[aprillovesherdogs]

Been there, done that is never a free pass to criticize. I've "been there" but I won't do that (criticize another for this very personal choice). Sage advice or not..we are all keenly aware of the of the outcome and the pain and should be able to deal with it as we personally see fit.

Laurie, I am a prayerful Christian and I have been praying hard for you. It never makes sense and your knees will wear out long before we find out WHY?. But, keep praying and comfort will come to you. Matty's end was so sudden that I didn't have time to think twice about it. With Ansel, even though he was seemingly clear of OS, he is still close to his end time. I too pray that God will take him gently in the night so that he doesn't need to sense my fear and sadness while helping him leave. He gets fussed over by all of us before he goes to bed everynight so I know he feels loved and secure. Whether he wakes up again is not up to me. I just do my best for him while he is awake.

Anyway, I too hope that we can get back to working together to offer support and love.

Here is something funny that happened yesterday. I call it "saved by the cheeseball".

We all are or have been dealing with medicating our dogs. I have medicated dogs, cats, a bird and snakes. I have tried all the fancy tricks, even the ones they sell in catalogs. Call me crazy, but I hate sticking my hand in a strong mouth full of sharp teeth to get a pill down. Ansel is a very slick minded dog and is very suspicious of any handouts other than dog biscuits. I believe he has figured out that I am trying to pull a fast one on him. He will drop the suspicious treat and carefully dissect it to remove the offensive pill. So yesterday, he assumed his position under the table while the kids were eating. I noticed that many cheeseballs were "accidently" being dropped and he was sucking them down before they could hit the ground. It then occurred to me that I could get the pill down with no objection by hiding it in the cheeseball. Mind you, it couldn't come from my hand. So I pushed in the pill, sat down at the table and "accidently" dropped it. It was gone in a flash. I don't know why an idea so simple can be so hard to think of. The cheeseball seems to be the perfect pill transporter. The pills slide in fairly easy, they don't fall out and they don't start to melt like in a hot dog or p-nut butter.

Anyway, I hope this little trick helps someone. I wish I would have thought of it years ago.

Take care all.