Sonny

My dog, Sonny, has cancer. At least it looks that way. The docs still need to perform a test on the growth on the inside of his mouth to confirm the diagnosis. The growth is exerting pressure on his left eye, so it has probably spread beyond his mouth. That concerns me because if the growth is now in the inside of his skull, that would be very serious.

He has had growths on the eyelid of his left eye before. They irritate the eye. When they have been on the outside of the eyelid, I scrape them off with a q-tip. He had surgery on this eye a couple of years ago to remove a growth when I could not remove it by myself.

He had an issue with this eye two months ago and it did get better after treatment. I left him with my folks while I was out of town on business, and the eye got worse during that time.

I had intended to take him to his regular vet this week, but I will have to be out of town. So, we went to an emergency clinic today to have it looked at. They gave me some fluids to apply to his eye and some drugs to try to reduce the swelling and help with the pain.

I adopted Sonny from Brittany Rescue twelve years ago. He is my best buddy.

I still remember looking at his picture on the BR website before I met him. He looked very happy. I thought he was covered in mud, but realized later that it was just brown spots on his front paws.

When I went out to adopt him, he knew that if he passed the audition, he would get the gig and get to leave his foster home. He was out in the back yard by himself, while the rest of the dogs looked on jealously from their kennels. He was so happy to be loved. He was two years old then. He had been adopted by a family as a puppy, but they gave him up because he was too energetic for them. If I recall the story correctly, he had been placed in at least one other home and was returned because he was too rambunctious for them.

They told me that he would be very happy when he was tired. I added "and wet" to that guidance, because Sonny was always extremely happy when he was tired and wet. In those days, we would walk for an hour a day, six or seven days a week. I would take him on walks where he could swim. He loved the water and would quite literally drag me down to the waters edge so that he could jump in.

He is a house dog, but acts like a hunting dog when we are outside. He would point bunnies and birds. I had never seen a dog point before. He looked just like the pointing scenes that you see in paintings.

He loved to go camping and hiking throughout the woods in Michigan's forests. And, of course, whenever we got to a lake or a stream or a river he would dive right in. He knew what it meant when I would start packing the camping gear in to the car and would leap in to the front seat in eager anticipation of the long car ride to the adventures to come.

He was very afraid of loud noises, like fireworks or thunder until he got older and deafer. He would curl up at my feet and shiver with fear during thunderstorms.

Sonny loved popcorn and would sit next to me while I watched a movie or a hockey game. I would put a few kernels in my hand and he would eat quite happily eat them.

I'm trying to focus on remembering the wonderful life that Sonny has had with me. I am worried about losing my buddy.

Michael Vick

I am not a big Michael Vick fan. I didn't like him before his conviction. I still don't like him.

If I were a defensive coordinator facing the Eagles, I would do the following:

When Vick is lined up as a wide-out, especially near the formation, I would put a line-backer or defensive lineman on him and tell them to "tee off." When he is not lined up as a QB, he does not get the protection that a QB does. He's just another player at that point. I'd also find a linebacker who owns and loves dogs to line up against Vick. That would be just.

I don't buy the argument that says that Vick has "suffered enough." That's CRAP! He hasn't suffered anything like the suffering that he subjected his dogs to. At the least, he should be made to clean up kennels at dog shelters instead of spending his time in his mansion and in five star hotels.

I've never really liked the Eagles. I like them even less now. When you employ scumbags, you shouldn't expect everyone to love you.

I've added the Eagles to my list of teams that I root against.