Skin Deep

My puppies were “fixed” on Tuesday and hopefully that will help eliminate some of the conflict between the two of them. Roxie, the itty-bitty female was getting super aggressive anytime we were all together on the sofa or if a favorite treat came out. There were a couple of times that I thought she was actually biting him, but I could never find any proof of that.

My veterinarian Shelly Sandel of Northfield Veterinary Hoapital, is amazing and she took great care to cut the tiniest of incisions, and sent them home with pain pills to make sure they were comfortable. They rode home in the car with Oscar refusing to sit down, locked in a trance while Roxie stretched across my lap and was sound asleep in thirty seconds.

The funniest part of this whole ordeal is watching the difference in their personalities when their e-collars go on. Roxie is as perky as ever and manages to get a drink and goes right out to potty.

Oscar’s life is shattered once he adorns his mini-light shade. He slumps over like Eeyore from Winnie The Poo. I can practically hear him say, “My life is over, I might as well just stand here forever and I’ll never eat or drink again.” He looks so depressed and won’t hardly lay down.

And then Roxie runs by, not a care in the world. My step-dad doesn’t like her at all, and he constantly grumbles that she should be tossed away like a piece of garbage, and that I should get rid of her. Only Oscar is a “good dog” in his eyes.

This is a perfect example of how we humans judge everything based on what we see on the outside. Oscar is a such a cute little fur-ball that adults are drawn to because he looks like an adorable stuffed animal. But he is highly anxious and barks at everything. He is now on a medication that will make training go easier until he is ready to be a therapy dog, visiting children’s hospitals.

Roxie looks more like a Chihuahua, and little kids adore her because she is so petite and loving. She is completely different than her brother and is the smartest little dog that I have ever met. As long as she gets lots of rest and I hand out their treats privately, she is a perfect angel. She lets my grandkids carry her around for hours like a rag doll, looking forloin and lost. She loves to cuddle and lay right next to you for hours at a time.

Roxie will make the perfect hospice companion, helping people slip away from this earth and make their way to heaven. She shouldn’t be thrown away and she isn’t less worthy because she isn’t as “cute” as fuzzy wuzzy Oscar. He has a long ways to go before he is ready as a therapy dog, but Roxie is nearly perfect in every way other than her treat possessiveness with her big brother.

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Looks are only skin deep and we must look far deeper into the soul of a pup or a person to truly understand what makes them special.

 

 

Trance