If you're family and have been following this blog from the start, you know that there have been many changes and upgrades to my blogging capabilities. I started this blog as a way to share our adventures here in Germany, but it's now developing into something that is my own, and something that I take a lot of pride in. A ton of work goes into this blog (believe it or not), from coding the new layout and settings, researching for things to come in the future, networking on other sites to get more followers, to actually sitting down and writing my own original and creative posts that are worth reading and commenting on. I do want to take a day out of the week though to also keep this blog personal, reflect on what it was originally intended for, and to keep all of you updated on whats going on here in Deutschland. So, without further ado:
True Life: I take better care of my dog than I take care of myself.
TJ had a game today that was a 6 hour bus trip. Our poor little pupper has some funky allergy going on where he is losing hair and his skin is turning pink so I had to man up and take the 75 pound beast to the vet myself. Brutus loves the vet. He smells the other animals, goes bananas, circles, pants. Its really just another walk in the park walking into the office. Not.
Big Brutes went to the regular vet two weeks ago and was put on antibiotics, and today he went to the dermatologist. Yep, thats right, the doggy dermatologist. Have I ever taken care of myself and gone to the dermatologist to check out moles, freckles, allergies or to get a new skin cleaner? Nope.
Anyways, the woman was great, spoke perfect English and most importantly - didn't make me feel like a dummy for being in her country and not knowing her language. Trust me, I've had run-ins with some serious donkeys since we've been here!
So, Brutus is on a four week plan - we are switching in a new salmon and potato meal and he seemed to like it tonight. We can't give him any treats (which is total bad news because I love sharing green apples and bananas with him, and he will literally wake up out of a dead sleep when I am eating one to come snack) or it will mess up the little science experiment we have going on. His test results will be back in four weeks, and the dermatologist said if his allergy doesn't clear up by then, we will put him under anesthesia and take some biopsies.
The bloody spot is from the vet scratching for cultures. |
Ugh - I have heard from others that the English Bulldog typically starts to have problems arise as they near their second birthday. Example - We know a couple who spends $200 a month on allergy injections for their five year old bully. They ended up taking out dog insurance for their pup because the vet bills were just astronomical. This is no surprise to us, we were well aware of what we were getting ourselves into as a financial responsibility and commitment. BUT - all day long I have been hearing my moms voice inside my head. When I first told her we were buying Brutus, she simply said "Kym, dogs die."
Well no kidding, right? You always think and know that an animal will die, but for the first time today I actually felt it. I know Brutus isn't going to die over this silly allergy, but I just feel so helpless for him.