Our dog is a what?!

Last week, I took Dudley in for his fourth puppy shot.  From the minute we stepped in the door, it was "Oooohhhhh!" and "Aaaahhhhh!" and all the staff had to take turns holding him and giving him love.  The nurse took him to be weighed and found he had graduated to the Big Boy scales!  He weighed a whopping 21.7 pounds, a far cry from his first weigh-in at eight weeks.  No wonder I'm huffing and puffing carrying him up and down the stairs.  I won't be able to do that much longer. . .

In the exam room, I had the doctor check his ears because we've been having to clean them out a lot more than usual and I could tell they were bothering him because he'd shake his head and paw at them.  Sure enough, he had himself a little yeast infection in his ears and the doctor prescribed some medicine to clear it up.  She also informed me that more than likely, the infection means he's allergic to grain.  Oh no!

After some discussion, she encouraged me to wean him off the food we've been giving him and onto a grain-free product.  She also said we should refrain from feeding him meat, but instead give him a handful of blueberries, a spoonful of canned pumpkin or a few green beans.  What?!  I never heard of such a thing!  She assured me he'd get plenty of protein from the food and it would actually be better nutrition for him.

I was a little skeptical about the blueberry thing.  I never heard of a dog liking fruits and vegetables, but the vet left the room and came back with a handful of fresh blueberries and wouldn't you know Dudley just gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow!  Sheesh!

Our Tubby always ate steak and chuck roast on his food every day, and once a week we'd be cooking it for him and cutting it up into little chunks to sprinkle on his food.  We totally anticipated doing the same thing for Dudley when he got a little older, but now we're faced with the fact that OUR DOG IS A VEGETARIAN!  Oy vay!

When Hubby found out the diagnosis, his face dropped and his whole body just sagged toward the floor.  He looked utterly and totally defeated.  He couldn't believe his rough and tumble, burly bulldog was a sissy la-la health nut!  Not that all vegetarians are sissy la-la's or health nuts.  I know it's a lifestyle choice and I don't mean to offend, but it was a like a slap in the face to my life-long, journeyman butcher of a husband to have to accept the fact that his dog can't eat meat!  He was just shocked beyond belief.

The next few days, we slowly weaned him off the old food and onto the new, and we've been incorporating carrots and sweet potatoes and blueberries as occasional treats.  Dudley seems to be happy as ever and fat as a little butterball, so I guess it's going to be okay.  And his ears are clearing up too, so that's a good thing.

See Daddy, Dudley doesn't have to be a meat-eater to be manly!  Look at Popeye.  He was strong with big muscles and all I ever saw him eat was spinach!