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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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Depressed dog

Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.07.2007

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Prozac for dogs?

So, as you know, I was in Hawaii for 10 days. According to my husband, my dog Snickers was depressed the entire time I was gone.

Do dogs get depressed? While it’s gratifying to think Snickers would pine away without me, I’m wondering if it was just boredom or something like that.

Captain Caffeine said she spent a lot of time sleeping when normally she’d be up and about and being a bother. She also didn’t play with her favorite squeak toy (remember the death squeal?) while I was gone, but when I returned, she started playing with her toy as usual.

What do you think? Does she need Prozac? Do any of you have pets who miss you when you’re gone?



Update: It's TRUE! Angie just sent me this article:


http://pages.prodigy.com/lemus/prozac.htm
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Comments

Anonymous said…
My dad has a golden retriever who definitely needs Prozac while he is gone!

When he is home, they take a walk together every day and then after supper, it's time to play with toys (i.e. wrestle around on the floor and play fetch).

When I come to puppy-sit, she walks to the end of the driveway, then refuses to budge another inch. No walks for her. After dinner, I head to the toy bin. After approximately 10 seconds of tug-of-war, she takes the toy, curls up by the couch and pouts.

Snickers definitely missed you!

Sarah
Wed Mar 07, 05:20:00 AM 2007
Demian Farnworth said…
Okay, this is crazy, but a friend and I were just laughing the other day about a Prozac for dogs ad we saw. Can't remember if it was a print or tv ad. Maybe my friend and I were wrong. Maybe there really is a need? Gosh. I'm feeling convicted. LOL
Wed Mar 07, 07:25:00 AM 2007
Winter Peck said…
The minute my cat hears our van in the driveway, she's at the door waiting for us. And then she's underfoot, sniffing out the luggage and other things we brought home. About the time you get sick of her, she's had her fill and saunters off to do her own thing.

My MIL had a cat that would drag a roll of toilet paper into the living room and shred it when they left her for long periods of time. Her payback for being left alone.
Wed Mar 07, 10:58:00 AM 2007
Deborah said…
our dog (we have a pug) is really attached to my mom. when she went to malaysia last year to take care of her mom for three weeks, he was really sad. every morning it's his routine to run out of his kennel to find her first. when she was gone i had to stop him as soon as he got out to tell him she wasn't there. he had to check first though to make sure i wasn't lying. then he'd be sad the rest of the time until she got back.
Wed Mar 07, 12:43:00 PM 2007
Rachelle said…
Oh, she is adorable! Yes, some dogs can definitely get emotional. our cutie gets depressed when his daddy is gone too much (my wonderful husband who plays with him all the time). He also gets depressed when we're gone for a few days and he's home alone with just someone stopping in to feed, walk, etc. But we've found that if we board him at Camp Bow Wow while we're on vacation, he's NOT depressed when we come back! I guess he loves playing with all those other dogs.
Wed Mar 07, 01:29:00 PM 2007
aspire2 said…
Okay, this is kind of gross, but our cat gets sick whenever we pull out the luggage. Nice to be loved and all, but sheesh.
Wed Mar 07, 04:34:00 PM 2007
Carol M said…
Our pets really do miss us when we are gone! My cats used to wait for me at the door when they heard me pull into the garage. I even got yelled at by one of them as I walked up the steps. She wasn't happy until I started petting her. They love their humans as much as we love them!
Thu Mar 08, 06:42:00 AM 2007
Unknown said…
My biological father's dogs literally starved themselves. My sister and her husband, who is also a vet, called them on vacation and said if they didn't come home, they'd have to feed them by IV. No kidding. My father returned home that day and the dogs ate so much that night they got sick. So yes, just like kids miss Mommy when she's gone, so do pets!
Thu Mar 08, 07:21:00 AM 2007
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