The Divinity of Dogs

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Beanie Playtime!

Hi there, my meaty feastin' friends!

Some of you may know my sister, Ella Bean, the teeniest member of my pack. She is pretty accomplished for a pup, having interviewed Gidget, the famous canine actress who was in the Sex and the City movie, and appeared multiple times on our pal Shadrach's blog.

One of the best parts of having Ella Bean as my sister is that she has never, ever tried to play with my toys! Well, until now. Seems all of a sudden, Ella has taken an interest in toys for the first time ever. Hmph. Though, luckily, she has left my froggy alone. But the downside of that, was she also never wanted to play with me and I am a super-duper playful beast. I'd play fetch all day, every day if I could get the humans to continously throw the ball!

Ella Bean was rescued from a puppy mill situation between 3-5 months of age. Our mom says that because of all the time Ella spent in a cage, she missed out on object stimulus and doggie/ doggie play time during her brain development. Its common for pups raised in bereft environments to show no interest in toys or play. This environmental impact is not just evident in dogs. Human children raised in impoverished environments show decreased frequency of object related playtime throughout their lives.

This is SUCH a bummer because playtime is the best time! (Well, next to raw meat and bones chomping time.) This lifelong interest in playtime is unique in humans and dogs, 'cause most mammals don't play when they become grown ups. Take a yummy cow, for example. As a calf, the cows play around with one another and their calf pals, but when they grow up, they just hang out, chewing their cud and waiting for me to eat them! YUM! Like dogs, Humans still play as grown ups. Some humans even play for their jobs, which I am so jealous of. If I could spend all day running after a ball, that would be amazing...I think thats partly why our species live together so easily. We both need TONS of play time to be happy and healthy.

Recently, Ella has started surprising Mom and me by picking up a stuffed bone and carrying it around, even tossing it around and engaging in Ella Bean sized thrashies. It makes me so proud to see my little sis behaving like such a beast! She has also become more playful with me, instigating chase and wrestle sessions (don't tell, but she can kinda kick my butt).

This new behavior just goes to show that Ella Bean is STILL rehabilitating from her early trauma even though she has lived with us for over a year, but she is making more progress every day.

Engaging with objects is a great way to burn off excess energy and just plain, have fun. So, this makes it extra awesome that Ella Bean has become so playful! Its also a big deal, because of Ella's health challenges from adverse reactions to vaccines that she is contending with. Playtime makes happy and happy makes healthy hormones!

Ella Bean's development also goes to show that with patience and care, dogs who have suffered trauma can overcome unnatural learned behaviors and reclaim their inherent beastliness.

Phew. I am totally pooped from all this playtime and blogging. Time for my OTHER fave pastime - SLEEPIES!

Canine Pin Cushion

Hey there, my bark-tastic, friends!

What a crazy coupla' weeks! First, mom did this thing called 'class' which basically means, she went from being gone most of the day, to all the time. Strangers came and walked Ella Bean and I and gave us playtime, but it wasn't as good as having our mom at home to snuggle with. Then, we went and stayed with the grandparents.

THAT was awesome. We tormented Uncle Sammi who is 105 doggie years old. He also eats yummy raw meat. We would jump on the bed and screeeeccchhh to a halt, right in front of him, waking him from his sleep. He is pretty easy to annoy. He is blind and deaf, so he doesn't hear or see anyone coming! Uncle Sammi then gave us a firm barking at, so we stopped. Ella and I enjoyed chasing one another up and down the stairs and made sure to spend plenty of time polishing grandpa's head. Good stuff.

After the awful 'class' ended, Mom took us on a special trip to the beach with our pals! SUPER!! I waded in the bay, copying my Cavalier pals Baxter and Bronson and chasing after sticks. It was wet and cold, but I was super beastly and splashed like the all powerful animal I am!

Then, we followed with some romping on the sand and all of a sudden, OUCH! Something really hurt in my hind leg! Mom was feeling the leg (which was so embarassing. I mean, I am almost 14 dog years old. I can't be seen being cooed over by Mom in public!) and said that my kneecap slipped out. In human talk, its called a luxating patella. In doggie talk, I just call it ouchey! It happened three more times 'cuz I wouldn't sit still. I wanted to keep playing with my pals!

Mom was really upset - probably more then I was!

Sooo, she of course started researching and talking to the humans who know how to heal. Mom was convinced that I was going to need surgery - but the doctor could not manually luxate my patella. A patella which can be manually luxated is a surefire sign that this is a chronic, congenital issue. Doc Pema thinks this was an acute injury, because I played like such a beast! RAWR!

She suggested some acupuncture...Hmmm....Acupuncture didn't sound bad!! Sounds like a yummy meat! I wagged my tush with excitement, anticipating some yummy acupuncture...but nothing yummy came. Hmmm. Oh well, I was surrounded by humans, all telling me how handsome I am! Then, Doc Pema came out with the sharp metal thingies - AND INSERTED THEM IN MY LEG! What the bones was that about?? Hmmm...Not as bad as I thought it would be. Tush continues to shake and OUCH!

Tail. Caught. On. Needle. Ow ow ow ow...

The pain subsided 15 - 20 seconds later, Mom was holding me steady and all of a sudden I felt woozy...I settled down and fell asleep, my face in Mom's human paws.

Suppawsedly, acupuncture in dogs is becoming more common! Acupuncture is the insertion of sterilized needles to the body, which stimulates the body to heal itself. Its based on the concept that life energy flows from the organs. This life energy, or Qi can be restored if it is disrupted by illness or injury, by inserting the needles along a specific path.

This treatment can be used to treat all kinds of stuff! Neurological issues, skin disease, gastrointestinal stuff, and muscle and skeletal injury or abnormality are common ailments for which acupuncture is prescribed. These treatments stimulate nerves, increase circulation and even helps release cortisol and endorphins!

So far, it seems I'll only need one treatment. Which is kind of a bummer. Even though it wasn't yummy, it felt nice! The humans are doing some other stuff, such as yummy food and herbal supplements, which I'll tell you more about tomorrow. I am beat from my treatment and need to catch some snoozles.

Oh, check out the picture of my doctor, Dr. Pema, of Veterinary Holistic Care in Bethesda giving another dog some acupuncture. This picture is of my doctor in a Washington Post article on veterinary acupuncture. Suppawsedly, the Post is a big deal to humans. I personally like to shred the Post and mark it when it comes in MY house!

I'll bark at ya later and let you know how its working out!

Louis R.