Twisted

Spring forward spring forward spring forward – This has been my mantra for the past two weeks. Some much comes with this mantra that I have mixed feelings about it. There are taxes to organize, clocks to change, and humans to motivate into action. I am not of the herding breed, but lately, I’ve felt the need to nip some heels and wrangle everyone into a corral.

Unfortunately, my nipper hasn’t felt up to snuff and those who need to be wrangled aren’t paying much attention to me.

Well, that’s not exactly true. They are paying attention to me but not because I’m trying to make them aware of all the chores that need to get done. Rather, they are paying close attention to me because I’m twisted. This is not news to anyone — my dog-a-nality has always been an odd twisted mixture of adorable and infuriating — but lately the twists of my body have matched the rest of my twisted ways.

You see, years and years ago I was born with what everyone thought was a crooked tooth — my bottom right canine to be exact — only it wasn’t my tooth that was actually twisted, it was my mouth or my jaw to be more exact. That twist is what gave me my adorable smirk and is why my moms chose me, but that twist was also a sign of not-so-good things to come. Turns out I have pretty serious jaw dysplasia (a malformed jaw on the right side) and without going into technical details, my jaw bone doesn’t fit together very well. It slips out of joint and when it does, my smirk is exaggerated and the pain makes me miserable. I don’t eat, I’m really grumpy, and I curl up with my blankets and feel unmotivated.

Two weeks ago my jaw slipped into its most painful place yet and the twists in my personality were even more apparent. Simply put, I was not a happy camper.

This was not good timing since my Moms were about to pack up and head south to Arizona where Gretchen could continue her Acupressure studies and Ann could visit with her younger and only sister. Me? Well, I was packed up too and heading to Anti-Sheila’s house where my favorite Dobermans live — Paige and Cosmo. No one wanted to send me away if I was feeling crummy so I went on a pre-trip trip to the vet — Dr. G. Even she agreed — I was a twisted mess.

So we headed over to the vet office and to help me get through the treatment, my buddy Monty came with me. In the vet’s office is a turquoise couch and while I tried to claim it, I was moved off to make way for Monty who watched the treatment from his turquoise perch. His calming presence was just what the doctor ordered!

The second she put her hands on my jaw, I melted flat onto the floor relieved that someone was going to make me feel better. She even showed Gretchen how to help me and the two of them put their hands on me together. Gretchen got direct orders to work on me a few more times before she left and Gretchen even asked Anti-Sheila to work on me as well. By the time my Moms got on the plane to Phoenix, I was feeling better and hanging out with my Doberman buddies was exactly the medicine I needed.

I’m getting ahead of myself though. Before anyone went anywhere, we worked.

But trust me, it was a twisted week. There was so much to do — organize taxes, pack our bags, clean the house, blah blah blah. It was a whirlwind of activity and while my jaw was feeling better, I was a bit out of joint (pun intended) with all the work we had to do and with all the work we did.

First, Monty and I went to the groomers. Oy. I’ll just leave it at that.

Then we had unexpected visitors — Bodhi for one and my cousin, Lindsey who was in a twisted whirlwind all on her own — she bought a house!

Whew!

And on top of it, we took on another dog walking client! Don’t worry, she only gets walked one day a week and she’s really easy (and pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself). Her name is Theo and while she enjoyed our time together, she was a bit bent out of shape that we came to her house, leashed her up, and took her for an hour walk. And if that weren’t enough, it rained like crazy most of that week!!! Yikes…what a soggy couple of weeks.

Yes, there was a part of me that wished I could have gone with my Moms to Phoenix though I’m glad I didn’t because they told me it was 90 degrees and hot, dusty, and not so fun.

But in the end, looking back now, it all worked out pretty okay. We walked all our clients including Theo, the new dog…

Rosie and Tyson…

Henri and Bella…

Monty…

Woobie…

Roux…

Carter and Kali…

and a special visit with my pal, Olive!

Then it was off to our different destinations — Gretchen and Ann on a plane to Phoenix where they went hiking…

…and Gretchen got to learn more about acupressure through the magnificent instructors at Tallgrass Acupressure Institute (lucky me) and meet some cool dogs and horses!

…and they got to hang out with my other cousin, Harley who was thrilled to see them and once again be a demonstration dog for the class. Lucky boy!

I had a blast with Paige and Cosmo, though. Anti-Sheila took great care of me in every possible way. I got to play in the rain, get bathed every night, eat Paige and Cosmo’s yummy food, sleep curled up with my buddies, and chase rabbits and raindrops every night.

When I got home at the end of the week, my jaw was no longer twisted and I was feeling content in so many ways. I was one tired boy. Gretchen said it was like I’d spent a week at camp and now needed to rest up from all the exuberant activities.

Did the clock move one hour ahead? We were so busy I don’t think we even really noticed. We sprung right over the Spring Forward and in the process, untwisted ourselves a bit!

And soon, the whole twisted routine starts again though thankfully, not as jam-packed and we all get to sleep in our own beds!

Onward and Upward!

Rubin