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Mary asked that my next post be CHEERFUL and SHALLOW, and you know I’d be only too happy to oblige if I could. Clearly, churning water and my angst wasn’t doing the job. Perhaps a photo of my supermodel dog will do the trick? What’s not cheerful about a dog in a pink shirt?

You might not want to read further.

You can see from this photo her eyes are leaving us. Lest any one think I’m being “Cheerful and Shallow” about that, I’m not. I’ve just accepted that she will probably go blind, sooner than later. She doesn’t seem to care or to be in any pain—the only deficit we notice is her constant growling at her own shadow on our midnight strolls. Other than that, she’s adapting to “seeing” the world with her nose. Trust me, she has NO problem in that department. This dog can smell a “TREAT” in a deep sleep.

However, while I’m still floundering around with eye drops several times a day, she’s become far more adept at passive resistance. Instead of avoiding me, she now comes when called. Only, as she jumps onto the couch to sit she purposefully faces away from me. You can make me come, but you can’t make me like it. It’s the canine version of “Talk to the hand.” Heh. Clever dog. Of course, this means I have to wrangle her to face me, and she uses the moment to clamp her eyelids firmly shut.

They tried to give me medication, I said, “No, no, no.”

So, there I am, one hand on her snout, the other hand trying to pry open her eye all the while, I’m sitting there wondering exactly what hand I’m supposed to use for the eye drops. She’s smart, I’ll give you that. I’m smarter, tho. Eventually, I call in reinforcements; her beloved IZ gets involved.

Does that mean I’m any less reviled by this dog, now that I have a co-conspirator? Uh, no.

What can you do? I mean well but from this dog’s perspective I’m a walking torture device. She decided before she ever entered our home that she adored IZ best. He can do no wrong. Nothing he does will change her love for him—or her perspective that I’m the anti-christ of eye-drops.

Of course, it probably doesn’t help that I dress her in pink polo shirts either.

*Cheerful and Shallow