Dog Blog

Saturday, August 09, 2014

IN MEMORY OF BUTTER


BUTTERSCOTCH SUNDAY  1975-1987  

After 20 years, Bojangles still grieved for his dog, and 27 years later, I still grieve for Butterscotch, my first beautiful red and white basset.  Of all the dogs we've had, she was the most well bred, the healthiest, and had the best temperament.  Our Butter lived to be 12 1/2, but succumbed to bloat on a hot August day.  She'd had two previous bouts of bloat from which she rallied, but the third time was just too much for her dear old heart.  

Until our tragic experience with Butter, we knew nothing of the basset's tendency to bloat, along with other deep-chested breeds.  Since then, I have always been cautious not to exercise our dogs within a couple of hours before or after meals and don't let them drink too much water after exercising.  We've had no others bloat like that, and I learned about the magic of dosing my dogs with simethicone to prevent tummy troubles.  You can get it in your grocer's baby section.  It comes in a dropper bottle, which makes it easy to administer to your pet.  One dropper full usually does the trick.  

This was a very hard lesson to learn about the breed.  It was hardest of all for poor Butter.  Sadder yet, I was not there with her when she drew her last breath.  It haunts me still.  I hope she forgave me.  Perhaps she did, because when I sat down that evening I lost her and poured all my loving memories of her into a journal, it was the beginning of my sojourn into being a dog writer. 

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