My Daddy Cut My Dog???? Huh?

Geri is our beloved 13 year old American Bulldog. I acquired Geri when she was 3 months old as a rescue situation. Her previous owner wanted to "put her down" because she had a skin parasite called Demodex which in the majority of cases gets better with time on its own. To save her, I offered to buy her from her owner as there was no way that I could have euthanized her. Fortunately, her owner agreed to surrender her and she has been one of the lights of my life ever since.

Geri has had a lot of medical problems over the years. Both of her elbows had a bone break within them which required surgery. She has terrible arthritis in her hips which we manage with several different medications. She had ingrown eyelashes which I epilated and she has had cancer (Mast Cell tumour).  Overall, its a good thing she belongs to a vet!!  But she more than makes up for it with her very sweet disposition and her remarkable intelligence.

When she was a puppy she had a horrible scar on her forehead. I am not quite sure how she managed to get it but its possible her mother bit her as a young puppy. While I was repairing her eyelids, I decided to remove the scar surgically.  She was recovering uneventfully from her surgery when one day my wife was walking her on the street with my then young son of about 6 years of age (Kevin).

Kevin, was straggling behind as he often did in those days, when an elderly couple approached. They saw Geri's stitches on her head and as they met Kevin they stopped and struck up a conversation with him. They said..."what's wrong with your doggy?".  Without missing a beat Kevin replied... "My daddy cut her".  Aghast, the couple said..."ohhh I'm so sorry" and then headed on their way probably horrified by what they heard.  When my wife asked Kevin what the couple had said to him he told her the above.  She said... "Kevin... did you tell them that your Daddy was a Veterinarian and she had surgery?"  He said... "no... I just told them Daddy cut her".  My wife tried to delicately tell him that was not the best thing to say without explaining what his Daddy did for a living. Since we had just moved into the Markland area it was probably not the best impression to leave on some of our new neighbours! Sigh...

Here is a picture of my beautiful Geri. When people ask me what breed she is I reply... "Comfort Hound" :).  She is famous... she won 5th place in 2007 Readers Digest Ugliest Dog Contest.