Co-'s Name is 'Co-'

Our dog Co- is nearly 12 years old

All in all, he is a healthy animal. When we got him 8 years ago, the only inconvenience was his tender stomach. Once in a while, he would all of a sudden develop a diarrhea, with or without vomiting. Coincidentally, this usually would happen when nobody was at home. A few cleaning sessions at 12 o'clock at night and I decided -- enough. Something had to be done about it.

I am not a great cook -- my food would not bring people back to my house begging for more -- but I'm a practicing cook. I cook a lot. In fact, it would be fair to say that, for the last say five years, I'm in a state of cooking something constantly. It could be actively boiling, baking, frying; or it could be passively soaking, overnight, for 24 hours, till it sprouts. My cooking is an obsession. I read cookbooks the way other people read novels.

Hence, the fixing of Co-'s health was going to be done through his stomach. In other words, by changing his diet.

In the beginning a strict regiment of feeding and walking was implemented. No snacking between the feedings. The dog's stomach responded favorably. I find that structured, scheduled activities, especially routine ones like waking up, feeding, walking them, done in an orderly fashion, done every day, make the dog a lot more agreeable and relaxed.

For a while we enjoyed accident-free lifestyle; and it was great.

Then, when he was about 6-7 years old, came a big one....

More "Our dog Co- is nearly 12 years old" Resources

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Too many dog stories should come with warnings: Sentimentality ahead! Manipulative tear-jerker coming at you! But David Wroblewski's debut novel is a dog-rich tale that manages to be the complete opposite of all that. Smart, interesting and original, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" explores an unusual relationship between dogs and people minus the usual quirky adorableness that plagues many ...