Me, a dog person?!?!?

I've never really considered myself a dog person. I think it all started when I "saved" Chrissy from being euthanized by my aunt and Chrissy proceeded to pee on my bed, bite my ankles, etc. As an 8 year old, I never understood why Chrissy didn't love me. In my mind, it was it was me who kept her from being killed. But that's another story. Long story short, I'll pet dogs, I'll be nice to dogs, I'll even eventually have a dog, but I've never been one to really let a dog capture my heart.

That was until Bella came along. My parents got Bella about a year ago and I immediately fell in love. She actually liked me! She would cuddle with me, she didn't pee on my bed, and she didn't bite me. Still, I didn't think I was fully converted to being a "dog person."

Last night mom called me to let me know that Bella wasn't acting right and wouldn't open her mouth. They took her to the vet and the vet suspected a broken jaw. This morning Bella went to the doggie dentist and the x-rays confirmed the broken jaw. She needed surgery to fix it.

Ok, now let's go back to practical, non-dog-person Amanda. I've heard stories of people dropping thousands of dollars into their pets and I truly thought they were crazy. I mean, come on now, it's a dog! Imagine what else you could do with that money.

And then there was Bella. As soon as we heard the vet suspected a broken jaw, we knew repair would be costly, but I couldn't even imagine not fixing it. She's a part of our family now, she deserves it. And, fact of the matter, if we didn't fix it, she'd likely be unable to eat and eventually die. OMG, I'm turning into one of those people who drop some major bucks on their dog! (Ok, it's not actually my money, but I'm really feeling for my parents and so glad they went through with the surgery).

So, my family's friendly, spunky, little shitzu had her first visit to the doggie dentist and had jaw surgery today. We still haven't figured out how it happened, and we probably never will. We've found her on the kitchen table recently, so we're wondering if she fell from the kitchen table and landed on her jaw. The doggie dentist said they most often see broken jaws from abuse and kicking, but her fracture line isn't the typical abuse line, plus no one in the house kicked her. Who knows. No matter how she did it, it won't change the fact that she broke her jaw.

She'll have to eat soft foods from the next 4-6 weeks and never be able to play with hard toys again (her teeth are loose too and might not heal, time will tell). They're supposedly giving her pain pills that will mostly keep her sedated for the next 4-6 weeks, but Mom says she seems almost back to her crazy, energetic self and she's not due for another pill until the morning. She's not allowed out of my parents sight and will have to be crated when they go to work =( Plus, she has to wear a doggie cone.

I never thought I'd say this about a dog, but I feel for her. I really hope she's not in too much pain and she goes back to being her happy, spunky self after she's recovered.

I don't know if I'm a complete convert yet, but I do think I'm one step closer to being a dog person...