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The Un-Comfort Zone II by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. How My Best Friend Turned Me into a Dog Lover Even though I’ve always had dogs, I’d never been much of a dog person, until Buddy. I was always a cat lover. Buddy wasn’t even supposed to be my dog. When my ex-wife and I divorced, the dog we had a the time went with her. My sons would still see the dog on weekends when they were with their mother, and one day they came home and asked, “Daddy, may we please get a dog that likes us?” My heart went out to them, and I thought, “Every kid should have a dog that loves them.” I agreed, but said we would have to adopt an adult dog. I explained that because of my busy travel schedule, I would not have time to train a puppy. They said they wanted a golden retriever or a border collie, so I set them up to look at dogs on several rescue shelter websites. They eventually found a rescue site with videos of dogs. My sons had me look at a video of a border collie fetching a tennis ball and playing with other dogs. Unlike the boring still photographs of dogs most rescue sites offered, this video showed a dog which appeared to be both friendly and fun. Unfortunately, the rescue shelter was over an hour away and was only open when the boys were in school, so I had to go out there alone and make the decision of whether or not to adopt. It was the easiest decision I ever made. Buddy was every- thing the video promised and more. He was friendly, eager to please, and loved to play fetch. My sons needed a dog who would love them and play with them, so I adopted Buddy on the spot. Every other dog in my life was always someone else’s dog. My first dogs were my parents’ dogs. The two dogs I owned while I was married chose and preferred my ex-wife. Buddy was supposed to be my sons’ dog. They fed him, walked him, and played with him, but I was the one he chose. He became my shadow and followed me everywhere I went. In short, Buddy’s love turned me into a dog lover. Buddy’s first symptom showed up on a Thursday morning when he threw up on the front porch. It looked like his entire breakfast, and the kibble didn’t look much different than when I gave it to him. I didn’t think much of it; I knew dogs occasionally threw up. It was a few hours later when I went out for our daily game of fetch that I noticed he had not gone back to it. That raised a red flag, but not a big one. Perhaps I was anthropomorphizing, but I wouldn’t go back and eat my vomit, so didn’t worry about it. I got the hose out and washed off the porch. The evening after he threw up, Buddy turned his nose up at more kibble, but ate plenty of treats. The next morning, he showed no interest in his regular food. He seemed okay other than that, so I decided to just keep an eye on him. That afternoon when it was time to play fetch, he seemed a little sluggish, so I decided not to run him, and just let him rest. He still hadn’t eaten his food, so I offered him some treats. He ate very few of them. Now that was odd. www.starironworks.com SERVING THE WATER WELL INDUSTRY Serving the Drilling Industry 257 Caroline Street Punxsutawney, PA 15767 800-927-0560 • 814-427-2555 Fax: 814-427-5164 16 JUNE 2019 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®