Follow me on Twitter Why do some dogs love being at the animal hospital? Why does a dog wag his tail? About the special connection between dogs and children. When a child’s pet dies.
Today I got to spend more time at Angell and to see more dogs. Never mind that the doctor changed my splint again because my mom noticed that I had eaten the bandages once again and that about two feet of bandage was trailing out the bottom of the splint, and that I had chewed away at the bottom part of my splint. There is no doubt that I would have continued pulling and chewing had she not seen me and stopped me. Never mind that within ten minutes of her noticing that, we were back in the car, my joy at going for another car ride had made me forget about my annoying splint and bandages. I was at the animal hospital, among friends.
In the animal hospital, I met a wonderful dog named Traveller. I am showing you a photo of Traveller, who was really friendly, very sweet-natured, and very mature.
A lot of children also came up to me. The children were very interested in me and asked Jane a lot of questions about me.
Two little sisters, Wanda and Miri, came and sat near us. Wanda wanted to know my name and I couldn’t answer for myself so Jane answered for me. When Wanda’s little sister Miri saw my tail wagging back and forth, she pointed to my tail and her finger was moving back and forth as my tail was moving back and forth, and she asked, “What’s that? Why is his tail doing that?” Jane said that it’s called wagging, and that I’m wagging my tail. She said that I wag my tail when I’m happy. The little girl seemed happy with this answer.
Then a little boy who said his name was Giovanni came up to us. He saw my leg in the bandage and wanted to know what had happened to him. Jane said that I was hit by a car. Honestly, I don’t remember being hit by a car, but that’s what Jane said happened to me. Giovanni had a lot of interesting questions. He pointed to the large bald spot on my back and leg and asked, ‘What happened here?” Jane said that the doctors had to shave me so they could do surgery on my ankle. They wanted the whole leg to be clean. Then Giovanni pointed to the bald rectangle on my side and asked, “What happened here?” Jane said that when I was hit by the car, I was in a lot of pain so the doctors shaved that area and then put some medicine on that spot so that I didn’t feel so much pain and could relax. Giovanni held out his hand to me and I licked it. Then I licked his face! He laughed and enjoyed that!
Wanda then came up to us again and held out her two hands that were cupped together as one, and showed us a little box that she was now tenderly carrying. Wanda had had a little white pet hamster named Cookie Dough and he had fallen down and gotten very hurt. The girls’ mommy and the two sisters had brought him to the hospital but the doctors couldn’t save his life. Wanda said, with tearful eyes, that inside the box was Cookie Dough and we said “Goodbye, Cookie Dough” and gave Wanda a little hug. Then Wanda, holding her little box, and Miri and their mummy left the hospital, to allow Wanda time to heal her fractured heart.
Everyone can relate to having a pet badly wounded or, even worse, dying. When my dog died I was devastated. That was several years ago and I’m still not over it, not really. My daughter recently lost a hamster, and all I can say is just go ahead and grieve, but it’s so hard for her to say good-bye. The pain gets less, but it never really goes away.
I love the voice of the dog! This is so much more evocative than a third person omniscient.I really like all the details about the wound, and I’d like to know more concerning how the dog feels about this. There would perhaps be some pain when he tries to move, so maybe he has to walk a different way, etc. It might also be interesting to see more of the girl, about how she manages to get through this.
I like what’s going on here, and I’m waiting to see more!
Yes, everyone. At the animal hospital, my mom even talked to somebody who was there with her one dog. She had had two dogs but one of them died and the other one, the one who was there at the hospital, sulked and sulked. In the winter, the snow covered up the scent of the one’s old friend but in the spring when the snow melted, all the scents were again released and the dog started to sulk all over again over his deceased friend and companion.
I’m glad you like my voice. Sometimes my mom says “Joey, shhhhhh!” and “Joey, be quiet!” but overall, it’s a good voice and it’s definitely the voice of a large dog.
Jeanne, I never saw Wanda again after she left. I’m not sure how she got through the loss of her hamster. Her sister had one hamster so maybe that helped. But overall, her mom was very patient with her so maybe that helped her to say “goodbye.”.
I’m glad you like my blog and hope you’ll stay with my story as I live it.