Sadie the Grump

Sadie has had kind of a bad couple of weeks. She is on steroids and antibiotics to cure a deep skin infection. She lost three upper front teeth – so far. Her vet thinks she might have cancer. None the less, she is defiantly perky. She hops around the house, mouths off at all our street traffic, and ignores Charlie the Great Dane as though nothing has changed for her in the past days and weeks. The good news is that her skin infections are nearly healed. Her gums are healing, and she does not appear to have any more loose teeth. She has learned how to chew a rawhide from the side. She loves the fact that she gets peanut butter smothered medications. (Lily is terribly jealous of that, so we have to appease her with peanut butter treats too.)

Yet, we can report that Sadie is a Grump, officially. She has always been vocal. One of our friends named her Barkina this summer because of her immediate grumble when people enter her space. She is taking that a bit further now by grumbling at people throughout her walk, from the top of the sofa, from a sound sleep, and in response to almost any noise that is new. Lily takes it all in stride. She has learned Sadie’s ways. Lily doesn’t love Sadie the Grump’s attitude, but she copes with special strategies and looks out for her tiny pal. She sniffs all her sore spots, licking the spots that seem to bother Sadie the most. She waits patiently while Sadie gets the good treats first. She does not complain about Sadie’s rawhide victories. And, most of all she allows Sadie to have first dibs on the favorite chair. 

MM & RY 2009