It started with the nausea that roles over you like a wave, then the vomiting and the grumbling bowel issues started. There was no doubt about it, I was sick.

I don’t want to admit that I may have had something to do with it by sneaking a variety of things that aren’t really meant to be digested by any living thing. But once you go down the road of eating tissues, rabbit poo, and any strange thing that smells like it might taste good, it’s too late, you have already developed a habit. This time I paid for it and so did Doc in Vet. bills.

She started to get concerned the first day when I couldn’t keep my food down. The concern turned to worry when she tried everything she knew to help my upset stomach and three days later I was still sick. So off to the vet we went and they took an x-ray of my tummy, administered IV fluids for some dehydration, gave me a big shot in my behind that stung like the dickens and some antibiotics to take home.

The next morning I felt a little better, but by afternoon, Doc noticed I hadn’t drunk one drop of water and was sleeping most of the time. Doc looked alarmed. She got right back on the phone to the Vet’s office and those nice people got me an appointment to see my favorite veterinarian, Dr. Balazs that afternoon. Dr. Balazs looked me over again, then took some blood to check my liver and kidneys. Luckily all the tests were ok. She then changed some of my medication around and gave us some new dog food to settle my tummy and re-hydrate me, giving me strict orders to rest.

The next day all I did was eat and sleep while Doc kept vigil. Gradually I started feeling better and by Sunday morning, I felt good enough that I brought my tennis ball over to Doc, something I hadn’t done in a week. You should have seen the relief on her face.

I’m still on the mend, but doing better every day. I continue to take antibiotics that I don’t like the taste of. Doc tries to disguise the pills in my food, but I find it and spit it out on the rug. ( I think she is trying to poison me.) Determined I will take my medication, she then brings the pill to work where she asks Amy the nurse to administer my medication. I don’t argue with Amy, after all she is a trained medical professional. If Amy’s not available then Carolyn the counselor gives it to me. I love her, but I know she doesn’t mess around, so I do what she says.

Doc and I need each other, that is clear. I couldn’t ask for a better human to look after me and I know she feels I take good care of her. I think you can get through just about anything in life if you have a person that really loves you by your side.

You wouldn’t think that a cute little grey squirrel could hold an entire college town hostage for the summer, but that’s exactly what happened, right here in the place that Doc and I live. Before the siege was over, seven people were treated for squirrel bites and the residents were left afraid to leave their own homes.

It all started on a beautiful morning when an unsuspecting woman saw a squirrel on her porch. As she came out the front door to try and shoo it away, it ran toward her, went up her skirt and bit her on the genital area and her leg. She was forced to seek treatment from her doctor for minor injuries. The next attack came when a man leaving a college building was chased by the squirrel.  As the man ran to get away he looked back to see the squirrel leaping in the air higher than he had ever seen a squirrel leap.

Soon the reports started coming in to both the campus and town police and cruisers were dispatched to patrol the streets. Finally, one of the officers spotted the squirrel, cornered it and attempted to subdue it by using his baton, but the squirrel unperturbed by the encounter got away. ” This is no ordinary squirrel we’re talking about,” one of the police officers was quoted as saying.

In spite of the large police presence the attacks continued. The squirrel lunged at a UPS man while he was trying to deliver a package. ” I tried batting it away with my clipboard, but the squirrel got more aggressive and bit me on my knee.”

One family that had been harassed by the squirrel for weeks, resorted to using the back door of their home to leave as the squirrel would not let them out the front door of their house. “What is strange, is that he tries to act friendly at first and then when you get close to him, he attacks, ” the family reported.

From this dog’s perspective, this is clearly a squirrel with an axe to grind. Only Doc could get to the bottom of this squirrel’s issues. The strange thing about the whole, is that one day the attacks just stopped. Obviously the squirrel had worked through whatever motive he had for attacking humans and moved on. But, I will say one thing, after hearing about this, I sure will keep my eye out for the squirrels in my neighborhood. You never know what kind of evil, aggressive squirrel might be lurking in the trees get ready to pounce.

The older I get, I am learning that you can stare right at something for a very long time and still not see what lies below the surface. It takes time for the truth to reveal itself, but if you wait long enough it will surface eventually.

When I first met the dog down the street, he seemed like a nice enough chap. A good-looking Golden Retriever named Gus who I met for the first time on an evening walk with Doc. His human seemed like such a nice lady and would give me a pat on the head anytime we would meet. Before long, Gus and I were playing together on a regular basis. Sometimes he would come to my house, or I would go to his. Lots of fun and no chaos, the best kind of friend to have.

A few months into our friendship, things suddenly took a U-turn down the road to dramaville. Strangely enough, the drama was not between myself and Gus, it was with the people inside his house.

What humans forget is that dogs senses are so acute, we don’t miss a thing. The times I would visit Gus, I started noticing that his human mom was acting in a strange manner. After dark she would go out in the back yard and through the gate looking around to make sure no one saw her. One night I decided to follow her.

To my surprise, I saw her get into the passenger side of a light-colored sedan and began talking to the driver. I hid in the bushes trying to listen in on their conversation, but the windows were up and their words were muffled. Before long the passenger door opened and she had a small brown bag in her hand. Returning through the back door and into the house, she hid the bag under her shirt and went straight to her room shutting the door behind her. The thing I didn’t understand is that some of the family noticed, but they never said a thing, including my friend Gus.

After I got home I told Doc about what I had witnessed. ” Sometimes families have their secrets” Doc said. “Just because things look good on the outside, doesn’t mean that things are ok on the inside. Until they are ready to deal with the problem, neither you nor I can fix it for them.” That was hard to hear at first, but the more I though about it, I knew it was true. Until then I will continue being a friend to Gus and be there for him when they are ready to deal with the truth.

There’s a lot of evil that lives in the deep dark abyss of Doc’s hallway closet and I’m not embarrassed to say it frightens me.

For starters, that is where the scary vacuum resides. I hate everything about that vacuum, so when I hear the closet door open and I see Doc pull it out I run and hide. What kind of man-made thing has the ability to suck up some pretty large objects and just disappear? When I was younger I use to bark at it, but all it did was continue to move toward me while making those loud whirling noises, so I have learned to retreat and keep a safe distance. I am terrified that I might get sucked up in that thing some day, so I try not to agitate it.

That is not the only object in the closet that is scary. Some of the things we find in there even frighten Doc. Once she leaned down to grab a glove that fell on the floor and found on old shriveled up piece of broccoli one of the kids must have hidden in there so they didn’t have to eat it. It was so disgusting even I didn’t want it.

There are some pretty large hair balls that end up there too. I suppose they choose the closet as their final resting place thinking they will be safe there in the dark behind the snow boots. They are able to live there peacefully for a long time, lulled into a false sense of security. Then once or twice a year, Doc decides it’s time to remove everything from the closet and get rid of the stuff we don’t use any more. While cleaning, she spots those big hair balls and with a look of disgust, she plugs in the vacuum. With one big sucking noise they meet their maker before they even realize what has happened. RIP hairball, better you than me.

Late at night, when the house is asleep I know I hear some bumping and low growling noises coming from that closet. I hide under Doc’s bed where it is safe. I have learned that some things in this life are best left undisturbed.