Dogs and Pain Levels

It's not something that Dr. Krivitsky would ever prescibe for me.  I have some indication that he might not be much of a pet lover at all.  But I feel I must assure the world that dogs have been a vitally important component of my pain control.

This morning, I woke at 07:30. Lately, I have been getting up much later though a month ago, I planned for a 06:30 wake up and an immediate set of pills which include 10 mg of methedone. However, I've been slipping in my morning routine because I can't call any doctor's office until 09:00.
Today I was clearly at PL 10 and in tears.  Sure I took my methedone and my 'break through' 10 mg of Oxycodone, but I've also come to know these pain meds take 15-20 mins before I feel any relief.

But then there are dogs! These wonderful creatures that were put on God's green earth for no other purpose than to serve man.

I'm sorry if I may be heavily prejudiced against cats, but cats don't truly have the same kind of empathy that dogs have. If given lineup of people and one or two of them may be in pain, a dog will seek out the people in pain, while cats would just stop at the first person that knows how to pet a cat the way they want to be petted. A cat will seek for his own comfort, a dog wants to comfort others even at the expense of his own comfort.  Have you ever watched a dog try to get a baby to stop crying?  Have you seen the baby sometime hit, pinch or otherwise mishandle a dog?  How does the dog react but to maybe lick the baby's face or somehow try to change the context of how the baby handles him?
The dog's first response is not to abandon the child, but to somehow comfort as best a dog can.

Here is an example of the late Sirius.

(Unfortunately, it might not render on your mobile device. I have wrestled with it for hours, no file format seems to work.)

He was Dustin and Lenore's dog that was killed in the fire last May 21st. Dustin is of course getting Lenore used to the dog, and mostly he's trying to teach her to say 'puppy', 'dog' or some other word to identify the dog.

As you may recall, Lenore has a hearing disability, which is half the reason Laura and I get to watch her. Because a regular day-care is very poor at making sure she's wearing her hearing aids at all times so she can develop proper speech.

Sirius takes a few pokes in the face from Lenore, but is not disturbed in the least.  Dogs have come to know this is simply how human babies act, and will simply return the favor with a generous slobber to the face.

Now of course, food snacks will distract a dog entirely, and they at that moment will become very self centered until they have either earned the snack, stolen the snack, or the snack is no longer available.

But removing this distraction, dogs desire to comfort people.  The next point is that the pain relief dogs provide is instant.  You do not need to wait 20 minutes for relief.

My mother recently tried to get a new puppy, but it didn't work out well as the puppy had a little too much energy for her to handle.  Part of the problem is that it has been many years since last she had a dog in the house, and might not know how to read a dog's behavior or what's needed to calm them down.

(Remember: a tired puppy is a good puppy and an exhausted puppy is an excellent puppy.)

What I also would suggest, is that as a dog owner, if you have a few grey hairs yourself, it may be easier to go to a shelter and look for a dog with some grey hairs as well.  An older, adult, dog will be a bit more sedate.  And while you don't get to train the dog from his first moments, if you're not a very skilled dog owner, you really won't be missing much.  And you still get that wonderful dog that will nudge you to lift your spirits, or take some of that pain away. 

A dog won't complain about your moaning and cries through pain.  He'll only trying his best to make those sounds go away. Never will your dog complain, 'I've heard enough from you! Can't you get over it? It can't be that bad.'  No, you can cry and cry and cry forever into your dog's fur and he won't mind in the least.