Dogs Have Canine Best Friends, Too

Uurban Dictionary defines a best friend as a very special person in your life. Wikipedia says best friends share extremely strong interpersonal ties with each other. Though resources may vary in their description, many would agree that they would do just about anything for their best buddy.

Believe it or not, this concept is no different in the dog world.

It was an unusually warm spring day in Minnesota and several of my veterinary school classmates headed to the park to decompress after a horrible run of midterms. On this day, Marylou brought her 5-year-old female pug “Thelma,” and Shari brought her 5-year-old Italian greyhound “Louise.” I discovered that day that not only were Marylou and Shari best friends, but their two dogs were lifelong buddies.

“We both got our dogs within a week of each other. They basically grew up together and now they’re inseparable,” Shari said with a smile.

With no one in sight, Shari and Marylou let their two dogs run off leash. Picking a shady spot below a maple tree, the two girls sat and started to discuss the test that we had just taken. Having no desire to relive the mind-numbing experience, I walked on, keeping an eye on the two pooches.

They ran and ran around trees through bushes and back and forth across the open field. I was exhausted just watching them chase each other.

Suddenly, Thelma slowed down, staggered a couple of feet then fell over to one side. Fearing the worse, I rushed over to see what happened and was relieved to see that she was still alive. Louise hovered over her canine buddy and gave an occasional lick, in what I assumed was an attempt to revive her friend. Gently nudging Louise aside, I did a quick physical to make sure Thelma was OK. Overall, Thelma was fine, except that her mucous membranes were bluish-gray and she was unconscious.

Looking back at my friends, I yelled for them to come over quickly.

“Marylou, I think Thelma couldn’t get enough oxygen and fainted,” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, she does that a lot,” replied Marylou nonchalant-ly. “Being a pug, her squished face makes it hard for her to breathe. Whenever she runs around with Louise, she turns blue and falls over. If you give her a minute, she’ll be fine.”

A little shocked by Mary-lou’s story, I turned my attention to Thelma and waited.

Sure enough, a few minutes, later she got up, rejoined her best friend Louise and acted as if nothing happened. Soon they were off chasing each other once again.

All in all, Thelma collapsed a total of three times that day. With each episode, Louise was there licking Thelma’s face until she got up. Their friendship was truly special.

I guess for them, best friends meant risking your life in the name of fun and reviving your unconscious partner with a mouthful of slobber.

You won’t find that in a dictionary.

K9 Team In National Calender

PHOTO COURTESY TINA MAHINA HAWAIIAN DESTINATION PHOTOGRAPHER

State Sheriff’s Division K9 Team Deputy Rollin Cannon and Deputy K9 Robbie will be featured in a 2015 calender (month of May) published by Vested Interest in K9s.

Cannon is a 15-year veteran of the Sheriffs Division. He has been assigned to the K9 Unit for 12 years, teaming up with his K9 Robbie, an 11-year-old Dutch shepherd trained to locate the odor of narcotics as well as working in fugitive apprehensions.

This team also is attached to the U.S. Marshals fugitive task force, and has been a part of high-profile call-outs.

Vested Interest in K9s is a Massachusetts-based, all-volunteer charity whose mission is to provide bulletand stab-protective vests for law-enforcement dogs throughout the United States.

The 2015 calendar is now on sale online at vik9s.org.