Hello and happy Sunday funday. [Blogged while eating too much.] This week brings another entry from the dog cancer diaries. As challenging as this whole process has been, it’s actually brought a lot of positivity and new perspectives into my life. A few weeks ago, I brought my cancer puppy to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center to meet with an Oncologist. Super hot. I mean nice. I mean he seemed like a professional doctor. We chatted about our treatment options for Jake’s bone cancer and weighed the pros and cons of each decision. My dad, Mr. Realist, expressed his concern about amputation.

“Will it affect his mood? Won’t he be unhappy?”

Mike (our ugly Oncologist) smiled a little and told us, “Dogs, unlike humans, choose happy. They won’t realize anything is wrong. They’ll sense something is different, but they’ll adapt. And they’ll always choose happy.”

To us, it’s sad. Because we view amputation as sad. Whether it’s a human or an animal, we furrow our brows into sad brows and sigh a sad sigh. But why is it sad? Because it’s different? Because we assume that by taking something away, we’ve lost something? That’s far from the truth. All that’s lost is the familiarity of a routine. We (and animals) are built for change. Our bodies adapt. It’s our minds that don’t. Healing and recovery is tough, but it’s a hell of a lot easier when you choose happy.

Did you know tripawds can walk, run, swim, dig and jump just as well, if not better than, four-legged dogs? It’s actually pawtty amazing. So for your entertainment, please enjoy this story of a very happy tripawd.

This is actually one of the stories that convinced me to choose the amputation.

P.S. We will never deserve dogs.

K, bye.