Brushing a dog’s teeth can be a losing battle
By Lethbridge Herald on August 23, 2024.
LEAVE IT TO BEEBER
Al Beeber – Managing Editor
Before I get into this week’s column, I want to address a matter that arose this week after I had written it:
Some ignorant comments have been made about me and this newspaper by people who took offence to the fact we didn’t have quotes from the premier at the mayor’s barbecue Tuesday while we gave considerable space on Wednesday to an indepth pre-arranged interview with new Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi.
We aren’t Communist or biased because we didn’t write about Danielle Smith at City Hall. My reporter was in a car crash enroute to cover the barbecue when somebody apparently went through a yield sign and put her in hospital!
At the last minute I assigned my only other reporter to hit – bad choice of words – the barbecue for a story and photos while I drove to the hospital to check on my reporter’s wellbeing which was my priority before heading to the Nenshi interview.
I know the comments that have come my way don’t reflect the position of the governing party because as the UCP and MLA for Lethbridge East Nathan Neudorf know I’m just a phone call away and am always happy to give them ink, as well.
In fact, I’ve got an interview with Nathan today. I’m looking forward to chatting with him and will be seeing him this morning. Unless of course, someone runs into me enroute and puts me in hospital, too. Which given the way some drive in this city could easily happen.
We couldn’t anticipate a car collision would derail our coverage of the barbecue or the parade for that matter, which is why we only had photos of the latter.
To be subject to these attacks without people asking for the reason is really offensive.
But the NDP can’t claim the crown of righteousness either if they feel compelled to use this part of my column as an opportunity to attack the Alberta government because some of their supporters have been extremely vile in their unfounded attacks on me as well over the years.
As long as respect is just a one-way street in this increasingly dysfunctional province as it so clearly has become, there will never be an opportunity to have a dialogue without hate and ignorance being in the forefront. And I hope I can continue to have dialogue with all of our parties without the nonsensical attacks I’ve endured from what I hope is a minority of their followers.
Now back to regularly scheduled programming:
A few years ago after Ben cost me a small fortune thanks to dental surgery, I vowed I would brush his teeth religiously every day to save him the trauma and me the dent in my bank account.
I vowed he would never need another extraction again. Fastforward who knows how long we’re back in the same situation.
And of all days, Ben dog goes back to his veterinarian on a Friday the 13th.
And it’s my fault. I’ll own up to that. I tried my best to keep up a cleaning regimen but after two months of his daily squirming and hiding, I started getting out of the routine. It became sporadic and now he’s got more tooth decay.
I feel horrible about it because I am responsible for his health and well being after all. But I tried to fight him and I lost the fight. Ben doesn’t like his mouth touched – trying to feed him an antibiotic pill is exhausting, too – and the daily fighting was beyond a chore.
But now I have no choice to start waging that war again with him soon. He’s almost 12 but Ben is in good shape except for his teeth and a recent urinary tract infection. As Riverstone dog park people know, he can be extremely frisky with certain four-legged companions, especially a black named Strider who Ben is absolutely smitten with. When Ben sees young Strider, his eyes light right up, his tail perks up and Ben trots after him like he was a pup again. A few labs do that to him, but none so much as Strider.
I wish Ben had as much ambition to chew bones or rawhide like all the other dogs I’ve ever cared for. All of them, even in their twilight years, had beautiful teeth, especially Rio the shepherd who would would gnaw most of the night sometimes. Beside the bed. After a long day. And then he’d want outside five times because his ears heard a squirrel sneeze four blocks away. Or it was too hot inside even with the thermostat turned low in the middle of winter just to accommodate him.
Roxie and Jessie were bone chewers, too and newest arrival Izzy will destroy one in the blink of an eye once she gets her paws and teeth on one.
But Ben? Nope, he likes soft stuff like chicken, actually mostly chicken now that he’s in his old age. Even since he was a pup, he would show no interest in bones or rawhide. Or even toys for that matter, except for balls.
He just wanted – you guessed it – chicken and his daddy. He is my shadow, following me to the bathroom, the kitchen, the deck, the basement, the car, anywhere when I’m home. He could care less if anyone else gets home after work but as soon as he hears me pull up, he’s at the stairs wagging and licking.
Maybe that’s why I haven’t been forceful enough with the brushing – Ben’s still the baby after all this year but with retirement on the horizon and no lottery wins in my name, he’s got to man up because I’m not doing this again.
It’s toothpaste and brushing time every morning now.
While my efforts right now are probably too late to do any good, at least after three weeks there should be less fighting every morning.
I sure hope so because Ben is stubborn. He is literally the baby – if he doesn’t like or want something, he’ll fight or pout. But this time, I’m going to win.
At least my wallet hopes so.
28-27
Sorry to hear about the increase in political abuse over at the Herald. It’s a sad fact of our times that citizens now feel abuse and violence are acceptable political practices instead of discussion and listening to all sides. Let’s hope our leaders set an example that shows people there is a better way.