Otis is our February 23, 2014 Pup of the Week (With a Special Mention for Daisy)

Some weeks I am stunned to see a friend crossing the Bridge, other weeks, having kept tabs on my friends, and knowing their status, I am less surprised, though still saddened to see them.

Since I first met him five years ago Otis has been suffering from diabetes and has been blind,  His Mom has taken wonderful care of him, but diabetes is not an aging dog’s friend and finally Otis’ condition deteriorated.  His parents were forced to make the long dreaded decision after Otis’ appetite decreased to nearly non-existent. he showed signs of confusion, and was in pain.  After one final trip to his favorite place in the world, his backyard, his parents aided him on his trip.

And soon he was climbing the stairs from the Bridge to be sworn in, and while I could feel his parents’ pain, I could also feel their relief that their decision had stopped their beloved baby’s pain,  I saw Otis, for the first time in our friendship, seeing me, as he slowly looked around, taking it all in:  Hundreds of friends, the sky, the clouds, the mountains, the river, the birds and the Bridge.

When he reached me, after I swore him in, I asked him, out of everything he was seeing for the first time in years what were his thoughts.  “You’re really short,” he said.  “I knew you were small but man, you’re tiny.”  I pointed out the sun, the birds, the grass, the butterflies.  “Yeah, they’re nice,” he said. “but damn you’re smaller than an overfed squirrel.”

Becoming slightly annoyed, I decided to change the subject, and asked Otis what he would miss the most about the mortal side of the Bridge.  “That’s easy,” he said.  “My Mom.  Us dogs are supposed to take care of our Moms but I got sick and she spent so much time taking care of me I could barely take care of her.  I was so lucky getting her for a Mom.  A blind diabetic dog is not easy.  The commitment, the shots, the cost of the medicine, arranging the house so I didn’t get hurt, she did so much for me.  If only I could tell her how much I loved her and appreciated what she did for me one more time.”  I put my average sized paw on his and told him he just did.

I asked him if there was anything he wanted to do.  He sadly shook his head and said his only wish his last days was to look at his Mom’s pretty face one more time.  I told him to follow me and we went down the stairs to the River of Life and I told him to look in.  Instead of his reflection he saw his sad Mom mourning him.  “She looks more beautiful than the last time I saw her,” he marvelled.  I asked him if he wanted to explore and he said he was happy just to sit by the River and finally see his Mom.

I sat with Otis for awhile, but then I saw another friend climbing the steps, Daisy from Downunder, who writes her own very popular blog.

 I loved reading it, especially in the winter, when she would take us along on her hot summer walks while we were freezing.  Daisy, like me. had cancer, and she fought for a long time, but we all have only so many heartbeats.  After I swore her in she asked me what Otis was doing, and when I told her, she said that sounded wonderful, so we joined Otis.  Daisy watched over her grieving mother in the water too.

But I wasn’t looking at my Mom, I do that a lot each day, I was watching Otis watch, and seeing his Mom’s reflection in his seeing eyes was the best thing I saw in a long time.

Otis and our weather dogs are our pups of the weeks

Up here in the Northeast we complain a lot about the weather.  We complain about the rains that come across the country or up the coast line.  We kvetch about the cold air the pours in from Canada in the spring.  Then we quetch about the hot air steaming up from the South in the summer.  The truth is we rarely have a great deal of weather to complain about here.  There are some big snow storms, some inconvenient floods, but nothing that puts our lives in imminent danger.  But with the Red Sox winning we don't have much to complain about so there is always the weather.

Then there are the real weather dogs, like Otis. our pup of the week trapped in his cellar while tornado monsters roar over his head.  I have never been to a tornado monster nor do I want to go to one.  They scare the Vick out of me.  And they never land where they should, like Washington DC, where they actually could do a lot of good because there is a bunch of stuff there that needs to be sucked up and thrown away.  I am asking Otis this week, for he is quite the affable chap, to accept this award for all our friends who have been pounded by what some bipeds call Mother Nature but what I believe to be discarded vacuum cleaners reanimated.

We are thankful that Otis had a nice basement to be safe in.  Their home and property were not damaged.  But there were pups near by who had their whole houses torn away and are now all living in shelters.  Do you know how hard it is to get a fully grown slope nosed adopted after they lose their home to the tornado monsters?  We wish them the best of luck.

As Otis said there is no place better then a basement when there is a tornado.  It is where smart humans take their pups.  We no longer have a basement.  We have a skirt.  Somehow I don't think something called a skirt will give the same level of protection as a basement.  I live with dumb humans.

Bear watched over his sweet Mom from the Bridge and kept her safe from the tornado monsters but not all of us have a strong dog like Bear looking over for us who scare the monsters.

Then there are Sydney, Moose and Buddy who winter just won't leave alone.  We are late in the month of April and they are still getting snow.  While snow isn't as dangerous as the tornado monster it just wears your down mentally.  Everyone wants an endless summer but no one wants an endless winter.

The tornado monster touched down close to our besties Saffron and Sage.  But you know Miss Jackie would battle to the death any monster that threatened her babies.  Cute little Gracie Mae is also in that state but her Mom is still cracking bad jokes on the Human Book so she must be all right.
Nothing beats those tornado monsters away like bad humor.

And poor Chelsea and Ashton, they are suffering from the "midway through a Democratic Presidency someone sets Texas on fire" storms.  They can see and smell the fire but for now are safe.  

Smoochy got stuck in a basement like Otis as he protected his Mom from terrible weather and tornado monsters.  Sierra and Nase slept through their tornado warning but I don't think a tornado is any match for a blob.   And we can't forget Jen and her friends down in Brazil who was hit with massive flooding.

Storms just continue to churn around us and it is only April.  I hope the weather calms down but the tornado monsters seem to thrive in the summer so everyone get down in their basement and hold on, just like our pup of the week, Otis did.  Meanwhile Pocket and I will be holding on to a skirt and hoping for the best.

Otis is our March 13, 2011 pup of the week

It is both an honor and a  privilege for us to announce that Otis is our March 13, 2011 pup of the week.

Otis has been sight challenged for some time now but that has not stopped him from being one of the most observant dogs I know.  Also he wrote a string of rhythm and blues hits in the 70's.  Hold it a second *ruffling through notes* that is incorrect , he did not write any songs.  Pocket please remove this sentence during the editing process.

This week we were quite concerned about our witty, white friend.  He had to go in for surgery.  I have never personally seen a surgery except on the TV but they always seem to go wrong and are done after the surgeons make sexy time in the supply closet.  No wonder there are so many infectious diseases in hospitals.  One little slip up and a doctor's entire family gets spilled out over the linens.

The dogter had made the diagnosis that poor Otis had two large lickyourmas in his tummy.  This made me worried.  I lick my Mom quite a bit and don't want any residue to build up in my tummy and need to removed by a sex starved surgeon. 

Well. of course, the dogter had miscalculated.  There were four lickyourmas in his tummy.  One of them was the size of a grapefruit which is wicked big.  I think it's bigger than Pocket.  Which would be like having a Pocket in your stomach, which would make you a kangaroo.  I would still be Otis' friend if he was a kangaroo but hopping and lack of vision seem to be a recipe for disaster.

The dogter said those lickyourmas had been in his tummy four four to five years.  That's a quite a long time to have Mommy residue in your belly.  But you know what?  How can Mommy residue be bad for you?  OK, if it's bigger then Pocket it's probably not great, but still, there is nothing wrong with having a little bit of Mommy inside of you.

In fact Otis had become so attached to the Mommy residue that the dogtor could not remove them all.  But that was OK.  He stuck his poker all over Otis and didn't find anything wrong so he stitched him up, gave him a kiss on his head, and called his Mom to take him home.

Otis was groggy, looked up,and saw his Mommy.  He gave her a kiss, darn the residue, and looked down to see his hoo ha had been shaved.  He passed out. 

His first night was  a tough one.  Very confused from the medicine they give you to bring about sleepy time.  And any operation on your tummy is quite painful so Otis couldn't find a comfortable place to lay down.  We haven't heard back about his condition but we're hoping he didn't have to wear the cone of shame.

Now Otis, you always make us smile, and we've had a little fun with your operation because we hope to make your Mommy smile.  But we are worried about you.  We pray that you fully recover and keep us smiling with your stories about  your Mom and your kitties.  And we all love you, so that's why you're our pup of the week.

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