My Negative Energy Knocks Over A Dog

I may have knocked over a dog yesterday just by passing by.

Sometimes I think I have some very strong negative energy, which I know is a terrible thing to say about yourself but it's true. But usually people and animals are able to remain standing as I pass.

A couple of months ago I went by some trees and some guys were sawing one of them and it fell right when I was there. In that case it probably had more to do with the sawing than with me. But I don't know what to say about yesterday.

I was walking down the sidewalk when a guy came around the corner with two big dogs, about a half a couch each, loveseat sized. We commented on how great the dogs looked, then took a couple of steps on our way past. Then I don't know what happened exactly, but we looked around and one of the dogs was laying on his side and refused to get up. The dog's owner was patting him.

I called back to the guy, "Does that happen very often?" And he said that he'd had the dogs for 2 1/2 years and that this was the first time ever.

Hmm... the thought came to me that I'd just knocked over that dog with my negative energy. And I try to be such a positive person, but these things just happen.

My Dog's Risky Sleeping Spot

Our dog likes to crawl under the bed and sleep at the corner by the head of the bed.

Of course she has no concept of a bed falling on you, as we've all seen happen.

This particular bed has never fallen. Its construction is such, I guess, that it can't fall. Although I don't know precisely how it's made just by memory.

Still, even with that great record, I know I wouldn't be under there unless there were some other safeguards in place, like a few well-placed concrete blocks or beams and trusses. (It's hard to find a good truss these days. It's not like when they used to advertise them right in the newspaper.)

I see the dog, and she's cognizant of all sorts of dangers. Part of the reason she goes under there, other than sleeping, is to escape from perceived dangers, like loud noises or me carrying a big piece of furniture. But she has a danger hanging right over her head, and she doesn't even realize it.

A Ticket For Hitting A Dog?

Someone I met the other day was late for her job because she hit a dog on the way in. She was going over a bridge and suddenly there was a dog, which she hit. Then it was stuck to the bottom of her car.

She called for the proper authorities, who, she said, gave her a ticket for hitting it. That sounds weird to me. I guess she could not have driven off because the dog was stuck to the bottom of the car. But it sounds weird that if you report something like that that happens you get a ticket.

Even if you didn't report it, it seems like something that is just an accident. Like hitting a deer or a squirrel. You're not going out of your way to run over what's in the road.

That was in Kansas.

The Ugliest Dog Contest

It's the 20th annual ugly dog contest, in California, the first one I've heard of. It's nice to have an event where you don't have to be purebred or good looking to win.

The first picture is Gus, taken from this website that has a whole gallery of other canine lookers. He went from Florida to California for the competition. He suffers skin cancer, has no hair except a little white tuft on his head, is missing a leg, and has only one eye.

Concerning Gus, that website says in part, "Every beauty contestant needs a platform, and Gus’ is to bring awareness and hope to people with pets that have been diagnosed with cancer. He is trying very hard to make it to California this year for the contest. Last year he couldn’t attend because his immune system was weakened by chemotherapy. He had a wonderful year (or should I say 7 years)..."

Some of the other dogs at that website are uglier than Gus, but maybe with pictures you can pose them any way you like, or just keep taking pictures till you get one hideous enough to post.

This other dog, the blond fur one, is Willie. The owner's comment (in part) is this, "Willie is a 9 year old mutt we rescued from the pound when he was 6 weeks old. His standout feature is his hair lip smile, which he proudly displays whenever anyone enters the room. This usually results in a double take and then, "That is the ugliest dog I've ever seen."

I love dogs. And a bit of this is sad, but a bit is funny. They're probably all great dogs, and they'll never know they are "ugly." So, they have an advantage over us in that...

A Dog on Lasix

When I was a kid, if a dog got sick it died. Or ran away and died. Or ran out in the road and died. We heard there was such a thing as veterinarians, but they were sort of like the Maytag repairman; the only people who ever saw them were lonely widows whose lives depended on a single old cow that must never be allowed to die.

Now, of course, we have such an attachment to our animals. It's like what we've done with children except it's an extension of that. They're precious and must never face a challenge greater than dodgeball, and sometimes not that. The dog barely knows what outside is; it's the wallpaper on the windows maybe.

Well, the dog has to go outside. But the world is just a big toilet to her. The city park, a toilet. Streets, a toilet. The only thing that apparently isn't a good enough toilet is the yard, where all the smells must be too local.

Now with the snow, it's tough taking the dog out. And add to that a trip to the vet the other day to find out what all the hacking's about, hack, hack, hack. I thought maybe it was just a leash that strained her throat when she was straining for a squirrel once day. But no, it's congestive heart failure, which is treated with Lasix. That means more bathroom trips. And with the huge snow, that means a lot of carrying (Pomeranian mixed with something else and about 17 pounds) and looking for a fit spot.

Lasix, to get fluid out of the system. Except now she drinks water all the time and I think that might just be adding to the problem. But at least the hacking's gone!