The incredible toothless dog

Yesterday the poor dog (Leica) had most of the rest of her teeth pulled.

Four years ago, she was a rescue from Kansas whose owner listened to a new boyfriend and asked the vet to put her to sleep.  The vet pleaded with her to allow him to find a home, so she simply released ownership of the dog.  However, she had taken such poor care of the little girl during the nine years she had her, that the vet could only pull the teeth that were in the worst shape and ensure that we knew more teeth pulling would occur.  There was no way to recover from the damage.

Two years ago, we pulled a bunch of teeth and yesterday the rest came out.  Ok ... she still has five, but they are in random places around her mouth and will never allow her to crunch hard food again.  They're pretty solidly in there and the doctor says that until they absolutely have to come out, there's no reason to do more damage to her poor mouth.

It's soft food from here on in.  Which is actually kind of funny because it's always been a treat for her.  There's no punishment in this at all on her side of the equation, except for the fact that post-surgery is miserable!  Since they had her under, I asked them to clip her nails because the two of us both cry a lot whenever I have to do that.  So, I brought home a dog last night with a sore mouth, probably sore feet and still loopy from the anesthetic. 

I was thinking about how she will simply adjust, without complaint, to the new limitations on her life.  Once the pain of surgery is gone, Leica will not think twice about having no teeth.  She won't whine about it or look at me accusingly when I give her soft food and find soft treats.  It won't occur to her that it's a big deal. 

I wish I was more like that - to be able to understand that when life places limitations on me that can't be changed or removed - I shouldn't complain and whine. 

Don't get me wrong, if there is a good way to change something, I need to move forward.  But, I still shouldn't complain and whine - right?  Right!  That behavior gets me no where.

Today I'm thinking about a great life lesson I've learned from my dog. 

...unless of course I invent doggie dentures!