A Tail of Two Heads

Halloween is upon us once again. Scary movies are coming out in the theaters and, at the grocery stores, you can't help but notice the assortment of candies and chocolate in their very colorful wrappers, all signifying that Halloween is approaching. It is a time for fright and ghoulish activities, which I enjoy occasionally but never when I am alone. However, being alone is usually when spooky things happen.

In the spirit of Halloween, I would like to tell a story that happened to me when I was a massage therapist many years ago. Although there are dogs in my story, it is not about them for this blog. This is the "Everything Else" part of my blog. Please note that I will change the names of the people in my story to protect the not-so innocent.

My story is about a woman who was referred to me by one of my private massage clients. This woman had Siamese twins for daughters who were in their late teens. They were a rare type of Siamese twins because they had two heads sharing one body. The mother had informed me that her daughters were experiencing neck and back pain, which was easy enough to remedy with massage. Initially, I was hesitant to do the massage because I didn't know how they would fit on my massage table, and I only had one face cradle. But I accepted the job because I figured it would be an experience to massage Siamese twins.

The Siamese twins lived in the Melrose area of Los Angeles with their mother. It was a big two-story home in a nice, safe, but crowded neighborhood so parking was tough.

It was ten minutes to six in the evening when I finally got into the house and met the mother who had hired me. Walking into the house, I felt an eeriness that caused me to scan the room. Perhaps, it was due to the darkness of the room because the curtains were all drawn, and only one dimly lit lamp was turned on at a corner of the room. The room looked unused as if not many visitors came to the house and a mustiness that suggested that the furnishings were left unattended. I took a deep breath and tried to feel the vibe of the room but came up nothing.

"Hi, I'm Maureen. We spoke on the phone," said the mother. Maureen must have been in her late forties or early fifties. She was a thin, weary looking woman with dark, short hair. She told me that her daughters, Julia and Elizabeth, were upstairs waiting for me, and then led the way to the stairs walking ahead of me.

As I was ascending the stairs, I noticed on the top of the stairs was a pair of overweight Pugs. It was no surprise that they didn't greet me at the front door like most dogs did. Judging from their size, I was certain they had decided it would take too much effort to run down the stairs just to go back up on again. They were watching me with their bulging eyes and were panting in the process as if watching me were an exertion. I figured they belonged to the twins. Pugs already look abnormal to me but there was an unusual strangeness about them that was unsettling.

A little breathless after climbing the stairs and feeling the heaviness of my table, I continued to follow Maureen. I could hear chattering coming out of a bedroom and presumed that the twins were in there. Maureen was a couple feet ahead of me as she entered the bedroom first.

“Girls, Arlene is here, the massage therapist,” I heard Maureen say.

Upon entering the room, I immediately felt an odd sensation come over me. I knew that there was something off in the room. It may have been the way the room was decorated, but I think that just contributed to the creepiness that I felt. The room was distinctly divided in half by way of its décor. One side of the room, the half towards the windows, was decorated quite plainly with the eggshell paint and a few framed pictures of flowers. The other half of the room, which was towards the bedroom door leading to the hallway, was painted with dark red and black stripes. It was such a stark contrast that it startled me when I walked in.

The twins were sitting on their bed in their bathrobe. They must have seen the look of surprise on my face because one of them said, “Pretty cool, huh?” It was the twin with the dark eyeliner and hair that was colored jet black with one thick streak of red. It was pretty easy to deduce which side of the bedroom she had.

“Wow, it’s different,” was all I could say. But in my mind, the word “bizarre” was more appropriate.

“Arlene, this is Julia,” said Maureen, placing her hand on the right shoulder of the twin with the dark eyeliner. “And, this is Elizabeth,” placing her hand on the side of the twin without make-up.

I was amazed that two people who shared the same body could be so different. Julia, who had the "goth" look, was the gregarious one, and very animated with her black manicure. Elizabeth was like vanilla, ordinary and unmemorable. However, there was an emptiness in her eyes that caught my attention. Also, I noticed that the hand that she controlled wasn't manicured. Was she intentionally being plain to offset her sister's appearance? Maybe.

"Have you ever massaged Siamese twins before?" asked Julia. Without waiting for my response, she continued, "Our necks are really sore mainly because when we talk to each other, we look at each other and we do that hundred times a day, you know what I mean? Also, it’s hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in which is probably why our back hurts," she said with a sigh.

"Interesting...well, since I only have one face cradle, I won't be using it," I said. "So, you can either lay face down with your arm on your forehead or lay your heads to the side on a pillow. And, to answer your question, you guys are the first Siamese twins I've ever worked on."

I looked at Elizabeth who hadn't said a word. "Elizabeth, do you have any questions?" She turned her head slowly towards me, shook her head and just continued to stare at me with a blank expression. She may be shy, I thought.

"Elizabeth doesn't talk much with people she doesn't know," explained Julia. "She'll only talk to me." As if on cue, Elizabeth leaned over to her and whispered something. "She says she's fine with laying on the table with her head to the side but without a pillow."

"Okay. Are you fine with that too?" I asked, to which Julia nodded her head. "Great. Let me set up so we can get started."

As I proceeded to set up my massage table, Maureen said, "I'll leave you guys alone," and then shut the door behind her leaving the two Pugs in the room with us. They were breathing heavily even though they were just lying on their dog beds.

It was a huge bedroom with it's own bathroom allowing me to set the massage table at the foot of the bed, and still had plenty of room to move around. While I was putting the sheets on the table, I let the twins know that if they needed the bathroom to go before the massage got started. Again, Elizabeth whispered to Julia, who said, "I guess we need to go."

By the time they got out of the bathroom, I was ready for them. "So, make sure you guys go under the first sheet, on your stomach. I'm going to wash my hands while you guys do that, okay?" I said. I got a nod from Julia. No response from Elizabeth. Weird, I thought, as I entered the bathroom.

When I got out of the bathroom, the twins were under the sheet. I noticed that the lights were turned down low and two candles were lit, one on each nightstand. "Are you guys warm enough?" I asked. Julia had said yes, and nothing from Elizabeth, of course.

I looked at the red clock that was on Julia's nightstand and saw that it was already quarter after six. I wanted to make sure I was done in an hour, which was the allotted time Maureen had hired me to do.

I undraped the top sheet to expose the twins’ back to the level of the coccyx or tailbone and was surprised to see that the twins had an elongated coccyx. They had a human tail just like a dog, but it was only about two inches long. It made me wonder if they had the ability to wag their coccyx. In the years I had been a massage therapist, there had only been one other person with a tail similar to theirs. A human tail was a rare sight.

After I gave the twins my regular spiel about the massage, I found out that the dogs were named Cleo and Tony. “After Cleopatra and Marc Anthony from that story, you know the one, right?” said Julia.

"Yes, I do," I said, then remained quiet. Normally, I didn't talk while giving a massage because it was the client's time not mine, but I was curious to know the dogs’ names. Cleo and Tony had moved from their dog beds, settled near the massage table, and were already snoring noisily away.

Fifteen minutes into the massage, I sensed something strange that made me look up. Because the lighting was low in the room, it was easy to notice that to my left the flame of each candle was flickering rapidly and had grown to about six inches tall. Both Cleo and Tony had woken up, their heads lifted and their ears erect. They sensed something as well. I didn't see anything but I felt that there was a presence in the room and it was moving towards the massage table.

Suddenly, I noticed that Elizabeth had raised her head and was looking directly at me. The emptiness in her eyes was gone and was replaced by something that resembled hatred.

Jeepers, what's going on, I wondered. "Is everything okay Elizabeth?" I asked calmly. She nodded and then slowly smiled. I knew immediately that she was aware that something sinister was approaching us because I felt it too, and so did the dogs. Julia was the only one oblivious to it.

Elizabeth put her head down and continued to smile. My skin tingled from the coolness that seemed to crawl pass me. Then, it was as if something touched my arm and squeezed it, which made me take a sharp inhalation. Julia must have heard me because she looked up at me and asked, "What happened?" When I told her that it was nothing, she simply said, "Can you grab that blanket on the bed and put it on me? I suddenly got the chill."

"Sure," I said, reaching over to the bed to grab the blanket. Moving back towards the massage table, at the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something. I turned my head to get a better look but there was nothing. I told myself to stop and just focus on massaging Julia's neck, with which I was almost done.

I covered the twins’ lower body with the blanket and proceeded to massage Julia's neck. I closed my eyes to discern where this presence might be. It's odd but closing my eyes helps me see things that I can't with my eyes open. Sure enough, as soon as I closed my eyes, I could see that behind me, at the corner of the room on Elizabeth's side, was a being. I could only see a shadow that seemed a little shorter than I, who was standing perfectly still just observing me. The feeling I sensed from it was anger. Perhaps, it was the same anger that I saw in Elizabeth's eyes. Was this entity feeding off of Elizabeth or vice versa? Who knows. At that point, I knew I just wanted to finish the massage and get out of there.

After working on Julia's neck I moved over to Elizabeth. I felt Elizabeth instantly stiffen as I touched both sides of her neck. "Can you take a deep breath in and let it out slowly?" I asked her gently. I waited for a response and got nothing.

I asked again in the same manner, when Elizabeth finally spoke. "No! I don't want to take a deep breath. Take your hands off me,” she sharply demanded. “I didn't even agree to this massage.”

“Elizabeth, stop it,” said Julia immediately.

Startled by Elizabeth’s reaction, my hands jerked away from her like a reflex response. I needed to take several deep breaths before calmly saying, “Well, I don’t want to do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable. I can certainly just work on Julia if that’s what you want.”

“I want you to NOT touch me again. And, I want you out of MY room,” Elizabeth harshly said.

“You promised to be good Elizabeth,” said Julia timidly. “This is my room too and I want her to stay and finish my massage.” Her statement seemed to intensify Elizabeth’s anger.

“Shut up Julia,” hissed Elizabeth.

Yikes! I was so tempted to walk out of the room and go home, but I knew I couldn’t. I felt my body starting to tremble and my breathing slightly quickening. For all I knew, Elizabeth could have been preparing to do a 360 with her head. And, how the heck was I supposed to finish massaging Julia when she shared her body with Elizabeth? There was so much anger in the air that I could feel it enveloping the room. As I stepped away from the massage table to create some distance between Elizabeth and me, I was terrified to see with my peripheral vision that something was standing near Elizabeth’s nightstand. I dared NOT to get a better look at it for fear of becoming immobilized by the sight of it. I just knew that it looked transparent from what I saw and it felt hostile. Suddenly, Cleo and Tony started to bark, which startled me and caused my heart to race.

“Elizabeth, make them stop,” pleaded Julia. I didn’t know whether she was referring to the dogs or whatever it was near the nightstand.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and ignored Julia, while the dogs continued to bark. Before I knew it, I felt something coming close to my back that gave me goose bumps down my arms and legs. Crap! I could hear my heart pounding as I tried to calm myself with my breathing.

“Elizabeth, please stop it!” cried Julia.

Hearing Julia’s plea for the second time made me realize that Julia knew all along what was happening. It made me feel sorry for her, which, thank goodness, distracted me from the fear that was starting to escalate within me. I focused my thoughts on Julia and ignored everything else. In doing so, I felt calmer, which then enabled me to control my fear. I envisioned white light around me and took several deep breaths. After praying for god to help me a few times, I felt more collected and knew that nothing would happen to me.

“Elizabeth, clearly, I’m not welcomed here and it’s not worth it for me to stay. I’m done,” I said in an even, composed voice. I waited for her reaction. When none came, I continued, “I’m going to the bathroom to wash my hands. While I’m in there, you guys can get off the table. I’m sorry Julia.”

Even though I still felt that presence behind me, it wasn’t as prominent. I just prayed that it wouldn’t follow me to the bathroom.

After I gathered my things from the bedroom, Julia apologized to me, which made me feel sorry for her again. She was literally stuck with her disturbed twin. Elizabeth averted her eyes from me, which I preferred. Maureen was neither surprised to see me done early nor upset when I explained that Elizabeth wasn’t interested in a massage. I sensed that she knew what had happened, which made me feel that I wasn’t the first massage therapist to attempt at massaging her daughters. Regardless, I was paid in full for my time.

As I drove away from the house, I thought of Cleo and Tony. I felt bad for them. Not only were they deprived of their walks, which explained their overweight condition, they also had to put up with Elizabeth’s craziness. It was no wonder they had that strange look in their eyes when I initially saw them. I would have that same stress and anxiety reflecting in my eyes if I had to deal with entities born from Elizabeth’s hostility. I concluded that whatever entity was in the bedroom was either an extension of Elizabeth or something she had attracted because of her anger. But what could she be so angry about, and why didn’t Julia have the same issue? I was clueless. Julia must be terrified of her sister. I would be. How was it possible for one to be so different from the other when you shared the same body? Perhaps, it was because they had two separate brains.

So many questions that ran through my mind as I drove home that evening, and no answers to satisfy them. I was just happy I didn’t live in that house and relieved to be out of it.

I had read years ago after that incident that angry teenagers could actually create a poltergeist energy at home. Loud noises or objects being thrown are considered to be poltergeist behavior. While none of those things happened when I was in the twins’ room, who knows what would have happened if I had ignored Elizabeth’s wishes and continued to massage Julia. Besides, what else could explain what I felt and saw in the twins’ bedroom? The fact that I saw a shapeless form near Elizabeth’s nightstand, which I never can do with my eyes open, indicated to me the degree of hostility she had within her that enabled her to project a visible image. At first glance, Elizabeth seemed innocuous judging from her plain appearance alone, while Julia’s dark proclivities in appearance and décor offered the opposite impression. I was certainly fooled, but I was sure that I wasn’t the only one who made the same mistake. Of course, I never heard from Maureen again. But I would hope that she eventually sought help for Elizabeth for the sake of everybody’s sanity in that household.

Thank goodness dogs can never project anything so ominous. They are of pure spirit, and therefore, it is impossible, in my opinion. Dogs who are mean or angry became that way because a human being was responsible for getting them to that state.

Love, love your dogs. If you don’t have one, adopt or save one. Then, on Halloween night, make sure your dogs, especially the black colored ones, of which I have three, are safely in the house. Even though it’s a night of sweets, costumes and merriment, there is always someone demented enough lurking around with evil intentions ready to prey on the unexpected. I hope you enjoyed my tale…my trick and treat to you. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. Any comment is welcomed.

Puppies and Babies

For this blog, I thought about Margaret, our physical therapist, who works at the same vet hospital I do and who has returned to work part-time. Margaret brings her baby, Justin, to work most of the time. While Margaret is working, Justin gets to sleep or play in the reception area with Terry, our receptionist, and her dogs Chilly and Trekker. Justin has become part of the pack, which he's used to because he's got three dogs at home. I write about Margaret because she's a perfect example of someone who had dogs before deciding to have a baby.

I'm sure you've heard people say that if you want to see what it's like to have kids, get a dog first. I have told the same things to people who were thinking about having kids. The reason is having dogs is the closest experience to having kids. Dogs need almost as much care as kids. They are totally dependent on you. I do recognize that there are differences between human and doggie kids. Okay, I've never had human kids just the furry kind so everything that I will write about is based on observation.

As I thought about puppies and babies, there seemed to be a number of similar issues that people have to consider when having them. Some issues are of lesser concern when it comes to puppies. But when you compare and contrast having puppies and/or babies there seems to be more similarities than not.

One obvious issue not to worry about with a pup is breastfeeding. When Ripley and Morpheus were puppies, I never had to breastfeed them...thank god. They were four months old and were able to eat out of a bowl at that age compared to infants of the same age who are dependent on a breast or bottle. Gosh, breastfeeding looks painful! I'm not sure exactly what it feels like but I can't imagine any pleasure in it as some men may fantasize.

I would think that breastfeeding can be a struggle. I've been told by some mothers that breastfeeding can be so painful that some of them just could not do it. Thank goodness for the invention of bottle feeding. What in the world did nursing mothers do before 1845 when they couldn't breastfeed? That was the year the rubber nipple of bottle feeding was invented and patent. Of course, breastfeeding is better than the bottle because it's a way for the mom and baby to bond as well as help build up the baby's immunity due to the fact that the mom passes on her immunity via her breast milk.

The other thing I never had to do was buy diapers, which can get very expensive when you think about how many years you would have to buy them as the kid gets older. Fortunately, during Margaret's baby shower, she received tons of diapers which I am sure has been helpful. Now that I think about it, even though it wasn't necessary for me to buy diapers for Ripley and Morpheus, I did have to buy pee pads which I suppose is comparable to diapers. However, after they were potty trained, they rarely used them since they were being walked and were able to go to the back or front yard to do their business. Boy, I wished I had put diapers on Ripley when she was a pup. It would have saved me a lot of stress and aggravation. Morpheus was so easy. He seemed to know what to do at four months already. I'm sure Ripley told him what to do. Elektra was around four years old when we got her so she was no problem.

I must admit that having to change a diaper is probably easier than cleaning up a soiled carpet or floor. It was frustrating and annoying having to clean up after Ripley when she was a pup as well as when we were taking care of Bailey, my sister's Boston Terrier. Whenever Bailey would stay over, every morning I'd wake up I would see a puddle of pee either in my kitchen or living room floor even though there had been a pee pad for her. What an aggravation that was! I was so relieved when she was finally potty trained since she spent a lot of time at my house.

A major concern most mothers have after the baby is born or get a puppy is the question of vaccination. I stopped vaccinating my dogs after a certain age because of its long term affects. But with babies, many mothers are conflicted. They want their child protected and yet, they don't want their child to be exposed to toxins from the many vaccinations that are required. Margaret was no different. She was torn. She had said, "I don't even vaccinate my dogs. Why should I vaccinate my kid?" But due to pressures of her parents and people around her and the possible guilt she would have if something were to happen to Justin because he wasn't vaccinated, she decided to do it. It's too bad you can't do a titer on a child after the first round of vaccination as you could with a dog.

Consequent to her decision, Margaret asked me about acupuncture to help Justin with the side effects of vaccination. Justin was barely a month old at that time. Basically, I told Margaret that the acupuncture could help build Justin's immune system by stengthening his digestive system, which in Chinese Medicine is still forming. Fortunately, it was a coincidence that I was about to attend a pediatric seminar the weekend after Margaret had asked me about acupuncture. So, I passed along whatever information I got from the seminar to Margaret that I felt would be helpful to her. Then she scheduled to have Justin come in for acupuncture.

Justin had recently turned a month old when he came in for his first acupuncture treatment. Even though Margaret was on the table holding Justin, he was still so squiggly. His arms and legs were moving so much while I was trying to put his needles in that Margaret had said, "He's harder than needling a dog, huh?" I just laughed and agreed. There was one Golden Retriever puppy to which I could compare Justin. I think the dog's name was Prince. He was a crazy, ball of energy that I needed a vet technician to hold him down so that I could needle him. The vet tech could barely contain Prince. I was so relieved when his treatment was over since it was stressful having to re-insert his needles a few times.

With Justin, because he was like a little octopus, I also had to re-insert a few of his needles. Even though he had cried so much initially, he was a trooper in the end. But I think the crying was because he was hungry. Once he was breastfeeding while I did moxa (a process by which I wave a stick of the herb mugwort over the needles), he was quiet and content. Margaret has been good about bringing him once a month for treatment to strengthen his digestive system and build his immunity. He seems to be a very healthy baby.

Another choice to make is child or pet care for when you have to go to work. First of all, you have to find someone you trust who will take great care of your tot or a daycare center that will do the same. Secondly, you have to be able to afford to pay for that sitter or daycare. I've heard many people tell me that going back to work basically pays for daycare or that it's less expensive to stay at home than to pay for child care. That's when I say to myself, "Thank god for dogs!" You can leave a puppy at home alone in a crate or a gated area. You can't do that with a baby otherwise child services will be pounding at your door. And, you don't really have to worry about getting a sitter for your puppy unless you're gone all day for work or your puppy needs medication, and even then you can hire someone for an hour or so to do those things for you. It's much more affordable.

Obviously, Margaret brings Justin to work for the two reasons I've mentioned about child care. It's wonderful to be in a work environment where the other employees and our clients are happy to see Justin. It's also funny to see the curiosity of some of our doggie clients when they see Justin, who show no trepidations when they come near him. Terry does an awesome job with him while she works, and it's so cute to see that her dogs Chilly and Trekker watch over him as well. As I said before, he is just one of the pack now. It wouldn't surprise me if his first word were to be "woof". He's always around dogs which I think is fantastic. Dogs are so calming and loving that they make the best companions for a baby. However, they are some dogs that may not do well with babies and vice versa. It's too bad when that happens because I think they miss out on the bonding experience.

Teething or chewing is the last thing I want to mention. Even though Justin is now five months old and putting his hand in his mouth, Margaret doesn't think he's teething yet. The great thing about teething in babies is that they don't destroy your belongings. They just want to bite on their toys, and because they don't have teeth yet, things remain intact. Yes, they may also cry and be in discomfort but at least you don't need to replace pairs of shoes, wires, cables or a kitchen table because all of its legs had been chewed away. That's the damage that Morpheus did along with chomping on our ankles each time we'd pass by him. You don't know how happy I was when he was over that phase.

When Margaret was still pregnant I remember asking her if she was going to forget her dogs when her baby comes. I asked her because I've heard a number of incidences where a dog was given away or ignored once the baby came. Margaret simply said, "Of course not. They're my kids." I knew her answer before I heard it but I was glad to hear it. I get so perturb when I would hear stories of dogs developing a skin disease due to stress because he was left in the basement or stuck in the back yard getting depressed from neglect...aarh! I am happy that there are people like Margaret who integrate their child with their furry ones. I believe that kids who are exposed to animals at an early age and interact with them in a comfortable, loving environment become more compassionate towards other animals. After all, we are social animals who flourish because of one another. We might as well be good to each other.

In my opinion, puppies and babies are one and the same because of how we care for them. My dogs always eat before I do (I know that's not an "alpha" thing to do, but I don't care). In the mornings, I let them go potty first even though I may need to go myself. I leave the air conditioning on for them when I think the temperature will get to 85 degrees. I know I'm not the only one who does this. Also, we will always see them as our babies no matter how old they grow to be. Unfortunately, dogs don't live as long as kids. I wish they did. I would love for my dogs to live up to their thirties or forties. I would be happy to take care of them until then. Hey, there are some parents who are continuing to support their kids at that age, and they aren't happy to do so. Can you blame them? A child is supposed to become independent especially when they reach adulthood. On the other hand, a dog will always be dependent on you no matter what age, but he will also consistently show his love for you. A child may not always demonstrate his love for you especially when he becomes an adult. And, that is the biggest difference I find! I'm just saying...dogs are pretty awesome! Honestly, I've never seen an ugly puppy, but I have seen a few unattractive babies (bad as that may have sounded, I'm sure some of you are nodding your head in agreement with me). It's a good thing that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Love, love your dogs. If you don't have one, adopt or save one. Then, if you do decide to have kids, you may want to consider getting a dog first if you don't already have one. A dog will certainly train you to become a better parent especially if you get a puppy. Your responsibilities will basically be the same since a baby and puppy are completely dependent on you. You may just get less sleep with a baby. Before Ripley, I never knew I had maternal feelings. People who truly see their dogs as their kids, like myself, want the same things for their dogs. We want them to be happy, comfortable, healthy and safe which I think is what all parents want for their kids.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Any comment is welcomed.

Love is...Dog

Ahh, February, the shortest month of the year. You blink and the month is over, that's how I feel about it. The color red comes to my mind when this month arrives because of Valentine's Day. I love the color red because it screams vibrancy and love. Valentine's Day, a day we're supposed to express our love for our romantic partner, is sort of a silly day in my opinion. I find that it makes some people feel obligated to prove their love by having to give flowers, chocolate, or whatever to their beloved. Aren't we supposed to do that every day, or at least every other day?

Speaking of obligation. Years ago, before I was married, I had a boyfriend who got me a Valentine's card with a bouquet of flowers. He got them at the last minute. How did I know? Read on. When I opened the envelope, the front of the card read, "Happy Valentine's Day." (So far, so good) However, the inside of the card said, "...to my loving husband." Being pissed off was an understatement. Remember Herman Munster, the way he looked when he was furious? He had smoke blowing out of his ears. That was me. In addition, my eyes threw daggers as I looked at my boyfriend and snarled, "My HUSBAND? You didn't even read the inside of the card before you bought it?"

Of course, my boyfriend gave me some excuse that I didn't hear because I was too enraged. Maybe he didn't even buy the darn card, I thought. Maybe, it was a recycled card that he took from his dad who said to him earlier that evening, "Your mother just gave me this. It's a perfectly good card. I'd hate for it go to waste. Maybe you can make use of it." Thus, it was passed down to me. Oh well, it was a sad day for me because I realized that my boyfriend just got me the card and flowers out of obligation. He didn't put much time into it. Otherwise, he would have read the inside message of the card, don't you think?

Recently, my sister Rowena asked me what I was planning on giving Augustine for Valentine's Day. "Probably nothing," I said, and then added that I didn't expect Augustine to give me anything either. She seemed a little surprised and called us "unconventional". I'll take that as a compliment, I thought. I told Rowena that I had already gotten my Valentine's gift. Out of the blue, Augustine had bought me a box of rum nougats from See's Candies. Rum nougats are my all time favorite chocolate. I was extremely delighted to see the pound of rum nougats waiting for me when I got home from work a while ago. Unfortunately, I polished them off sooner than I wanted but savored each one of them.

Just for the fun of it, I asked my dogs, "Who wants to talk to me about LOVE?" I was sitting in bed with my laptop surrounded by Ripley near my feet, Morpheus against my right leg and Elektra snuggled to my left. Seconds after my question, Ripley got up, ran off the ramp that's wedged against the end of our bed and exited the bedroom. "You've got nothing to say, eh Rip?" I yelled. Maybe she didn't want to talk about love, I thought. She's a dog of little words. Well, there are some people who avoid the subject of love because it makes them uncomfortable to talk about it.

Morpheus, who was lounging, rose from his position and gave me a kiss right on my lips. "Ohh, my boy, you LOVE love? Is that what you're trying to say?" I asked. His tail wagged quicker in response to my question. "Yes, I do," was what he was telling me. I can always count on Morpheus to express his feelings. He's not afraid to talk about love. He's like that cartoon character Pepe Le Pew who is all about l'amour.

"What about you Elektra? You want to tell me something?" I asked. Elektra turned her head towards me, smiled with her tongue slightly hanging out, and gave me a chortle. "You think love is funny? Does it crack you up?" I asked. I could almost hear her saying as her smile widened, "Makes me laugh, mom, and it's fun!" She may have been thinking about her love for squeaky balls especially when she takes one away from Morpheus. It probably makes her laugh when she tricks Morpheus and she ends up with his squeaky ball. What a smart dog, I thought, because love can be funny in a "ha-ha" way, and it's certainly fun when you are in love.

It made me wonder whether dogs can be in love with other dogs as people can be with each other. Hmm...the only dog that I can think of who comes closest to being in love is my sister's dog Bailey, a boston terrier. She's in love with Morpheus. Who can blame her? He's perfect despite his propensity to drool. When Bailey's over my house, I notice that she swoons over him as she watches his every move. She follows him around and tries to get close to him especially when he's napping. When he barks at something, Bailey's immediately at his side barking too...even though she's barking at Elektra. It's bizarre but whenever Morpheus and Elektra are barking at someone or something, Bailey joins them but her bark is directed at Elektra. She and Elektra just clash in personality. Finally, Bailey is always trying to kiss Morpheus, and being a good boy, he puts up with it. If he could roll his eyes each time she kisses him, he would, and you could tell from his expression he's thinking, "Oh, here we go again. But it'll be over soon." It's hilarious to see.

I know that dogs can love, but what does it feel like for them? For me, love feels like sunshine in my heart, warm and expansive. It's a joyous feeling that catches my breath. Is it like that for them too? I wonder.

It's strange to me that love changes over time with people. I've heard from many people who have been with their partner for years that their love has changed. I may be wrong, but when I hear people say that, I assume that there is no longer that breathless, exhilarating sensation that they felt during their first years together. Why does the love between two people change? The answer that I could come up with is we humans allow our daily stresses to become more important than our loved one. Money or lack of it, work or no work, the undesirable behavior that your partner may exhibit, etc. get the attention and priority more than the good attributes that attracted you to your partner in the beginning. Because of where our focus is, the love gradually wanes and transforms into a different love...or no love at all, unfortunately.

However, I notice that the love we have for our dogs just gets stronger. I've never heard a dog owner say, "I don't love Fido the same way I used to when I first got him." What I hear is, "I love Archie so much I don't know what I'll do without him." Boy, I know that feeling. Certainly, it's true for me that my love for my dogs just deepens and intensifies with time. Even if they misbehave or not listen, I tend to let it go and love them regardless. It's odd to me because if Augustine were to do something that didn't please me, I wouldn't let it go immediately, although I'm much better at it now. Now I can let go of my irritation towards him much quicker than before. I can do it in less than five minutes compared to a day. Are we more forgiving with our dogs because they love us so unconditionally that we cannot help but love them in the same way? They do model the unconditional love that we're supposed to have with other human beings.

And, isn't it funny that we never question the love that our dogs have for us? We are secured in the knowing that they love us no matter what. However, with some people we love in our life, we have a tendency to question how they feel about us because we feel their disapproval or judgment. Wouldn't it be wonderful and a relief if we just knew without a doubt that they reciprocated the love we have for them? And, without judgment placed upon us and vice versa? If this were to happen, relationships would be easy and a delight...But, really, we shouldn't care whether people disapprove or judge us anyway. It's your life, live it the way it pleases you.

Since it is Valentine's Day, the most important love that I want to mention is the love for yourself. It doesn't matter whether someone else loves you or not because if you don't love yourself, you will always feel less than you are. Then, the person who does love you can never give or do enough for you because he cannot complete you. It's your responsibility to complete yourself, and you do that by loving yourself. Truly, to love yourself is to love others. Let me clarify. When you love yourself, you take care of your body, emotions and mental well being. When caring about those aspects of yourself, you cannot help but be happy. And, when you are happy, you feel complete. This feeling of completion enables you to love others more readily. Furthermore, your happiness will radiate from you and infect those people around you. Consequently, they will benefit from the happiness and love you emit because they end up getting some too. If you don't believe me, test it out.

Therefore, on this day and the days that are to follow, make it a point to show your love to your partner and more importantly, to yourself. If you can do it for your dog every day, you can do it for yourself and your beloved partner. It just takes practice, and in time, it gets easier. Trust me, I'm doing it myself. Yeah, I know it's easier to love your dog because he is a positive being. But if you give yourself and your partner the love you both deserve on a daily basis, you will witness the enormity of the benefit of your effort.

Love, love your dog. If you don't have one, adopt or save one. It would be a marvelous way to celebrate Valentine's Day because you will find love in having a dog. Finally, I would like to share my definition of love. Love is all healing of any ailments whether it be physical, mental or emotional because it gives relief and allows for the good energy to flow within us. When good energy is streaming without hindrance throughout the body, it can find balance, health and well being. Love is powerful and infectious because not only does it affect us but also the people around us. Love is what we are meant to be just as our dogs are. We have just forgotten but our dogs are our reminder. I am in love with my dogs. They make it easy for me to feel that way. They are the reason I started doing acupuncture on animals. They are the reason I love other dogs and, of course, the reason I started this blog a year ago. Dogs give us relief as we feel their love for us. Dogs give us the love that sometimes we cannot muster for ourselves. Dogs elicit within us happiness just being in their presences. So, for these reasons, I believe that LOVE IS dog. Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you for visiting my blog. Any comment is welcomed.

A Fresh Start

The holidays have come and gone in a flash. Thank goodness! Even though I enjoy the holidays, I also like my routines, and it was difficult to stick to them with the craziness of the holidays. Fortunately, instead of experiencing post holiday blues like some people, I am excited about what's ahead of me. I feel that it's going to be a fantastic year. The reason is silly but I'll share it with you regardless. Okay, every time we have an odd number year like we have now, 2011, the year ends up being great for me in every way. So, when the new year came, and my dogs and I were all in bed (I was reading the night away), I suddenly exclaimed, "It's an odd year! It's going to be awesome!"

My dogs, being my constant companions, didn't react much to my zealous announcement. Ripley offered to open one eye and then quickly closed it to resume sleeping. After all, it was past midnight and she is somewhat elderly. Elektra popped her head up to look at me. When she assessed that there was nothing seriously happening to me, she plopped her head back down and continued her slumber. Morpheus, however, awoken, got himself up from his down position and gave me an expression that said, "Do I get a treat?" I gave him an apologetic smile and said, "No sweetie. Go back to sleep."

So, here we are with a new year and already in the middle of January. The beginning of the year is all about resolutions and expectations for what's ahead. Because of that, I found myself asking people these two questions: "Do you have any resolutions?" and "How do you think this year will be for you?" I was curious to find out who still made resolutions since I no longer did. For the second question, I was interested to see how optimistic people were with their expectations. Also, I had wondered if there was anyone else who shared my "odd" number year belief.

A common resolution for the new year seems to be the desire to lose weight or begin an exercise program. I'm sure gyms get a lot of new members this time of year for those reasons. I think the time between Halloween and New Year's Eve many people indulge themselves with cookies, candies, etc. By the time the new year comes they have expanded past the comfort of their clothes, and have experienced the sluggishness that comes with weight gain. Unless you dislike sugar or are allergic to it or are extremely disciplined to stay away from it, it's understandable to succumb to the temptation of sweets that seem to be everywhere during that period.

I know I had my share of sugar, and therefore, I am ready to get rid of all the chocolate and other goodies that are still residing in my refrigerator. They had been calling my name during the holidays but I've reached that point where I've stopped listening because the thought of having another piece of chocolate down my throat makes me nauseous. Reluctantly I admit that every time I snacked on sweets, I also gave my dogs a treat. I didn't want them to feel left out.

Unfortunately, Morpheus, more than Ripley or Elektra, started to expect a treat for no reason at all. He would just walk to the pantry where I stored their treats and bark. During the holidays, I would automatically say, "Oh, you want a treat? Okay," and he, Ripley and Elektra would get one. I swear Ripley would put him up to it the majority of the time since she's become so food oriented in her later years. Now when Morpheus barks at the pantry door, I would say, "No more. The holidays are over." I'm sure it's very confusing for him because he doesn't know when the holidays ended. So, he would tilt his head and give me a look that said, "What, no treats? What happened? I got treats before when I'd bark at this door."

The last thing I want is for my dogs to get fat. I've seen too many dogs who are overweight from over feeding and/or lack of exercise. The extra weight creates too much stress on their joints as well as their heart. If my dogs were to get fat, it would be my fault since they don't have disposable thumbs to cook their meal or open the pantry door to help themselves with treats. Fortunately, even with all the treats they got during the holidays, they remain lean and healthy.

There was a time when Morpheus was fat, and neither Augustine nor I was to blame. Morpheus was a little over a year old when Augustine and I went on vacation for ten days. My mom was going to take care of Ripley and Morpheus so we dropped them off at her house. We didn't have Elektra yet. I instructed my mom on when and how much to feed the two of them. "Yes, anak," my mom had said. (Anak means child in Tagalog, one of the dialects in the Philippines) Great, I thought, she knew what to do. Pertinent to this story is knowing Morpheus' breed. He's a handsome Pit Bull mixed with Lab. So, when we dropped Morpheus off at my mom's, he was a svelte, muscular looking Pit Bull. You couldn't even see the Lab in him.

Eleven days later, we were back at my mom's house to pick up our dogs. We saw Ripley immediately since she was in the living room. She looked the same as the day we dropped her off. Morpheus wasn't present so I asked my mom, "Where's Morpheus?"

"Oh, he's in the back yard playing with the other dogs." My mom disappeared into the kitchen and we heard her calling Morpheus' name. Within seconds Morpheus ran from the kitchen to the living room sensing that Augustine and I were there.

Augustine and I were astonished and aghast. Running towards us with excitement was a Lab that looked like a stuffed sausage with four legs and a tail. Yikes, Morpheus had turned into a porker!!!

"Morphie!" I said happily, even though in my mind I was thinking, what the heck happened to my muscular boy?!!

After hugging and kissing Morpheus, I asked my mom, "How many times did you feed Morpheus?"

"Twice, just like you said," answered my mom in her thick Filipino accent.

Hmmm..."Well, how much food did you give him?" I asked.

"What you told me to give him," she replied.

"Are you sure?" I asked dubiously. There was no way Morpheus could have gained so much weight in ten days if my mom had followed my feeding instructions. "Then, why does he look so fat?" I finally asked.

"I don't know," she said. "I gave him some treats but that's it."

Okay, the truth comes out, I thought. "Well, how often did you give him treats?" I asked slowly.

"I don't know. He kept asking for a treat so I gave it to him," said my mom. She acted as if there was nothing wrong with Morpheus' size.

Oiy...I was mentally shaking my head. Judging from his now rotund size, Morpheus must have been asking for a treat every hour and my mom was gladly giving him one each time. I bit my tongue and held back what I wanted to say. I understood. Even though I was a little annoyed, I realized that my mom was just being a typical grandmother to her granddog. She couldn't deny Morpheus of what he wanted. How could she? You look at his face and you melt from the cuteness he exudes. Upon examining Morpheus, it made me think of that old commercial about the Ball Park Franks hot dog with their slogan, "They plump when you cook them!" which was exactly what happened to Morpheus. Thank god nothing like that happened to Ripley.

As we drove home from my mom's house, Augustine had said so solemnly, "I think your mom lost Morpheus and didn't know how she would tell us. So, she found this dog and tried to pass him off for Morpheus. We're going home with a different dog. Our dog is gone." I could only laugh in response. Poor Augustine. He was still in shock with Morpheus' transformation.

Truly, the physical change that occurred with Morpheus was dramatic. His body structure and face no longer resembled a Pit Bull. He was all Lab, and a fat one at that. To this day, I still cannot believe how different Morpheus looked before and after my mom's house. Needless to say, that was the last time my mom took care of Morpheus. I don't remember how long it took for us to help Morpheus slim down but I do know that a lot of hiking was involved.

How can you tell if your dog is overweight? Well, if you can't see a rib near his waistline, then most likely your dog needs to lose weight. A dog is totally dependent on their human parents for food and exercise. Unfortunately, some owners think that they don't need to walk their dogs just because they have a big back yard. Hello!!! A dog will NOT exercise on their own just because the back yard is big. Unless there are a lot of critters running around all the time teasing your dog to catch them, chances are the dog will just sit there and sun tan. My back yard is spacious with plenty of trees and I know of two squirrels that taunt Morpheus and Elektra into action. The squirrels run or jump from tree to tree which sends Morpheus and Elektra into motion. However, that activity is not enough to consider it exercise because most of the time they are sitting and waiting for the squirrels to make their move. Thus, Morpheus, Elektra and Ripley get their daily walk for exercise.

Love your dog. If you don't have one, adopt or save one. Then, if your new year's resolution is to lose weight, start an exercise regimen or want to eat better and you have a dog who's also overweight, make it a priority to do the same for your dog. Dogs truly need exercise and nutritious foods just like we do to keep them trim and healthy. Walking your dog allows you and your beloved dog the daily exercise you both need as well as strengthen the bond you have between you. Regular exercise is a factor for longevity. So, if you love yourself and your dog, include exercise in your routine. At least, do it for your dog, and the new year is a wonderful time to make a fresh start. Finally, may this "odd" year be as magnificent for you and your dog as I anticipate mine to be.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Any comment is welcomed.