ladies and gentleman he is back to normal....

well...as much as being 'normal' can be used to desribe him.

He had me scared. I kid you not...when someone tells you a pet is part of their family...we aint lying. they do become ONE of the kids. You can tell when they are happy. when they are depressed. when they are feeling fiesty. Just like your kids, you learn their personalities.

saturday morning, I let Miyagi out. He's not an outside dog so unless one of us is outside with him, he really doesnt like to be there. saturday, as it turned out, was one of those days when he wanted to be outside so I locked him the fenced in area and went on inside. When he's ready to come in, he will bark which he did about 30 minutes later.

when i went to go get him, he had dirt all over his nose and I could tell he had something in his mouth and he just stood there. holding it. docked tail wagging away. That is his way of showing what he's got and asking if he can bring it in. I figured what the hell and said 'go 'head' and he took off in the house. When I came in he was in the living room downstairs, on the couch, 'burying' his find in the couch. didnt think too much about.

couple hours later, I'm sitting on the couch reading and Miyagi comes up to me again. bone in mouth, tail wagging, showing me his prize. I just thought..well dang that's a LONG time to have that bone so I just patted him on the head, said good boy good boy and went back to reading. after a minute...he walked away.

he did this several times during the day. SEVERAL.

fast forward 'til about 7 that night, I'm cooking dinner and he does it AGAIN. hmmmmm I lean down and the smell hit me....his breathe, already bad, was downright funky + infection smell. I said 'give it here' and he put his head down. I said 'drop' and then he stretched his mouth wide to drop it but....NOTHING. CAME. OUT. he looked back at me like, i swear he was saying 'help me, mama'.

shit. i mean c'mon ya'll. he's my baby. i love him dearly. i miss him when i'm gone. but lets be real. he's 162 pounds of muscles. with jaws that lock. he is trained that yeah...when he's eating, i can take his food away from him but who really wants to do that??? so i leaned down and he let me lift his lip up and I could tell the bone was some how wedged around the top upper corner teeth line. deep breathe, i raised one little finger 'okay baby...its okay...good boy' and tried to move the bone.

the bone...wouldnt budge.

when i tried again, he turned away and i didnt try again. so i called his vet...she's out of town gave me number for her on call and gave him a call. he said he would meet us the next morning. i reminded him 'he's a rott'...to which he replied...'he's a dog...big or small he's a dog' . I thought okay...I might like him.

Needless to say, Miyagi like Dr P, followed him around....enjoyed his new surroundings. he had to put him out to get the bone out, which meant needles, which of course, Miygai does NOT like needles and the muzzle would not fit over his snout because of the bone. So...without the protection of the muzzle, we basically, held him down while he gave him a shot of valium. 20 minutes later, Miyagi is NOT fazed.

Dr P remarked about his healthy liver then said, we need some ketamine...so ketamine it is. 15 minutes later...Miyagi is a little wobbly...but otherwise feeling preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetttttttttttttyyyyyyyyyy chillllllllllllllllllllllll but not...out. Another shot of ketamine it is. I swear to you he feel, literally like a ton of bricks. i swear to ya'll...my eyes filled with tears.

we got the bone out, which was about 2 inches long and about an inch thick. it took 2 hours for the drugs to wear off and even when he came too, he was still like a little doe, barely able to keep his balance. but now..he's runnning, jumping and having a good old time. his appetite is finally back to normal and he's eating me out of house and home.

moral of the story: BONES ARE NOT GOOD FOR DOGS.

i know what you are thinking. i was the same way. i grew up with dogs. dogs we fed table scraps too. bones. cookies. chocolate. mac and cheese. and they survived. but when i got my first dog, on my own and took him to the vet that was the first thing i learned as a 'parent'. And i vowed to never ever ever do that again. And i didnt do it again. except with miyagi. bones were our way of saying 'good job'. We gave him steak bones as a 'treat'. if obeyed commands...treat. when he did good....treat. but not anymore.

so now...now we have to find another way to symbolize 'good job!!!'