[stylist] Old Dogs and Old Tricks

Fri Jan 20 16:55:14 UTC 2012

Brad and Shawn,
It is a funny thing about the psychology behind long paragraphs. I tend to
write in long paragraphs, but since I started writing for Suite 101, I've
been more conscious of doing paragraph word counts. Our  guidelines are that
they should be between 50 and 75 words. I think it's not only the thought of
having to read so much, but the other side of the coin -- the sense of
accomplishment after reading a paragraph. The shorter the paragraphs, the
more times the reader feels that sense of accomplishment. *grin*
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Brad Dunsé
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2012 10:20 AM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Old Dogs and Old Tricks

Shawn,

Thanks. You bring up a good point, 
especially  for on-line reading. It is best to 
break up the thoughts, as visually if someone 
sees a long paragraph, it tends to roll the eyes 
as if to say, "I've got to read all of that?" 
even though the entire piece might be long. I've 
got plenty of those stories, like pulling in the 
drive and seeing the pup standing on top of the 
countertop plowing teeth first into a plate of 
Christmas cookies, then seeing the  headlights 
pull in the drive, and beat cheeks off of there 
to not get caught. As if the crumb riddled 
whiskers hanging off her jowls were no clue to 
where the Russian Butter Cakes went.  Yeah right.

Brad

On 1/20/2012  08:46 AM Jacobson, Shawn D said...
>Brad
>
>Good piece.  As someone with two dogs, I know 
>all about the tail wagging and the food 
>stealing.  One of our dogs got into my Christmas 
>stocking and ate two chocolates and tried to get 
>into a couple of individual serving booze 
>bottles (adding a whole new meaning to the 
>phrase "hair of the dog"). (smile/grin).
>
>Your dog naming convention reminds me of my mom 
>and her dog Rocky.  When he was killed by being 
>run over by a car, she got a new dog that looked 
>just like him and called her new dog "Rerun".
>
>My only critique is that you have a long 
>paragraph towards the beginning which talks 
>about Buster's infirmities' then about how she 
>bares up well under then.  Probably should be two paragraphs.
>
>Anyway, keep it up.
>
>Shawn
>
>P.S.  Did you hear about the insomniac dyslexic 
>agnostic?  He spend all night tossing and turning wondering if there is a
dog?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org 
>[mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Brad Dunsé
>Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 9:14 PM
>To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>Subject: [stylist] Old Dogs and Old Tricks
>
>This was a blog bit I wrote a year and a half
>ago. A friend is experiencing similar, so I
>looked it up and re-read it today. I tossed a
>couple fixes in it but it probably could use
>more. Nonetheless I thought to post it here as
>is, despite its length of 1470 words. Don't feel
>you need to scour over for detailed feedback. If
>something stands out as your read, great.
>
>Old Dogs and Old Tricks
>
>The morning routine is commanded by a series of
>whimpers and whines before I even get in a full
>cup of coffee. Standing before me with a stubby
>tail jittering back and forth, rear end swaying
>left and right, intense pupils staring out of
>brown eyes and a tongue dangling to the right
>side of the mouth over huge teeth, is my old dog Buster.
>
>Now Buster, surprising to most, is a she, not a
>he. When I decided on a liver and white English
>Springer spaniel pup so many years ago now, I was
>determined to call him Buster Brown. you know as
>the old shoe company? The fact that I prefer
>female pups was no barrier for my naming
>conventions. So walking through the parks and
>neighborhoods with my wife to my left and pup
>in-between, calling out shortened nick names
>like, "Good Busty girl . That's my Busty girl .
>Come here big busty girl," pretty much jerks the
>heads of passersby as they dart widened eyes from
>wife to pup to wife to pup, wondering "Which one is he talking to?"
>
>The morning visual and audible ceremony is
>reminder I need to give her a morning dose of
>meds, or p I l l as I have to say, as to not
>evoke canine hysteria. She likes the p I l ls
>because she gets them wrapped in a small piece of
>bread followed by a small handful of little dog
>bone treats I scatter on the floor, to which I
>call out "Scatter treats. scatter treats" OK so
>I'm a total dorkster when it comes to my pup.
>
>Now, Buster is nearly 14-years-old, has had a
>wonderful life having gone camping, canoeing,
>goose chasing, long walks, sightseeing, bird
>watching, and really has lived a good, full life.
>At fourteen however, her beer barrel body is
>riddled with fatty tumors, for over a year now
>has a fist-sized tumor in one lung, has tooth
>issues, takes one med to keep the tumor from
>growing too fast, takes another med to prevent
>coughing and wheezing attacks caused by fluid
>building up in the lung, and takes yet more meds
>for joint medicine to help the arthritis. Her
>back is swayed resembling an old 1900s barn soon
>to cave in from the center. Her front-leg limp is
>getting more pronounced, and her hip movement is
>very stiff. She doesn't always come when you call
>because she is flat out tired. I question whether
>she actually hears half the time, and she'll
>crash into your legs if there's not enough lights
>on. But, she is able to scale up and down 13
>steps each time she goes out to do her job in the
>back yard. She still enjoys her special moments
>on a short walk, or blackened teeth from a good
>dose of spring dirt from rooting around for
>whatever she roots around for, as my wife and I
>chat while swaying to and fro on our backyard
>swing. To our surprise, as well as our
>veterinarian's . as she puts it, "Buster just
>doesn't know she is sick," and continues to plod 
>on without too much complaint.
>
>Now, Buster has had a long-time appetite for
>bread products. Giving it to her as a medication
>corn dog doesn't help I'm sure, but I'm tired of
>putting my fingers down a saliva filled mouth .,
>if I'd wanted that sort of excitement I'd have
>considered dentistry as a profession, so bread is
>the preferred dispensation methodology.
>
>Before you get misty eyed over this pup's
>condition, she still is able to pull off her
>Houdini routine. What do I mean? Well, her
>biggest trick is her disappearing trick. No. She
>doesn't disappear, however nice that might be at
>times of misbehaving, which seems to be
>increasing with age; it is the bread products that she can make disappear.
>
>After catching her standing at the counter top
>with her bowed rear-legs stretched to the ground
>and nose to the air, sniffing out items on the
>countertop, we began to be mindful of what was
>left on the counter, as in when one comes home
>from grocery shopping for instance?
>
>Having gone down stairs to do something, my wife
>had come down as well to put something away. We
>heard a big clickety clack, clickety clack on the
>floor upstairs. My wife and I simultaneously
>snapped heads towards each other and dashed for
>the stairs yelling "BUSTER!! Get out of there!"
>By the time we got up stairs the only thing we
>saw was a lip smacking smile on my dog, and an
>empty plastic bag of freshly bought hot dog buns
>on the floor, which disappeared in less than a
>minute! Do you know what bread products tend to
>do to an elderly dogs gastric activity? Let's
>just say there's no need to blame the dog;
>everyone in the house knows it was the dog.
>
>Who is excused from the Houdini trick? Not
>grandma, no. At my parent's place where Buster
>can do no wrong, my elderly mom had just gotten
>home from shopping and I came up the stairs to
>find her in a Sherlock Holmes hunch looking all
>around the kitchen and hallway for something.
>
>"You looking for something mom?" I said.
>
>"Yeah. I thought I had bought some hot dog buns."
>
>Oh no! I thought. "Well, umm where were they?"
>
>"I thought they were in the bag next to the
>pantry," she mumbled as she scoured the floor.
>
>"Look for an empty bag mom; I think Buster may have found them."
>
>"Hahahaha," she laughed. "I don't think so, I've
>been right here the whole time. I must have put them away somewhere"."
>
>But nope. Sure enough, there lay the empty bag as
>evidence the disappearing bun trickster struck
>again, in broad daylight with people walking by!
>
>This happened again the day of my daughter's
>going away get together, before she shipped off
>to Kyrgyz Republic for her Peace Corps
>assignment. An hour or so before the party
>started, I heard my sweet soft spoken daughter
>yelling, "Buster! No! Bad dog. What's wrong with
>you! Get out of there. Let go of it! NOW!"
>
>Fortunately, our olfactories were spared by my
>daughter's save, but the buns were yet a loss from toothy punctures.
>
>As I sat watching my pup this morning with head
>in bowl, lapping up water in her traditional
>triplet manner . slurp slurp slurp . slurp slurp
>slurp . slurp slurp slurp ., legs quivering under
>her own body weight, back caving from weakening
>muscles, breathing through her nose as she drank,
>hearing a snap of mucus in her nostrils now and
>again as the effects of the tumor begins to
>become more evident; for just a second the image
>of a much more youthful Buster stood at the water
>bowl. I remembered all the wonderful times we've
>had together playing hide-n-seek with the treats
>as she's sniff them out under me as I lay on the
>floor, making her think she called up birds with
>her barks as I pointed out a bird flying by
>saying "Call 'em up pal. call up some birds!" and
>making her balance a treat on her nose, her
>staring at it cross eyed until I'd say "OK pal,"
>then snapping her head in a circle and eat the
>treat out of thin air. Soon the shapely muscular
>image of my pup was replaced with the current,
>swaggered version, and I realize time is drawing
>near for us to say good bye to a very good
>friend. As I watched and listened to her drink,
>somehow all the mischievous antics and
>misbehavior didn't seem to matter much anymore. I
>saluted her in my mind, honoring her maintenance
>of a good disposition between the groans at
>night, trying to get comfortable as she lays her
>tired self for a night's unrest, and struggling
>on the 13th step on her way back up from her morning constitutional. .
>
>We can certainly learn from these canine life
>blessings we call pets. all the things she's done
>over the years that have upset or annoyed us seem
>to have little impact as the chances for her to
>repeat those behaviors are reduced daily, and the end draws closer.
>
>Why then, can't we afford that right to family
>and friends now, instead of waiting until it's
>too late? The trick my old dog Buster has taught
>me living her life, really unselfishly, despite
>the natural instinct to capitalize on
>opportunities when they present themselves, is
>being there unconditionally for others when she
>felt every which way but comfortable, and in her
>own trials, only wants to please and spend time
>with others, all the while hiding any discomfort
>until it is just not possible any longer.
>
>   Now. wouldn't that be an old trick for a few of us old dogs to learn?
>
>
>
>
>Brad Dunsé
>
>"Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and
>waiting for the other person to die." --Unknown
>
>http://www.braddunsemusic.com
>
>http://www.facebook.com/braddunse
>
>http://www.twitter.com/braddunse
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Brad Dunsé

"A goal is a dream with a plan to get there." --Capt'n Frank

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