By: Revanche

Seamus: the dog who’s practically perfect 

April 26, 2017

Veterinary issues aside, and we have had MANY, Seamus is as near to perfect a dog as we could ask for. He often tricks me into thinking we could have another dog – if only we could duplicate what makes him so perfect!

This month has been a roller coaster of trying to treat an eye problem that stubbornly refuses to respond to the normal medication regimen. If he doesn’t improve by the end of this week, we may have to take him to an eye specialist. This doesn’t come at a good time for our money, of course, nor is it a good thing for him because if it gets worse, it gets a lot worse.  I don’t think he or I could take any more misery – he’s sad enough that he won’t even destroy his new plush toy! As a canary in the mine goes, the canary is mostly dead.

I spent days on Seamus Don’t-Rub-Your-Eyes!-Watch until I found this KONG Cloud E-Collar. It’s the first version of an e-collar that hasn’t made Seamus go gorilla-mode and rip it to pieces. Apparently the Cone of Shame is one humiliation too many for the otherwise perfect pupper.

Don’t get me wrong – this looks ridiculous too, enough so that JuggerBaby insists that we take it off for his walks: “No pee-yo!” But it’s soft and he doesn’t hate it with every fiber of his being. It also doesn’t catch on things and serves as a useful bumper when he veers too close to walls and furniture with his rheumy eyes. When the Velcro is loose, he knows that he can take it off and use it for a pillow if I’m sure he won’t rub his eyes. All in all, the best $14 spent this month. In addition to the $450 in exams and medications. :/

Meanwhile! Rather than fret myself to pieces waiting for healing to happen all week, I’m choosing to focus on why I adore him.

Endless patience, plus boundaries

He allows JuggerBaby to festoon him with necklaces, or blankets, or lean on him affectionately. He puts up with a certain amount of rudeness, that ze is immediately reprimanded for by the adults, without more than a blink or two. But in all of his tolerance, he doesn’t stick around long enough for zir push him to the point of being angry, or even irritated. When it’s clear that his fur might be ruffled, he simply and calmly gets up and leaves.

Snap your fingers obedience…

If he understands your command or intent, he obeys immediately. Try shouting stop to him at his most focused on something else moments. I field tested this the other day when he threw his own ball into the middle of the street, as I held back a flailing JuggerBaby from chasing it too. I hollered STOP NOW and boy if that dog didn’t skid to a stop like he hit an invisible brick wall! It was better than a crash test dummy situation, and for my blood pressure. I’ve seen dogs chase their balls into the street and right under the wheels of an oncoming vehicle, it’s the worst sound in the world.

You can trust him with your food at all times – he doesn’t touch your food when he’s told to “leave it.” I’ve literally put his food in front of him, told him to wait and stay, left the room, and come back later to find him standing in the exact same position, gently wagging his tail with a smile. Just waiting, as told! This is

… and helpful to boot

When I was pregnant and half mobile, he learned to come over to lend me the strength of his steady back, so I could lever myself up. The habit’s stuck with him. When he thinks I’m too sick to get up, he comes over, sniffs my head and offers his back for me to get up.

Sweetest of dispositions…

There’s not a thing that could make Seamus do more than rumble at me when he’s grouchy that I refuse to feed him three meals in an hour. I’ve clipped his nails, cleaned his ears, wiped his bum, examined every inch of his body right side up and upside down, bathed him 4 times a week battling his allergies, and brought home a surprise infant. He’s never fazed or anything but loving and loyal.

In the course of his tenure here, he deferred to Doggle with the greatest respect, and never ventured to do more than snuggle by his side since Doggle didn’t know how to dog.

Despite constant little provocations, Seamus has never reacted poorly to any of JuggerBaby’s pokes, prods, or licking. The most he’s done is rolled his eyes at me in a mute appeal for help, with his ears slightly flattened. Part of this is because he knows I’m alpha and will intervene so he doesn’t have to lash out but really, getting my toes pinched or my ear tweaked would irritate me more than he’s ever shown. It DOES, in fact, since ze does that to me too.

… and protective as anything

Don’t come near his sibling, though, being loud or raucous. Ze might be an obnoxious little twerp sibling but ze is HIS sibling.

And don’t come to our house being rowdy, banging on the door, that’s completely unacceptable behavior and his booming barks let you know without a doubt that he doesn’t tolerate that nonsense. His booms surprise me, even, it’s rare to hear them!

I love my dog.

:: Regale me with tales of your favorite beloved pets, would you?

12 Responses to “Seamus: the dog who’s practically perfect ”

  1. Seamus and Wicket sound a lot alike, in spite of the difference in their sizes. You could leave a turkey sandwich next to Wicket, and she would just sit there hopefully for 45 minutes. She once let one of Baguette’s friends put a New Year’s Eve tiara on her furry little head, and let Baguette learn the world “gentle” on her. I could go on and on, and I have in the post I wrote about her in November 2015. I’m never going to get over that dog.

  2. Linda says:

    Awww, Seamus! I hope his eye heals soon.

    My dog Hannah is my best friend and it’s hard to see her not feeling her best. She still loves to go for walks and rides in the car (preferably both!), but her walks are shorter now because she is obviously in pain most of the time. I’m trying different things and some are working better than others. I wish she could talk to give me more easily processed feedback.

    I was just sharing a particularly funny (but really gross) story about Hannah with my knitting group last night. In the interest of not jeopardizing anyone’s enjoyment of a meal or snack, I’ll hold off on sharing it here. 😉
    Linda recently posted…Pulling myself upMy Profile

    • Revanche says:

      Thank you!

      I do wish we could find better ways to keep our furry companions comfortable. Feel free to privately share the gross-funny Hannah story, I’m not at all easily grossed out 🙂

  3. Sense says:

    I have no dogs right now, and my life is for the worse for it. 🙁 #1 aim in life: be in a position to take care of a pup well! THEY. ARE. THE. BEST.

    All the best to Seamus’ recovery!

  4. ST says:

    It makes me so happy when owners love their dog so much – like me! I’m pregnant and currently worried about the toll a new baby will take on them. They’re such sweet dogs too.
    They’re both rescues who came from the US (I’m in Canada) and with that a host of issues. So I started to look around. Now, i have no idea what you feed your Seamus, but when we moved to raw dog food with veggies, it made a world of difference. I followed Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib for data on it, as I was SUPER skeptical about raw. Now, my dogs adore their food, and allergies, toilet problems, fur and skin have all improved.

    • Revanche says:

      I wish you all the best with adding your new human baby to your family. It went really well for us, and I hope that’s the case for you! Thanks for the suggestion.

  5. What a great dog! That’s amazing that you got him to stop when he was after a toy. Most of my dogs cannot be stopped once they’re in full chase.

    BTW, you might want to try what ST suggests: feed your dog real food, not kibble or other commercial dog chow. The late great Ger-Shep here experienced an amazing turnaround when I switched her to real food during the Great Melamine Scare. And now Cassie the Corgi, who has had nothing but real food since she came to me at the age of about 2 or 3, is 11 years old but acts about 5. You’d never know she was secretly an elderly dog. All sorts of allergies and ailments go away within weeks or a couple of months when you drop the junk food and give them the real stuff…
    Funny about Money recently posted…Pre-monsoon Monsoon?My Profile

    • Revanche says:

      I’ve only ever had one or two dogs that could be stopped in full flight but Seamus does it best 🙂

  6. Kimberly says:

    I wonder if my dog won’t destroy this collar just by scratching his neck. How was it with Seamus?

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