A Smidge of Turmoil

I haven's posted for a few days because Tuesday night while we were in bed Teddy was having a particularly bad night lunging every time I moved and he bit me - pretty badly - on my pinky finger was where his mouth landed - and it's ended up getting quite infected and for the first time since I got him I actually went to the Emergency department (I didn't stay because the waiting was interminable) and I then went to my doctor's office to get a tetanus shot from the nurse and she made me stay to see a doctor who gave me a prescription for antibiotics.

So I spent a couple days torturing myself once again about why it is that I keep Teddy alive when he has absolutely not improved in the biting department in the year that I've had him and has maybe even gotten a bit worse - I've just gotten better at avoiding his mouth. I really think there's something neurologically wrong with him or just plain bad breeding because he just cannot handle external stimuli, and will cry out like as if someone has smacked him really hard when he steps on an extension cord that's on the floor, or when he steps on a rock - let alone trying to pet his back or cut his hair.

The nurse at the Clinic today severely remonstrated me for not "immediately getting rid of the dog that did this". I was like "yeah, whatever - I'm not going to do that". It really comes down to as simple as the fact that for some reason I don't see dogs as inanimate objects that aren't really alive anyway - I see them as being the same as humans and I don't think that if they're healthy in every other way that I have the right to take their life. For some reason I think that the decision has to be up to Teddy, and some of the time he still seems to be enjoying himself.

We're all going to be dead for such a long time. And there's already so much death happening around us. But when I'm having a bad day with him - the lessons that he is trying to teach me seem to be very hard to learn.

So it's taken me a couple days to work through what happened on Tuesday night and become a happy dog owner again. We all have cranky people in our lives - it's just that most of them don't have dirty teeth that they feel compelled to sink into our flesh when they want to show their displeasure at something we're doing at certain moments of the day. I am still really hoping that he is going to understand that every motion I make is not intended to hurt him - but is meant to help. After a year he still hasn't clued in unfortunately.

On a much happier note - the biggest dog event of the summer is happening tomorrow - the Greyhound Pet's of Atlantic Canada Dog Carnival out in Dewolfe Park in Bedford. I am one of the judges for their "Canine Idol" competition and I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to be Simon Cowell or a Sass Jordan - or maybe I'll be a Paula Abdul. We'll see how my hair dries in the morning! haha! It's from 10:30 - 2:30pm - I've had it written up on my site for the last couple of weeks, so hopefully everyone has already read and heard about it already and is planning on going - I'm planning on taking Buttercup and tonight I made her a new matching leash, collar, and bracelet for me - so we will definitely be VERY stylish!!