Lessons Learned?

Poor Fizz didn't have a good day today.

First he got too cold. His fur isn't very thick. When I let him inside after his breakfast, he was shivering and so I let him bundle with us on the couch. His feet and ears next to me were cold enough to feel through my blanket. Poor Fizz.

I decided to give him a treat to help cheer him up. I have him the last coupla bites of Luken's blueberry pancake with peanut butter on it. The peanut butter glued itself to the top of Fizz's mouth. What ensued was a frenzy of jerking, head flinging, slobber slinging and terrified licking. I took pity and scraped the pancake/peanut butter off the top of his mouth. I swear, I didn't mean to terrorize him.

A little while later, I heard Fizz wrestling with our other young dog, Belle. Crash, bang, boom! Then all was quiet. In this house, during the day, quiet usually isn't a good sign. I went looking. At the bottom of the basement stairs, stood Fizz. He was all hunched up, his tail tucked between his legs, a small pool of blood growing beneath him. Something was wrong. Now, I didn't know this, but evidently when male dogs get, uh, excited, their penis engorges and comes completely out of the sheath. I mean COMPLETELY out, even the swollen glans were out. That was shocking to see. And the blood . . . What on earth?

I hollered for Kara and gathered Fizz up and ran him to the vet. By the time we got to the vet, his "excitement" had subsided. The vet patiently explained to me that yes, when dogs are erect, the entire penis and glans comes out of the sheath. Still though, the blood was worrisome. So the vet examined him further. She found that poor Fizz had at least 2 puncture wounds on his penis about halfway from the tip to the glans. Oh, poor Fizz!

We were sent home with Fizz in a lamp shade collar, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory meds, and absolutely no dignity. Fizz spent the rest of the morning moping, trying to lick and crashing into things as he bumbled through the house in his lampshade.

Lesson of the day? Oh, take your pick. Beware the peanut butter. Wear a warm coat when it's cold outside. Keep it in your pants, or, uh, sheath. If you wave it around, somebody's gonna get hurt.

HBK