Good Dogs

Dogs are currently in the news!

The Obama children finally have one. The new First Dog, a gift from Ted Kennedy, is a Portuguese Water Dog. Named Bo.

I'm not a real dog person. I like them "OK." It's been suggested to me that I have a farm mentality when it comes to animals. Others have referred to me as the "Dr. Kevorkian" for animals.

But I absolutely "get" the relationship that many people have with their animals, especially dogs.

Dogs save lives every day - mostly by just being there and loving with no strings attached.

My brother and his wife just lost their little dog, Ashley. She was about 15 years old and about as big as a snowball.

Sometimes they dressed her up. She was really cute. She, along with her little companion dog- in their Santa hats - adorned their Christmas cards.

But she bit the heck out of anybody (other than them) who touched her. So you would start to pick up this beautiful little ball of fluff and all of a sudden...."WHAT THE!!!!!"

I know that they're both heart sick about losing this little member of their family.

Last year I talked with a lady vet who told me that she and her partner were starting a hospice for dogs. This sounded like a wonderful idea to me. Like with "people" hospice, it might spare a lot of pain for the patient and the loved ones as well.

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