I'm on my own for a few days while Georg is in NY. So how about a cute dog story. Well, maybe not that cute, unless you adore the dog involved like I do.
Janie bit me yesterday. It was totally an accident, and totally my fault. We were at the vet, and she was getting her nails trimmed. I was holding her still with one hand and feeding her treats with the other hand to distract her. The treats were big and crunchy, so I was holding them back a bit, making her chew on them, to make them last longer. Unfortunately I put my hand a bit too far into her mouth, and she bit down on the treat and bit right into my thumb. I yelled "OW!" and startled the vet tech, but Jane didn't seem to notice. She was just like, hey, where are the treats?
At first I thought she hadn't broken the skin because there wasn't any blood. But I looked at it a few minutes later and saw a small puncture in my thumb. I washed it with the antibacterial soap in the examining room, and put some Neosporin on it when I got home, and it seems fine. I guess the moral is, don't stick your hand inside the mouth of a dog that's eating.
In other dog news, we've finally figured out that Thirteen isn't ignoring us; she's deaf. For a long time I thought she had just gotten willful. Like if she was eating out of Jane's dish, if I said "no!" she wouldn't react at all, just kept right on eating. I don't remember how we figured out that it was hearing loss. But I've been paying attention to her reactions, testing her by talking when she can't see me and so forth. She seems to be almost totally deaf. She can hear loud, sudden noises, like if you clap or drop something or laugh really loud, but that's it.
The good news is that it doesn't seem to have changed her life much. Her eyesight is still good so she doesn't have trouble getting around, or figuring out what we want from her. I'm trying to talk to her with visuals as well as sound, if that makes sense. For instance at her dinner time, instead of rattling the food dish I hold it up in front of her. It makes me sad to think that she thinks we don't talk to her anymore. But she still seems happy so I guess it doesn't matter.
5 Comments
Sweet Thirteen. I'll bet she enjoys your company just fine, anyway. A James Herriot story once mentioned that a dog didn't even know it had gone blind.
Reminds me of a family fave joke.
Grandpa was worried that Grandma's hearing was going, so he decided to test her one day while she was in the kitchen cooking.
Her back was to the doorway at the far side of the room, and that's where he started his test.
"Honey, can you hear me?" he whispered. No response.
So he tiptoed to the middle of the room and tried agin, "Honey, can you hear me?" Still no response.
Finally, he carefully stepped up behind her, "Honey, can you hear me?"
And finally a response. "For the third time, Yes!"
I think Thirteen always knows how good she's got it with you. ;-)
Phil: that's a great joke!
Sean: I've been wondering a lot lately, whether dogs understand their environment the way we do. Does Thirteen know that she can't hear anymore, or does she think the world just got quiet? Does she even remember what it was like to hear?
Also, I really wonder how she knows when I get home. She's usually standing in the kitchen barking at the back door, but I know she can't hear my car. My only guess is that Jane's running from window to window alerts Thirteen to my impending arrival.
Hi Sarah,
You don't know me; I just was visiting your site because someone told me about the quiz. I've been here before, both because I'm a tarot fan and to read the copyright info.
My partner and I have a 14-year-old labrador retriever named Obie. Obie started out as a guide dog, until his owner noticed that he was walking her into low branches. She took him to a vet, and it turned out he had a rare disorder that would cause him to become completely blind. She couldn't keep both Obie and a new guide dog, so she put the word out an email list for persons who are blind, and my partner and his ex-wife, also a guide dog user, adopted him.
Obie is the happiest critter I know. Even the fact that he is now mostly deaf hasn't put a damper on his spirits. He goes out the back door several times a day, trots down the deck stairs to the back yard, does his business and barks to be let in. He still prances a bit occasionally if he wants a treat.
Just thought I'd share that...we could all learn from people like Obie!
May
Hi May, thanks for sharing that story. Obie sounds like a great dog! It gives me hope that if Thirteen starts to lose her eyesight (she's 14 also) her life won't be miserable.