Puppy Problems

Buster's problem reminded me of two scary situations with dogs.

Ringo

When I was a kid I had a beagle named Ringo. I used to call him "The Fastest Paw In The West". He was a cute pup and quite normal for a beagle. One day he bit into a TV cord and was stuck to it frothing at the mouth. My dad got him free and he seemed ok. A few days later he went with my dad to the local telephone exchange. Ringo found a nice big wire to bite and set off many alarms. He became quite unmanageable after that and we gave him away.

I always thought his behaviour was unique until I saw a cartoon about a dog biting into electrical cords.

Albert

When I first moved to Victoria I rented from a family living in the Cadboro Bay neighbourhood. They had an old terrier-type dog named Albert. Albert was small with curly white fur. He was very playful and I used to take him for walks along the beach.

One night I was in bed but only drowsing. Albert was sleeping on the end of my bed. I heard a clunk as something fell to the floor and then a lot of whimpering and shaking. I came awake in a panic and checked on Albert. He was flopping on the floor and whining. Part of me said he couldn't have banged his head hard enough to cause a seizure and I didn't think dogs could get epilepsy. I watched him and worried. When he came out of it he was ok if a little sweaty.

The next morning my landlady told me he did have the dog version of epilepsy. She said his attacks were rare. I don't recall him having another in the months I lived in the house.