LilGirl had her annual trip to the vet yesterday. Oddly enough, (VERY oddly enough), we had an incident with LilGirl very similar (exactly the same) to the one near the same time (within DAYS) as last year. Again - she has another scratch on her eye that requires drops everyday. But also? The vet confirmed what we started to suspect this week - she’s developing cataracts in both eyes. We had noticed the cloudiness (read: I freaked out shouting “OH MY GOD SHE’S GOING BLIND RIGHT NOW WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO???“). This doesn’t seem to be impairing her at all (no running into walls - which I do repeatedly even without cataracts) so we shouldn’t need to fret about it for awhile. (read: Chill the eff out, Zoot.)
We also bought the first season of Dog Whisperer on DVD last night. I’ve been wanting to watch it forever because everything I’ve read indicates he helps dogs with issues (on a more severe level) that we deal with in our dogs. But - we don’t get the National Geographic Channel with our cable service, so I had kinda stopped thinking about it. However, after reading Dooce’s write-up about it this week, I again became even more determined to watch it.
I’ve been trying to use this perspective in a lot of my behavior lately - even without the awesome Cesar Millan telling me to do so. It’s just a desire that has come over me, to quick FREAKING THE HELL OUT about everything. So, reading what Dooce said inspired me again - hence the trip to Best Buy last night. In short? It rocks. Seriously. I hope it helps us treat our dogs’ neurotic behaviors (they all have them, in different manifestations) but more importantly? I hope it inspires me to continue my baby steps to being the woman I know I can be. One who doesn’t even have a FREAK OUT mode.
Or, one that is only used on severe occasions, like when someone cancels one of my TiVo recordings of The Soup.
p.s. - my camera is back!
I used to have a cat that would suck on her tail like a pacifier. It drove me CRAZY, the same cat would pee in the toilet too I know it doesn’t really fit the post, but it reminded me of that. YEAH FOR THE CAMERA!
We are so on the same page right now. I’m addicted to his show. I’m BFing a 6WO & was running out of TV to watch, saw him on Oprah & was hooked. We don’t really walk our dogs because I can’t handle (read: don’t feel comfortable with) two of them on leash and a baby & toddler. My goal this weekend to get over that so everyone gets their walks every day now.
Good luck, I’ll be sending you good doggie karma vibes.
I love that show, too. Everything makes so much sense, and it’s AMAZING how quickly he turns these dogs around. My only complaint is that he seems to treat the same problems over and over… aggressiveness, neurotic, too-focusedness… what about the dogs that pee on the carpet NOT because they don’t know any better, but expressly because they hate you and like watching you clean it up?
YAY for the camera!!! I’ve never watched the show, and really hadn’t heard much about it before so I need to check that out. I’ve got three dogs, and each has a distinctive personality. Now you’ve got me interested. When is it on? Are they having reruns this summer?
Hurray for the Camera!
Dog pyschology… and you thought understanding people was hard… Alpha Male, Alpha Female, Domiance, positive calm energy…
…it’s enough to make the head explode…
Woooo! The camera is BACK!
Hello!
My parents have a dog who went blind several years ago due to glaucoma. She is perfectly fine, and although she does bump into things from time to time, she just backs up, redirects, and keeps going. She had trouble initially with stairs but is now fine with them.
There is a Yahoo! Group called Blind Dogs, and there is a website at this
There is also a great book called Living with Blind Dogs. It is written by Caroline D. Levin. I bought it when Marti first went blind, and it was a huge help.
I know this isn’t necessary now, but IF your dog does lose her site, there is a lot of information and support out there, and IT WILL BE OKAY!!!!!
All I have to contribute is this one insightful observation: that Dog Whisperer dude is HOT!
I’ve been obsessively watching the Dog Whisperer for a few months now, since my (embarassingly tiny) pug became ridiculously impossible to walk on a leash. She gets *SO EXCITED, LIKE, OMG* when another dog or person comes by, because PLAY! PLAY! PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or, um tug! TUG! TUUUUUGGGG!
And I wish I could say Cesar helped me, but he hasn’t. I can’t project a calm energy, apparently. Or, I can, and I guess it’s a little more involved than that. I’m not sure.
I’ll be interested to hear how it works for you.
Hi Zoot,
I have a Boston and he’s had cataracts for years. His vet says it’s very common in that breed. My Lucky dog is 13 1/2 years old and is still doing just fine. I’m sure Lil Girl won’t be affected. (But don’t worry, I reacted the same way.)
Aren’t they the most adorable breed in the world?
Here’ s a tip: whatever you learn about dogs goes for people too, just without the snacks as reward.
However, I’m hopelessly over my head witha spaz Australian Shepard, and today broke down and bought her some stuff to calm her hyperactive ass the heck down. I canNOT deal with her reality, so now she has to deal with mine. Yes, I admit the lameness…
Your doggie will be fine - they’re happy critters and dont’ notice most things until someone messes with their food dish.