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What does it mean to be well? #WellnessPet

This is Emmett:

Emmett | OhMyDogBlog.com

Emmett is my heart.

He is my best friend, and I will do just about anything to make sure he’s living his best, happiest life.

At 13, I consider Emmett to be well… all things considered. At 13, Emmett has hypothyroidism. He has liver problems. He has arthritis and some neuro issues that affect his back legs. He’s mostly deaf, and I’m pretty sure his vision is fading a smidge. Oh, and he has terminal cancer.

And yet, I consider Emmett to be well. I truly do.

So, what does it mean to be well?

You guys already know we love Wellness®, and for the next three months, we’re going to be feeding Emmett our very favorite formula, the Wellness® Core® Grain-Free Ocean. Let’s see if John can find it on the shelf at PetSmart! (To give him credit, the selection IS huge in the Wellness aisle… and I usually do the shopping…)

John shops for Wellness at PetSmart

This post is sponsored by Wellness and the BlogPaws™ Pet Influencer Network™. I am being compensated to help share the availability of Wellness Products at PetSmart, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. Neither Wellness nor PetSmart is responsible for the content of this article.

Why this food? And what does it have to do with Emmett’s wellness?

According to Wellness®, there are 5 signs of wellness:

  • Skin + Coat
  • Digestive Health
  • Eyes, Teeth + Gums
  • Energy
  • Immunity

If you look at each of those five things through the lens of an aging dog, you know each of those five can become problematic in the Golden Years. We don’t want them to be, of course, and we’ll work really hard to combat any problems we can. Hence, this food!

In all seriousness, you guys, over the years of cancer (his, mine, his again), Cooper’s litany of health problems, and so on, it’s become apparent: Good, whole food is the most important thing we can do for our bodies.

Emmett tries Wellness Core

For Em, and I think for most aging dogs, those five signs of wellness are particularly important to keep an eye on because they might signify other underlying issues. With Emmett, his skin tends to get dry, especially this time of year, so I love that this food has essential vitamins and minerals and Omegas-3 and 6.

We are sooo lucky (knocking on wood as I type this) that Emmett doesn’t have digestive health problems I think that’s a clear sign that this food is helping keep his digestion regulated because my sweet little angel eats anything. Anything. Last night, no joke, John held up the fortune from a fortune cookie to read it out loud, and Emmett ate it. He must’ve thought John was holding a treat? And when he realized it was paper, you would think he wouldn’t have finished eating it, but nope. Swallowed that fortune whole. So, yeah. Digestive health.

His teeth and gums are also something I’m keeping a close eye on because they’ve experienced a lot of wear-and-tear over the years. With the calcium and phosphorus in this food supporting his oral health, I’m less worried (though we still do brush his teeth… to his chagrin…). That said, his chompers are in great shape for his age!

With his energy, any support I can give him, I will. That’s why he’s been going to acupuncture, among other things. But with  Wellness Core, he gets a balanced blend of high-quality proteins, grain-free carbohydrates, and select fats to help him thrive.

Finally, immunity. OK. This is one where we’re struggling a bit, so I’m thrilled to give him additional support with the antioxidant-rich fruits and veg in this food. Having been on chemo for over two years now, his immune system works overtime to keep up. He’s had a low-grade, chronic infection that hits his, um, boy part every couple of months. It is what it is, and we’re working with our vet on the best approach… but any additional support, like what this food provides, is tremendously valuable to us.

So, that’s the 5 signs of wellness through the lens of an aging pup!

I really do believe that Emmett is well because he’s happy. His eyes are clear. He has moments of dashing around the yard followed by naps, and he still pushes like crazy to be in the thick of things, to be cuddling on people, to be playing in the yard, to be walking around the neighborhood. He’s just so full of life! So full of wellness!

And we’ll keep on doing the very best we can for him!

A few resources for you: Visit PetSmart to check out the extensive Wellness lineup in order to pick the right food for your dog. And please say hi to our sponsor on social! You can find Wellness on Facebook and Instagram.

A big, huge thank you to Wellness for allowing Emmett to experience the 5 signs of wellness with the Core line!

WellnessLogoTagRGB(1)

Finally, I’d love to know in the comments… which of the 5 signs of wellness are you focusing on for your pup? Is there one you struggle with? Or maybe one that your pup has in the bag (like a lustrous, shiny coat)? 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wellness. The opinions and text are all mine.

Our neighbors got a puppy… and other stories

Our house sits on the corner of two streets that jut off in sharp angles. This creates a backyard shaped kind of like a triangle. Our house forms the base of the triangle, and the other two sides… well, it’s a shared fenceline with the house on either side.

One of those two sides, the left side, got a puppy.

A teeny little wiry thing that loves to screech at the top of his lungs at Cooper through the fence.

So, that’s awesome.

And while THAT statement is sarcastic, what is really, truly awesome is Cooper…

He stands at the fence and wags at the little guy, like, “Hey, friend! Wanna play?” When he gets frustrated that no play is commencing, he starts whining or barking back. But here’s the truly awesome part:

When I call him away from the fence, away from a potential playmate, he actually comes. And quickly, too! The couple times either he or the dog on the other side started digging at the fence, a behavior I do not want to encourage, I used our emergency whistle, and he FLEW! #soproud

These people next door… we haven’t exactly gotten a handle on them or who actually lives in that house. There are a number of people of varying ages who seem to come and go. I’m hoping we’ll encounter them someday and have a conversation, like, “Hey, maybe our dogs can play together!” Or maybe, “Hey, if your dog is outside barking for like three or four hours at a time, could I just lift him over our fence and let him and Cooper play before I go completely crazy, or…?”

***

These two: my inspiration for blogging

Of late–or, maybe all of 2016 is more accurate–I’ve been feeling this incredible sense of overwhelm. Some of it’s irritating (will this election ever end?!) and some of it’s heartbreaking (will this election ever end?!).

My blog was hacked. Legit hacked. It took about a month and several hundred dollars to repair and restore. I’m on the other side of that debacle now, but… I was feeling so unmotivated, and that zapped me of the remaining energy I had.

I applied to two different sponsored campaigns for next week for two reasons: They’re both products we use and love, and I needed an actual, legitimate, nailed-down deadline to get posting momentum.

I need a push.

Do you ever feel like that? Like if a project or a task doesn’t have a date associated with it, it just keeps getting pushed out into the ether? I think because my writing life is entirely deadline-driven, that when I don’t have those dates for this space, nothing happens. Whoops. Look for those next week! 🙂 (And, thank you as always for supporting/liking/commenting on those sponsored posts! Blogging is a tough business, so we’re grateful to show sponsors support!)

Watching Emmett age and dealing with the hacked site and working on the house and working through big changes in my business and on and on… and I’ve let this space get pushed aside. Which I regret because I love chronicling their lives and telling our stories.

***

All that said, and to put some accountability on myself, I’ve been reading through your comments, questions, and emails. I’ve compiled some FAQs that will become posts.

Most notably, everyone wants an update on Emmett’s acupuncture. Coming VERY soon. I have lots to say on the subject after we experienced a major setback last week.

I also want to put something together about the emergency recall I mentioned above. It’s probably the most valuable thing I’ve ever taught Cooper, and it occurred to me that I never wrote about it!

If there’s anything else YOU would like, please do let me know in the comments!

***

Finally, I leave you with this story:

Since I started this post expressing pride in Cooper’s training, I have another similar story, though the “pride” bit got a little muddled.

Last Saturday, my sister and nephew, Owen, were over here, along with my brother, his wife, and their six-month-old baby.

We had lunch for everyone, including a big box of chocolate chunk cookies. Owen was dashing around the house, and when he picked up his cookie, I asked him to park it on the sofa to eat it so that the dogs couldn’t get it… their faces are at about cookie height for Owen.

As he was walking to the sofa, he stumbled and the cookie flew out of his hand.

Cooper, mere inches away, snatched it up.

“DROP IT!” I yelled.

And… I’ll be damned… he did!

Then Owen snatched up the cookie that had fallen to the floor and then into Cooper’s mouth and then onto the floor again… and shoved it in his mouth. “It’s my cookie, Cooper!” he said through a mouthful of cookie.

Guess I need to work on “drop it” with my nephew.

DIY Bitter Apple Spray

This is the easiest DIY around. In fact, I almost feel guilty calling it a DIY, but here goes…

DIY bitter apple spray: A safe, healthy, inexpensive alternative to store-bought spray deterrents

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First, two big questions:

Why use DIY bitter apple spray?

Whenever someone asks me how to get their puppy to stop chewing something, this is the recipe I pass along. It’s a phenomenal spray deterrent. But please pay attention to the instructions if you’re going to use it on any wood. I mean, pay attention to the instructions regardless but ESPECIALLY for wood.

Secondly, if your dog has a chewing/licking problem, something skin-related or a small wound that he just won’t leave alone (EMMETT) then this is the thing for you. I’ll get into the whys of it all below, but just know that chew deterrent also means for self-chewing, not just furniture/drywall (COOPER).

Why homemade? Can’t you just buy it?

Yep, you sure can. There are actually several brands on the market. But here’s the thing: You’ll spend way more money on a store-bought bitter apple spray than on a DIY version. Plus, even though most say that the ingredients are harmless, I don’t feel awesome spraying rubbing alcohol (a common commercial spray ingredient) since I know that they’ll lick it at least a few times. Also, it takes less than two minutes to make–seriously–so, why not?

Let’s make it, shall we?

Here’s what you need:

Optional:

  • funnel
  • lemons (effectiveness depends on whether or not your dog likes the taste of lemon EMMETT)

Here’s how to make the DIY bitter apple spray:

Decide on the quantity you want. In the case of my ingredients photoed above, my goal was to spray Emmett’s abdomen, which he’s been licking incessantly ever since his, ahem, problem.

The goal is to have a 2:1 ratio of white vinegar to apple cider vinegar.

Using the one-cup measuring cup, I poured in 2/3 cup of the white vinegar then topped it to the cup line with apple cider vinegar. Using the funnel (I’m so messy… you could do without the funnel, probably… me? not so much) I poured it slowly into the spray bottle.

Here’s where you have a couple options:

First, if you want to round out the sour taste, squeeze a lemon and pour the juice in. Shake the bottle. Apply. HOWEVER, some dogs like lemons. Emmett is one of those dogs, so I skip the lemon juice altogether. Why entice him to lick it, ya know?

Second, if you want to apply it directly to your dog–or to anything wooden that the intense acidity of the vinegar might mar–dilute with water. My go-to is to add the same amount of water as white vinegar, so another 2/3 cup here.

{{Digression re: the wood furniture question. I use vinegar to clean almost my entire house and have never had a problem with wood finishes. That said, we don’t have nice things. No antiques. No carvings or whatever, so if something DID get ruined–which can happen–I wouldn’t be upset. Test a small spot on the back or underside if you’re worried.}}

That’s seriously it! Mix it up, pour it in a bottle, shake, spray!

What does Emmett think of the scent? Well…

“What is this stuff? Is it food?”

What is DIY bitter apple spray?

“OH! BLECH! AH! ICK! Get away, Newt! I think this stuff’s toxic!”

Homemade bitter apply spray is YUCKY! (That's the point!)

“I can still taste it! It’s in my mouth! Blergh!”

Homemade bitter apple spray does the trick

“Why would you do this to me… why…”

OK, he’s actually fine, of course, but he was SO DRAMATIC with this batch. Clearly it does the trick. Just a little spray on the problem area, and chewing is deterred. You will have to reapply, of course, and if you add the lemon juice I’d go ahead and store it in the fridge.

Otherwise, happy deterring! 🙂

What if it IS your circus? What if they ARE your monkeys?

This guy.

Emmett is happy, even at the vet

 

He is ALWAYS this happy! Always.

Even at his second vet visit in a week…

So, last Monday, I was on a Skype call at the kitchen table. It was a hugely productive meeting, and I was jotting notes and super involved until I looked over, and there was Emmett. Standing next to the table, just looking at me.

Moments before, John had texted me from the couch (cause that’s how we roll) that Em was acting weird, rubbing his face on the carpet, and rolling on his back. Well, he has seasonal allergies every year, so I had texted him back: Give him a Zyrtec.

FF to Emmett standing there looking at me, and I looked back, and something was just… off.

You know how you learn every single fur on their head? It wasn’t a drastic change. Just. A change. So, I again texted John: Look at Emmett’s face. Is something weird?

John gets Emmett and takes him into the other room.

Minutes (maybe 7 or 8?) pass, and next thing I know John’s coming through the kitchen. Emmett’s leashed up, and his lips and nose are more than double in size. “I’m taking him to the emergency vet,” John says, and they’re out the door.

After I got off my call, I burst into tears. Just sobbed. Yes, a totally overblown response to what was clearly an allergic reaction.

But.

You know the tale about the little Dutch boy who sees the hole in the dyke and plugs it with his own finger until the adults finally find him and fix the damn dam?

It feels like that with Emmett these days, only once you have one finger in one leak, another leak springs, so you yoga your leg on over there, stick a toe in, just in time for a leak to spring by your hand again.

Cancer?? Lots of fingers.
Thyroid problem? Another finger.
Liver disorders? A toe here, another there.
Hearing loss? A pinky.
Arthritis? OK, more fingers plus a toe for good measure.

I think this is probably the case for caring for any geriatric, right? Toss in a couple chronic illnesses and a mobility problem, and I get it… it’s every senior home in the country.

And we do it for our elderly because they need it and we love them. But sometimes you, the caretaker, just need that full-body, wracking sob.

So, with constant updates and two phone calls, they figured out his meds–basically, the treatment for an acute situation like that conflicted with his chemo, so we ultimately opted to halt chemo for three days to treat the allergic reaction because his face was actively ballooning the entire time we were discussing this–and they did a full exam. The only real welt/sting/bite they found?

On his penis.

Yep. His penis.

{{Side note: I’d love to know how many times I’ve used the word “penis” on this here blog. Probably, roughly, 97 million. Thanks, Emmett.}}

Meanwhile: Our upstairs AC isn’t working (torture), so the guy came out. He couldn’t service it because there’s a live wire (WHAT?!) so the electrician gets scheduled on Tuesday, the day of a major (supposed) gas leak in our town, so we have to cancel the live-wire fixer until the gas leak is fixed THEN it turned out that it was just the chemical that produces the gas odor leaking in the next town over (huh), thus isn’t actual gas and so the live wire guy can come back out………… and Otto’s here for the week. (Honestly, we love having Otto. He’s so silly.)

Otto's here

Emmett already had a vet visit scheduled for that day, yesterday, Tuesday, for the blood test he gets every six-ish weeks because of the chemo. But, on Monday, we noticed that he had yet another infection.

Down there.

This has been chronic for poor Emmett since forever. He’s had boy troubles since we’ve adopted him, starting way back in 2006 with crystals in his urine that cut him and, ultimately, ended up with an infection.

So, we swapped the blood test from a tech appointment to a vet appointment and, yet again, had him swabbed.

Sure enough. Infection.

Could it be related to that bite from a week ago? Maybe… More likely the bite/sting was bugging him and he licked it too much.

Regardless, here we are, starting him on yet another round of penis medicine. And diagnosed him with muscle atrophy in both back legs and limited range of motion in his hips.

Yes, he’s my monkey.

This is my circus.

And I wouldn’t trade a single second of it. Although I’d probably trade the penis infections. Those are fun for nobody. And I’d trade the broken upstairs AC. It’s hot. And did I mention my windshield is cracked?

And definitely Emmett’s hip problems. Yep. My monkey.

But, darnit, if I don’t love that monkey more than anything…

Dear Emmett

Dear Emmett,

Ten years ago, you came home.

After spending almost two years of your life in shelters, we found you. So, today we celebrate a decade of our best friendship and your 13th birthday!

While I try to write your adoption letters about you and all that’s happened in the last year, well, this one is going to be about me. Because here’s the thing, Emmett: On this day ten years ago, when we drove out to Friends of Homeless Animals in Northern Virginia, I couldn’t imagine the epic shift you would cause in our lives. Even if I could imagine it, I couldn’t have understood it because, if someone had told me that day that picking up a dog from a shelter would alter the foundation and purpose of my entire life, there’s no way I could have believed it.

Everything will change?

Yes. Everything. How could I have grasped that then?

It’s evolved slowly. It started with a question, “Why did you adopt a pit bull?”

We loved you so fiercely from the moment we laid eyes on you. And I think you felt the same way because you just jumped right into my lap before we’d been properly introduced. It was a perfect fit. Meant to be.

Now, I’m not one of those “everything happens for a reason” types of people. (See: cancer.) I do think, though, that everything happens with a purpose.

Your purpose? Well, only you know that, but I will say that you’ve changed so many lives… and touched so many more… in your life already.

You are my light, Emmett. You guide me and my work in ways you could never understand. If it weren’t for falling in love with you, we never would’ve gotten so involved in pit bull advocacy. If it weren’t for falling in love with you, we never would’ve adopted Lucas or, much later, Cooper.

If it weren’t for falling in love with you, I never would’ve started the blog that led me to changing my entire career. Literally, Emmett, you changed the direction of my work completely. You changed how I spend my time–instead of, like, wine tastings with friends, I walk dogs at the animal shelter.

If it weren’t for falling in love with you, I never would’ve applied for Pinups for Pitbulls. I never would’ve gotten involved in anti-BSL initiatives. I never would’ve gotten to know the children residents of the mental health facility where you brought smiles and better days. I never would’ve been hired by Pet Age or BlogPaws. I never would’ve gotten to spend a week at Best Friends. I never would’ve road tripped across the country with my best friend in the backseat or made some of the dearest (human) friends who have made my world bigger, brighter, and kinder.

I never would’ve had a heart so full that your snores became magic.

My life is better in every single way because of you. I truly love my work. I love volunteering with animals. I love walking you and your brother. I love the community you’ve brought me to, which is full of warm, big-hearted people who are happy to discuss things like poop and leashes and kibble for hours on end. And you brought all of that and so very much more into our lives.

Ten year ago, Emmett, we picked you up from the shelter in Virginia. We drove you home to our condo in DC. We brought you inside, sat on the couch, and looked at you. You looked back.

John asked, “Now what?”

Who knew it would be this.

Happy 10th Gotcha Day, Emmett, and happy 13th birthday! You are my light and my love, and I’m honored that you chose me to be your guardian all those years ago.

Emmett through the years! I did this in a strange order by accident: Start in the bottom left corner for the year he came home at just over 2ish years old, then counter-clockwise in chronological order ending with the biggest pic at almost 13ish years old, which was from hiking a couple weeks ago!

Emmett Collage