We can learn alot from our pets...

I don't really have much to report. Although I guess if I were to think about my week I could come up with a laundry list of little "oh really" or "huh...." moments - but I don't feel like it.

The new job is going fabulously, but as with all new jobs I have my unavoidable DUMB moments where someone asks a question of me and I can feel the vacant look come over my face like a cloud passing in front of the sun. Luckily, I have never been alone in the office when this has happened - but now that I have said that I'm sure today I will get the mother load of things that I need to ask about before delivering the correct answer.

It warms me to see some of the relationships between "man" and "pet" so far. We could learn alot from our pets, really. I have always found pets, dogs in particular, a necessity in my life. They accept us unconditionally and each day for them is a sea of exploration and wonder of "every day" things. Each ant requires as much inspection and wonder as the mail man that peels away from the mailbox every day.

On Tuesday a yellow lab came into the hospital with a shattered back leg. Hit by a car. We had him in a room in the back while the owner went home to discuss the options with the family. Amputation or euthanasia. The leg was too badly crushed to save. He was only 2 years old.

I got to know this dog a little that day - he was as sweet as they come! He managed to chew through his tie out at one point and wandered around the office until he found somebody. With broken leg swinging along as he hopped - I guided him back to his spot as he wagged his tail and gave me a look that said, "I don't plan on being here long...."

With great misery, the man came back and said they wanted to save the dog and the amputation took place yesterday. When I came in to work, surgery was done and he was laying in "the run", his back leg quite noticeably gone and a shaved thigh in its place. In true animal fashion, he awoke with a wag in his tail and a twinkle in his eye. He got a bath and a walk outside before going back to the run to rest.

At one point yesterday afternoon, I was there alone and my new friend began to whimper for his pain. I went back and held his head in my hands and talked with him for a little bit. His tail gave me a thankful thump, thump - he blinked and blinked and he stared right into my eyes. It was a very strange moment. I watched him as he kept trying to figure out how to lay down. He could tell something was not quite right as he circled the bed. I had to fight the urge to go in and help him - they need to figure this out early on I was told. And he did. Later he was given a pain killer and got a much needed nap - having figured out how to lay down sans back leg.

A family member came to see him, too. A young boy of about 16 or 17. He stood at the counter and asked with a hopeful smile, "My dog is here....can I see him?" I lead him back to the run and he stood and watched his beloved friend sleep and sleep. I was encouraging and assured him that his dog would recover fabulously as dogs do - and he will have his friend back home in a few days.

I have to admit I will miss this dog a little when he goes home. I admire his happy and trusting soul despite all of his troubles. Yes, we can learn alot from a dog.

Happy Thursday!