Worried dog lovers give Strider an earful

By Strider the Dog

Dear Strider,

I’m sorry you lost your ear. Can you still hear with one ear?

— Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

That’s so nice of you to ask. I certainly can still hear, although not really great from that crushed ear. I wasn’t sure what happened to it. It’s from a long time ago when I was a stray dog in the Arizona desert. But I overheard a veterinarian tell Tod that she thought I hadn’t been cared for as a pup, and probably an untreated ear infection caused it.

Tod says I’m not hard of hearing, I’m hard of listening. Hah, hah. Very funny. Although it is true that when I’m doing something particularly fun and disobedient, I suddenly can’t hear her calling me. I don’t like being called Mr. Naughty, but on the other hand, sometimes it’s kind of worth it.

Thanks again for being such a sympathetic person. We dogs love that.

Dear Strider,

I think my dog, Inga, might have a problem. It began casually but now she seems obsessed with eating cat poop. She tries to break into the cats’ litter box as if she’s out to snarfle particularly delicious treats. When I’m walking with her, she stops listening and gets distracted by the scent of wild turds.

Is Inga an addict? If so, what can I do to break this awful addiction?

— Worried Dog Guardian

Dear Worried,

Please don’t be anxious. This is totally normal. There’s nothing ‘addict’ about it.  All dogs do this, if they get the chance. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of minerals that dogs need for health to be found in cat poop. At least, that’s what I tell Tod. And I’m sticking to it.

It’s good to share these things and find it’s all perfectly normal. Takes the worry out of it. For example, I’m glad to find out another dog is hard of listening. I was worried I was the only one. 

So don’t you worry either. Inga sounds like a great dog. You’re lucky to have each other.

Dear Strider,

I need your opinion. My dog, Sweet Pea, likes to sleep on the bed with me. I like it too. I love hearing him make happy noises during the night, and it’s very comforting to have him on my feet when I wake up in the morning.

Here is my problem. I just got a new boyfriend, and he insists this dog sleeping on the bed thing is unhygienic. He wants me to kick Sweet Pea off the bed. Don’t get me wrong, Sweet Pea is very good about giving us our space when we want private cuddling time. He never jumps up until he’s invited. And he doesn’t sleep on my boyfriend’s side of the bed, just on mine. I do admit he’s a rather large dog. But he’s very respectful of my boyfriend’s space, and doesn’t spread out unless I’m alone.

Sweet Pea is trying very hard to make friends with my boyfriend.  But I can’t really say the same for the boyfriend.  What would you advise?

— Torn

Dear Torn,

My first thought is that you should dig deeper here. Is this a serious problem for your boyfriend, or just a knee-jerk reaction to an unfamiliar situation? That could get very uncomfortable. You don’t want to coddle a pet boyfriend by giving in right away to his ill-considered thought that a dog sleeping on the bed is “unhygienic.” Is he worried about something specific? I’m guessing he’s not allergic to dogs, or something like this would have come up sooner. You say Sweet Pea isn’t disruptive on the bed, so that doesn’t seem to be the issue. This may just have been a momentary worry on your boyfriend’s part. If so, he may be convinced to give it a try. If he’s open to new things, he will undoubtedly fall in love with Sweet Pea, even if it takes time. He may end up the first one to complain if the dog isn’t on the bed.

Our other guardian, my pack mate Shadow’s favorite person, was like this originally. At least, that’s what Tod says, even though it seems impossible she could be talking about the same guy I know. He’s the one who lets Shadow have practically his whole half of the bed, and the first to scratch my ears in the morning before we all wake up.

So maybe there will be a happy ending, your boyfriend will see the light, and, after turning out the light, sleep happily with Sweet Pea on your feet. Or even on his.

If not, if he says it’s a deal breaker for him, then you have a harder task. At that point, you need to sit down by yourself and ask, who do you want more on the bed? Sweet Pea or the boyfriend? In these cases, I always say whoever is the one making you get rid of the other is the one I think you should unfriend. You can’t go wrong sticking with the tolerant one of the pair. Up to you, Torn. Let me know how things turn out.

Good luck.

Got a problem? Or just a question for a Dog About Town? Email him at [email protected].