Dogs – The Adventures of Auntie Awesome

Heather Griffiths 18 Min Read April 13, 2020

Potholes on the Road Less Traveled, Chapter 1

Chapter 1

            POTHOLES ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

Summer, 2001. Dog walking time at our pet resort.

Sam, a thin, leggy mixed breed fellow with a calm but happy temperament was next on the list. I collected him and his walking partner, a young male standard poodle. We hadn’t gotten far outside the door when I realized I was having some difficulty persuading the poodle to come along. He had completely abandoned any interest in the walk. Instead, his attention was totally occupied with obsessively sniffing Sam’s crotch.

Of course, dogs do sniff each others crotches (it’s only polite after all) but this was beyond the usual “Hi, how are ya?” sniff.

The poodle was acting like he was James Franco and Sam’s crotch was a particularly sweet crop of Hindu Kush.

Heather Griffiths 19 Min Read May 14, 2018

Taffy’s Eyes

Dogs

We were saying goodbye to our son and his family, who were about to get into their car after a short visit. Taffy was running around, when he caught sight of someone hugging John. This was number one on the list of things humans were not permitted to do in Taffyworld. He came racing over, barking his head off and ran full tilt into the bottom corner of the open car door. That seemed odd, but to the extent we thought about it at all, we figured he had been so focused on reaching his idol and protecting him from all those pernicious hugs that he just hadn’t noticed the open door. Taffy was some sort of Corgi mix, and built low to the ground.

Heather Griffiths 12 Min Read April 30, 2018

Glaucoma In Pets

Health Solutions

Glaucoma is one of the disorders that can affect dogs and cats without any visible signs. As with bloat, the fact that your pet is suffering is often not apparent until the situation is critical. At least glaucoma, unlike bloat, will not kill your dog or cat. Unfortunately, as with epilepsy, even if glaucoma is diagnosed in your cat or dog, there may not be much that can be done. Glaucoma in animals is not as readily treatable as it is in humans.

Heather Griffiths 8 Min Read April 9, 2018

Sweet Dog, Bad Dog

Living Solutions, Storytime

Despite her name, Fiji did not hail from the South Pacific. She was a medium sized German Shepherd cross of some kind, who was fun loving and sweet natured. We had no problems with her during the week she initially boarded with us. She belonged to a Canadian military family. Fiji’s dad was being posted to Edmonton. At the end of the first boarding, he asked if we would take Fiji for another five weeks, until they could get settled somewhere that allowed dogs. We were happy to agree.

Sweet Fiji. Quiet Fiji. Well behaved Fiji. READ MORE

Heather Griffiths 13 Min Read April 2, 2018

Living With The Enemy

Living Solutions

The largest number of dogs we owned at one time was three. After Annie, the last of these, died we were without a dog for the first time in many years.

John and I agreed that we would not get another dog. For one thing, every day at the pet resort, we already interacted with anywhere from ten to thirty dogs. For another, the requirements we had for an ideal dog were just too important to take a chance with.

Heather Griffiths 19 Min Read March 19, 2018

Dealing with the Death of a Pet: “It Is A Fearful Thing To Love What Death Can Touch”

Living Solutions

As the author Willie Morris once wrote of his dog Skip, “they had buried him under our elm tree, they said — yet this wasn’t totally true. For he really lay buried in my heart.”

Heather Griffiths 12 Min Read November 12, 2017

The Last and Hardest Decision

Cats, Living Solutions

The General and I have personally owned six dogs and over thirty cats, only two of whom died a ‘natural’ death. Not only that, we had literally thousands of clients at the pet resort whose pets would inevitably age and become terminally ill. From time to time, we’d be part of the discussion about when they should seek a quiet end for their friend.

Heather Griffiths 19 Min Read September 7, 2017

Pet Insurance: How Lucky Do You Feel?

Health Solutions

Being Canadian, health insurance policies are a whole unexplored subject for me. I was 16 when Canada got universal health care, just a year before the birth of my first child, Lucky us, to not have to find the money to pay for the obstetrician and maternity ward when we were struggling students.

Heather Griffiths 9 Min Read September 5, 2017

The Price of Youth’s Folly: How Honey Died

Health Solutions, Storytime

There are people who will scoff at my use of the word ‘tragedy’ in the context of the story I am about to relate. Certainly these events, involving as they do just a boy and his dog, are dwarfed by the many grand scale tragedies occurring every day, devastating the lives of large numbers of both people and animals. Even in our years caring for dogs and cats in our little kennel, we were peripherally involved in events that would be more deserving of the word ‘tragedy’ as it is more commonly understood.

This was just a small family tragedy. An intimate, human scale ‘series of unfortunate events’ that will never be the stuff of a Shakespearean drama. But somehow it left it deep impression on me.

Heather Griffiths 19 Min Read September 3, 2017

The Unkindest Cut of All: Nail Trimming and First Aid

Cats, Health Solutions

Calmness, confidence and competence can get you a long way in this world, whether you’re engaged in a stand off with a bear, or trimming your pet’s nails.

Personally, of the two, I think I might prefer dealing with the bear. Unless she’s protecting cubs or food, she’s unlikely to engage with you. The chances of blood being spilled are much higher when you give your dog a manicure.

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