I have a candid canine confession to make…
Lately, there has been something foul at our house.
Something fragrantly funky is afoot at our casa.
Our sweet little rescue beagle, Maggie the Wonder Hound, has had atrociously atrocious, horribly horrible butt breath (sorry, there is just no other way to describe it).
That is a problem because Maggie loves hard. Maggie loves up close, as close as she can physically get. She likes to get in your face.
She is an aggressive snuggler.
And lately she gets right up in our faces and snuggles with her butt breath in full effect.
We’ve tried to ignore it.
We’ve tried to deny it.
But, here’s the deal: Maggie is more than a pet, she is our friend, she is family.
When she was rescued, she was a few days from being put down. She had lived outside and fended for herself. She was (and is) a scrapper.
She wasn’t used to domestic life.
She learned quick!!
She figured out really quick that she had a home.
And now, our house is ACTUALLY her house.
She graciously shares HER furniture with us.
Including…HER…bed.
Yup, Maggie sleeps with us.
Don’t judge us!
She is more than a pet, she is family.
She stubbornly sleeps sideways and manages to squeeze both Diana and me out of bed. She steals blankets. She snores like a constipated linebacker. She gets grumpy if you try to move her. AND, She gets up in our faces with her butt breath. It’s pretty bad. We have been woken up by the fragrant funk.
In the past, I’ve got to confess that I’ve never been a big believer in doggy dental care.
My reasoning has been pretty simple, dogs eat some really crazy stuff: rocks, dead animals (squirrels, birds, unidentifiable lumps of gritty hair), and poop (their own and others!)
Why spend money cleaning their teeth when they are just going to consume more crap?!
But, Maggie the Wonder Hound changed my mind.
After all, she is more than a pet, she is family.
And so, today we took her in to get her teeth cleaned.
It turns out that She also had to have four teeth pulled. I’m really hoping that doesn’t affect her bark, I don’t want her hound dog howl to go from “BYE-OOOOOO” to “bye-oosshhh!”
There’s something downright redneck about having a toothless hound.
Speaking of redneck, I asked the Veterinarian if I could have Maggie’s extracted teeth to make some cool jewelry, instead of a shark tooth necklace I could wear a beagle tooth necklace. But, they had already gotten rid of them.
We paid more for Maggie’s dental work than I paid for my first car! But, I’m sure that if she had a job and opposable thumbs, she would do the same for us.
It wasn’t pleasant for her, she is not a big fan of the vet in the first place. They annoy her with all their poking and prodding. Today they found new ways to annoy her. As I write this, she is laying on the carpet between Diana and myself. She is groggy and acts a little hungover. She is alternating between grunts whines and whiny grunts.
We are hoping that this makes the Wonder Hound healthier, happier and free of the dreaded butt breath.
It has hurt her and us to try to make her better.
Sometimes love hurts before it helps, but you are willing to do whatever it takes for friends and family.
Our reasoning is pretty simple: we love her.
She is our friend.
She is family.
Our home is ACTUALLY her home.
She graciously shares it with us.
Don’t judge us, I will sic my toothless hound on you!
carbonated joy 