When we walk our sausage dog, Carrie, in the nearby park in the afternoon, I am a struck not only by the wide variety of different types of dogs that people own, but by the different relationships they seem to have with them.
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Lessons from a Sausage Dog – part 2
This last week our sausage dog got parvo virus, a gastro-intestional disease that can easily kill a dog through dehydration or secondary infection.
Carrie was very ill and the vet warned me that should she not improve with treatment at home, she may have to be hospitalised, for which they would require a $3 000 deposit!
Lessons from a Sausage Dog – part 3
The favourite thing in my day is sitting on the couch after the dinner dishes have been done and reading a book or watching TV with my sausage dog curled up on my lap.
Carrie’s presence is a great tonic for the stresses of the day and I find every little stretch or sigh so cute that I constantly want to reach out and cuddle her.
Continue readingLessons from a Sausage Dog – part 4
Having a dog is very good for one’s ego. To have a creature greet you like a celebrity every time you come home, look at you with slavish devotion and follow you “doggedly” around as if they are afraid you will disappear at any moment, is healing balm in a world of criticism and disappointments.
Continue readingLessons from a Sausage Dog – part 5
During the school holidays my teenagers are usually at home with our little sausage dog while I go to work. They tell me that Carrie hardly moves from her spot at the lounge room window all day while I am out, waiting for me. She doesn’t come to play with the children or sit with them watching TV and, according to the kids, hardly eats or drinks either.
Continue readingLessons from a Sausage Dog – part 6
One Sunday afternoon my husband, myself, our three children and the dog were all on our queen-size bed and Adrian was rough-housing with the kids and they were all screaming and rolling about fighting and tickling. I was sitting propped up against the headboard and Carrie – the dachshund – became so upset with the noise and mayhem that she crawled behind me between me and the headboard. On one side of me you could just see her tail and on the other her nose.Continue reading
Lessons from a Sausage Dog – part 7
The other day my husband was cutting up beef to make jerky and Carrie, our little sausage dog was dancing around the kitchen begging for scraps.
She must have been very confused when we wouldn’t give her any. She knows we often give her scraps, she could tell from the smell that these would taste good and she was begging in her most adorable way. So why were no delicacies falling to the floor?Continue reading
Lessons from a Sausage Dog – part 8
My youngest daughter likes to tell me about how many dogs and other pets she is going to have one day – a sausage dog, a pug, a couple of Corgis (like the Queen), a grey hound and a Labrador!
“Don’t you realise how expensive that will be?” I ask her. “Buying the dogs is hugely expensive and then you have ongoing costs – vet bills, food, toys, equipment, grooming, kennelling when you go away; not to mention the time needed to care for and exercise all those dogs!”Continue reading