remember when you got Smuggler. You had always said you would never get a pet, but he stole your heart! I hope your precious baby beats this and has a lot more time.

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  7. #647
    Stuck on the Border WalshFan88's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    Best wishes to Smuggler and hope for improved health! These pets are children and it seems so unfair to me they live such short lives compared to humans.

    To give an example of how painfully short pet's lives are, I posted when I lost my beagle Shiloh on this very thread back in September 2010 shortly after I joined here. We got Gibson the Boxer as a puppy and I posted about how we lost Shiloh and how we acquired a puppy a couple months later. Gibson died in March of this year. So in the span of the time I've been on the Border (which doesn't seem that long), I've already lost a dog that I posted puppy pictures of (sadly they went away when Tinypic went out of business) here. He lived to be 10.5 years old, the typical lifespan for a male Boxer. He developed DCM, a devastating heart condition that Boxers can get. Time can both seem like it flies and seem like it drags on forever. A 15 minute wait for something can feel like an eternity and 15 years can go in the blink of an eye. It just seems unreal to me sometimes...
    -Austin-
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    Fan of the Eagles from 1972-2016 #NOGLENNNOEAGLES

    RIP Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner

    "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key..."


  8. #648
    Moderator Ive always been a dreamer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    Thanks Soda and Austin for thinking of Smuggler. I hadn't had a dog since our family dog when I was a teenager, so it was a really big and life-changing decision when I got Smuggler 10 years ago. I'm afraid I wasn't mentally prepared when I found out about his health issues. I was expecting a few more years of good health for him. Either way, I'm sure it wouldn't have been any easier for me. I had another scare yesterday when he got up to walk and suddenly the hind part of his body had severe muscle tremors. I was startled, but, fortunately, it only lasted about 10 seconds. It's been a stressful few months, but my main concern is to keep him as comfortable as I can for as long as I can. However, I won't let him suffer.

    "People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
    Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016

  9. #649
    Stuck on the Border WalshFan88's Avatar
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    Default Re: Petmania

    Quote Originally Posted by Ive always been a dreamer View Post
    Thanks Soda and Austin for thinking of Smuggler. I hadn't had a dog since our family dog when I was a teenager, so it was a really big and life-changing decision when I got Smuggler 10 years ago. I'm afraid I wasn't mentally prepared when I found out about his health issues. I was expecting a few more years of good health for him. Either way, I'm sure it wouldn't have been any easier for me. I had another scare yesterday when he got up to walk and suddenly the hind part of his body had severe muscle tremors. I was startled, but, fortunately, it only lasted about 10 seconds. It's been a stressful few months, but my main concern is to keep him as comfortable as I can for as long as I can. However, I won't let him suffer.
    That's how my family feels as well Dreamer. With Gib, we didn't have to make a hard decision. We had just found out he had DCM when he started coughing, took him to the U of I in Illinois, they said he had DCM and ARVC (an electrical problem secondary to the structural problem). We knew his time was going to be short and we'd ultimately have to make a decision. However they had warned us about the possibility of a sudden ventricular tachycardia and if that happened, he would collapse and be gone in seconds. And that is exactly what happened right here at home. While I wish I had more time with him, I'm glad he went the way he did. I miss that boy. He and I weren't always real close early on just in terms of favorites, Gibson was a mama's boy and while he loved dad and I, he really really really loved his mama and when she was home she had his undivided attention and followed her around and was totally attached at the hip. That said, in his older years he became more of a pack animal and was happiest when all 3 of us were home and started growing closer to dad and I. I grew closer to him too and my dad retired in 2019 and so he would fix breakfast for himself and give Gibson some egg whites and kept him company until I woke up. So he started hanging out with us more while my mom was at work. And so by the time we lost him, we were as close as we ever were.
    -Austin-
    Resident Guitar Slinger
    Fan of the Eagles from 1972-2016 #NOGLENNNOEAGLES

    RIP Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner

    "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key..."


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