How do you explain to a good dog why you can't give him a doggie goodie any more?

Belty with his high and tight Marine Corps haircut

10/12/2009

Jen just asked about my good boy Belty in my “Why do Dogs have Eyebrows” blog. As I answered, it was hard not to make it a long post, so I decided to make a blog entry out of the answer:

I recently posted about about Belty: My dog, Belty’s kidneys are shutting down … and I am broken hearted…

As I said in that post, Belty has to eat “special” food, and nothing else. Before we noticed he did not feel good, he has always gotten doggie goodies, lots of doggie goodies.

I am home all the time due to my health and I hang out with all my pets all day. A special event in my dogs’ day is when I go to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, or grab lunch. For years and years, Mom being in a kitchen was a situation rife with possibilities.

My good boy dog Belty has always licked his doggie lips and looked at me as if to say: “Mom? Isn’t there anything else you think you should do while you are in the kitchen?”

Belty has always been good at suckering Mom out of a doggie goodie. He would sit up pretty for it, and then a very happy boy dog would run down the hall like a speeding bullet. Nicki, my other dog, gets goodies too, but they are not such a thrill to her. Food is food in her mind. She does not know a goodie is special.

So, anyway, now Belty’s kidneys are shutting down, and we are trying to keep him feeling as best as he can. Before the vet found out what was wrong with him, Belty had started to throw up all the time, or did not eat at all, and always had diarrhea. Now, with the “special” food, he does not have those problems.

His kidneys were making his digestive system all messed up. So, now, Belty can’t have anything except the “special” food or he will get sick again, and might get so sick that he dies.

Edited to add this paragraph: Belty says that the special food is nasty tasting. It also smells awful, in my opinion. He would not eat it for the first two days. But, the vet said that eventually he would HAVE to eat it, and he did. But, he still says it is nasty tasting.

The vet very specifically said that Belty can’t have doggie goodies ever again. They could kill him. To make it fair, we don’t give Nicki doggie goodies, either, but she does not mind. It was never something special to her. They are only special, very very special, to Belty.

Before I started writing this blog entry, I went into the kitchen to get a second cup of coffee. As always, Belty jumped off of Daddy’s chair and followed me in.

How do you explain to a good dog why you can’t give him a doggie goodie any more?

I wish I knew.