The dog that keeps on ticking....

So here I am again, obsessing about my dog. Man, oh, man what a dog. This past weekend I took him on an experimental trip on a kayak onto the Charles River in Boston. Now I know whenever he gets excited or nervous a certain piece of nature comes-a-callin'. I obviously ignored this piece of knowledge. As the boat-helper-guy was holding the boat next to the dock so that I could load Jack and Bobby into the boat, sure enough, Jack took a rather lodge crap in the back of the boat. I felt a little embarrassed by this but what can you do? I scooped it up and moved on....

It was a great day on the kayak. Jack got used to it pretty quickly and really started to enjoy it. It really made my day to see him so happy. Thanks to my friend Bethanie for helping me with the paddling.



The next day after our little kayak adventure, I was rubbing Jack's ears (as I usually do) and at one point he yelled out this big doggy yelp. Every time I hear him make this noise, it reminds me of when he went paralyzed, it brings up some pretty crappy memories. So I looked onto his big, pointy right ear and he had some kind of lump on it that was causing him pain. During the course of the day, that ear began to be "not so pointy". It actually looked kinda cute as he would have one ear up and one ear down.

I brought Jack to the animal hospital the next day and they told me that this was common with dogs. They gave me some meds and told me that when it heals, it will probably stay in that downward position and look "crippled". At first I got a little emotional thinking about not being able to see my handsome boy look at me with those big pointy, expressive ears. But the more I thought about it, I thought it's just another testament to what a resilient dog he is. In his lifetime Jack has been homeless, paralyzed, no urinary or bowel control and now a stunted right ear. How many dogs do you know that have been though all this before their 7th birthday? The doctor told me that if I want I could have surgery done to the tune of $1,200 so that the ear sticks up again, but guess what... he doesn't care how he looks, so why should I? He's just happy to be alive, running in his wheelchair and spending time with his dad. Jack, I continue to love you for the spirit you have and the love you bring into my life. You never stop teaching me new life lessons.



And as always, Thank you God for the opportunity to care for such an amazing dog.

BK