I don't mean *sit* *lay down* or *speak*! I mean how would a dog learn that he can get special treatment just because he's sick? Baron has his appetite back but he refuses to eat out of his bowls. He wants to be hand-fed all the time. Today the Beast put just chicken in his bowl and Baron went over, looked at it, took a tiny taste and then walked back to where the Beast was standing and looked at him with that pitiful head down thing he's been doing.
So, of course, because the Beast has been so worried about him, he went over and got the bowl and hand-fed the chicken to him. Baron ate every bit of it. Then, because Baron kept staring at him, he fed him pieces of a hamburger that Baron also ate. Later, when the Beast left for church, he started the same kind of stuff with me. And what did I do? I fed him by hand, of course. Another piece of thigh, some more chicken jerky and then a leftover pork chop (but no bone!). I almost.....almost....was going to try to spoon feed him some of his regular dog food but I caught myself and didn't do it. I thought, *IF we keep this up, he's never going to feed himself.*
When the Beast got home, I told him all about this and said, *Do NOT feed him by hand any more. If he gets hungry enough now that his appetite is back, he'll eat out of his damn bowl! I do not feel like hand feeding him for the rest of his life. Do you?* He hemmed and hawed but said he knew what I was saying. I don't for a minute think he won't keep hand feeding him.....for a while. He (Baron) still has two more shots to go and a few more of his pills before he will either be okay or will need another round of a different antibiotic. We won't know until Friday when he sees the vet again.
I noticed today that Baron still has a problem with the two stairs left on the remodeled stairs in the garage. BUT...with the platform, it doesn't take him long to brave it. I think we need to start making sure he gets a pain pill at least every other day. That really seems to help him. The arthritis in his back legs has to be just awful. I hate to see him in pain but I refuse to coddle him any more than necessary. No more hand feeding from me.
Our days have revolved around Baron, as you can understand. He's like one of our kids, only less demanding (usually). We try to keep him comfortable and make sure he gets all his medication. We pay attention to his comfort since it seems to take him so long to decide how he wants to lay down. He seems to sit first, then he decides on which side he is going to lay on. He's on his mattress more often now since that's memory foam and it must put less pressure on his back side. I know how he feels. It's what I love about our memory foam mattress.
Well, time to go. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Love you all. ***Hugs***
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