The Price of a Dog

I have this dog. Her name is Maddie and she is a weimapeak. A weimapeak is the deliberate cross of a weimariner and a Chesapeake Bay retriever. I know this strikes horror in the hearts of the purists who think dog breeds should be only what the AKC says they are, but this dog is amazing. Weimariners are highly intelligent, skittish, and nervous. Chessies are intelligent, stubborn, and willful. This dog is the best of two worlds. She is intelligent enough that I’m glad she doesn’t have an opposable thumb or the ability to talk – she might surpass me! She learns faster than any living thing I’ve been around. She actually does try to talk, but it sounds like the monster in Young Frankenstein. She has a lot of energy – she is only 16 months old – and wants to work and play. Her loyalty to our family is unsurpassed. She is sensitive to our moods, our commands, just about everything. She is a beautiful dog and looks like a reddish brown weimariner . She is tall, sleek, and has golden eyes.

Being a responsible dog owner, I recently took her to be spayed. There isn’t another weimapeak in this state that she is not related to and I am told that because of the hybrid, the puppies of two weimapeaks are inconsistent. Besides, a dog in heat is not a whole lot of fun. So we got some good recommendations and took her to the vet to be spayed. We almost lost her. We picked her up and she was bleeding from the mouth and nose by the time we got home. After 90 minutes of this we took her back in to the vet. She was in pain and miserable. The vet quickly started injecting her with pain killers, steroids, antibiotics, and a sedative. I could not keep the tears from my eyes watching her trembling with pain, her head and tail down and flat. The vet said she had a reaction to the anesthesia and upchucked so badly that it tore her esophagus. I was not impressed when the vet mentioned that she thought Maddie was a chocolate lab. A vet should easily be able to tell the difference. We stayed up with her all night.

The next day, she slowly came around. I noticed the incision had been stitched, despite the fact that I had asked for it to be surgically stapled; staples hold better and she is an active dog. She continued to improve but three days later, there was blood on the floor; her incision had broken open. It was 11:00 P.M. so we took her to the 24-hour emergency vet hospital. I have never seen a dog so scared. She couldn’t have anesthesia again so four of us held her down while the vet stapled her up. Now she is on stronger antibiotics and has a huge “lampshade” collar. I also have put her on an anti-anxiety medication until this ordeal is over.

Is she worth it? Yes, a thousand times, yes. She is bouncing back well although I may not have any paint left on my walls by the time we get done with the lampshade collar. Spaying and neutering are no-brainers, but be sure to get a vet who can do the job right. Breed does matter when it comes to health care. I believe the vet did think she was a lab, which is a sturdier dog, needing more anesthesia than Maddie. Maddie got an overdose of anesthesia. She still coughs, but is back to her old antics of teasing my cats, begging for treats, and trying to talk. She is tired of the lampshade, but still looks at us with complete trust in those golden eyes.

What's a voter to do?

Does anyone else feel like American politics are a mess? When I think about who I want to vote for, I find myself searching for the lesser of two evils. Or sometimes for the most ineffective politician in order to minimize the damage.

Take the Utah race for govenor, for instance. The incumbent, Gary Herbert, is an alright guy - I've even met him and talked with him. But he is mired in a scandal where he was given $82,000 dollars for his election campaign by the same construction company who then got a $1.7 billion dollar reconstruction contract for I-15 in Utah county. Then - get this - the folks who came in second in the bid process for that same job got $13 million - for coming in second??? Gee, I'd like to make a living coming in second for that kind of scratch. Sounds like hush money to me.

The pathetic thing is that it took a reporter in a news conference to tell him about the $13 million - or so he claims. So he can take his choice of either being corrupt if he did know or an idiot for not knowing. Not to mention the fact that another reporter brought the original issue of the $1.7 billion contract to light in the first place.

The Democratic challenger is Pete Corroon. Once again, an alright guy who has done well as county mayor. But how does one vote for a Democrat this year? With Obama set to win the all-time race for squandering political capital, no one wants to vote for a Democrat - not even the Democrats!

Then there is the Senate race. We have a choice of Mike Lee, an idealogue that makes a John Bircher look like a liberal, or no-show Sam Granato who paid his filing fee then disappeared from public view. The thing that I find hilarious is that when a survey was taken between these two and Bob Bennett running as an independent, Lee and Bennett are about even. I think that Utah Republicans threw the baby out with the bath water when they refused to give Bennett the nomination.

I saw a political sign hanging on a fence today that really shows how some people try to take advantage of the public's political ignorance. It is black with white lettering that says "Matheson = Pelosi." Seriously folks? Don't be taken in by this. Look at Matheson's voting record. He votes with the Republicans more than he votes with the Democrats - he is called a Blue Dog Democrat. To those who are responsible for this sign, you know this is true. Yet, in a shameless attempt to turn American government into a game show, you exploit and lie for your own advantage. Outside of her own district, Pelosi may be the most hated woman in America, and for good reason.

Politicians really don't see their actions from the point of view of the voters. Elections are a game to them. They want to win to further their own power base; not to serve, not to uphold this country, not to see that the Constitution is followed.

So what's a voter to do? Become informed. Now when I say informed, I am NOT saying to listen to what any politician says. Are you kidding? Listening to a politician is like reading the National Enquirer - vaguely entertaining but far from the truth. Being informed is taking a hard look at what they have DONE in the past - not what they have said. Look at what they have actually voted for and against. Look at their experience. What have they supported in the past by action, not by what they flap their mouths over. If Americans would have done this two years ago, we wouldn't be in this mess now.

Done with grad school

At last, I've finished grad school! I have the M.Ed. after much toil and effort and MONEY. From here on out, I would like to turn the topic of this blog away from educational theories and towards anything that happens to spill out of my brain.

But I will be writing frequently about my students. I won't be giving too many details or names in order to protect their identities - but my students are a big part of my life. I come to care for them deeply.

I also will be making plenty of social commentary, trashing on politicians (I dislike politicians in general and that is quite a statement coming from a U.S. History teacher), and a dozen other topics. Enjoy!