Health stuff

Hey readers. Elroy here to tell you about my new role as a middle canine. I’m not so sure I like it.

Let’s face it- for 4 years I have been the baby in this household. And now, I have had to relinquish that title to the Shaggy Shark. And I’m not all that impressed.

Sure he’s fun to wrestle with – but all that playing got me in trouble – I’m sore and achy and as a result have been spending a lot of time in my pony sized crate. I walk fine- and if anyone saw me, they wouldn’t notice a thing wrong. But Her Highness noticed that I was favoring a back leg when I’m standing still – sometimes, so she’s been watching my EVERY move like a hawk. I’m definitely better than last week, but rumor has it I might be going to the vet today – just to be checked out. At least I get to escape for an hour or two from the singing PON duo. A guy needs a break every now and then.

And speaking of health news – there’s good news and bad news when it comes to COVID and us canines. The bad news – the first dog to have contracted the virus in the US has died. Yikes! BUT – and here’s a big but- the dog also had lymphoma. It sounds like COVID didn’t help – but may not have been the primary reason for his death. Here’s the full story:

https://api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/animals/2020/07/first-dog-to-test-positive-for-covid-in-us-dies

In a good news COVID story – we dogs are coming to the rescue in helping to detect the virus. We may have talked about this before, but there have been some recent advances in training us dogs to sniff out the virus. Here’s a link from a few days ago;

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/german-researchers-trained-dogs-sniff-out-covid-19-coronavirus-infections/

I bet that shark could sniff out the virus. He can smell the tiniest piece of treat in Her Highness’ pocket. He’s crazy about food.

In another health note, Her Highness decided to make us some Tumeric Paste the other day. The magic concoction is supposed to be an anti- inflammatory, anti-cancer wonder. Here’s a video about it:

https://youtu.be/wLkDPrROAZ0

Well. Imagine throwing a teaspoon of that in the bowl of a picky Picard like moi. Her Highness had to keep throwing extra goodies like freeze dried liver in my bowl to make me eat my supper. I DID eat everything- but I’m not so sure I’m a fan of the yellow blob just yet. Meanwhile, the PONs inhaled it.

So keep your paws crossed today that the vet doesn’t find anything serious wrong with me. Although maybe she can counsel me about my new role as a middle canine. You know, there’s lots of famous people who were middle children – like Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bill Gates and Lech Walesa. And those guys did pretty well in life. So I’m sure I’ll do just fine. Once I start feeling like 100%. But recovery takes time…. so I need to be patient. To be truthful- it’s not ME who needs to be patient- it’s Her Highness who could use some relaxation therapy right about now. She does sleep well at night though…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.