Free The Dog Cancer Survival Guide by Susan Ettinger Demian Dressler

Pledge of Thanks. It allowed me to express and release my true feelings, after all your companion, your best friend has cancer which is extremely scary but you can talk it out and you have the best listener in the world. I would tell Uli, my boxer companion, how thankful I am for every new day and thankful that we have that time to do things we enjoy, thankful for God and the fact I was blessed to have such a wonderful companion to share each day with.”
    – Jon Marshall, Norman, Oklahoma
     

     
    Sunny passed away a year after Sarah shared this, and sixteen months later than the statistics predicted – and when it happened, the whole family contributed to her hospice care as outlined in Chapter 25 . Sarah reported that it was a terribly sad, but very loving and moving time for everyone.
     

Dogs Pick Up on
My Moods
    “By re-establishing our daily walks we are all feeling healthier. The walks also keep us happier and we play more than we used to. I am ashamed to say I became really lazy in the past few months. I am also not as depressed about the cancer situation since we are all more active and I believe that Buddy and Jack both “pick up” on my mood change.”
    – Debbie Granger, Chesterfield, Missouri
     
Everything Is In Her Best Interest
    “One of the first things I did was to try the emotional management exercises, and I found that they gave me a sense of peace, knowing that everything I would be doing would be in Sparkle’s best interest.”
    – Susan McKay, Winnipeg, Manitoba
     
Thank Them Every Day
    “I do the Pledge of Thanks just about every day (even with my older dog who does not have cancer). I feel that our dogs are “gifts” to us in life, and we need to thank them (every day) for being with us.”
    - Sheril Allen, Austin, Texas
     

     
    I don’t expect you to adopt Sarah’s point of view immediately or even at all. I just wanted to show you another possibility. Knowing that some people come out of this experience stronger could give you hope on a dark day.
    At first, the exercises in this chapter might feel like that oxygen mask on the plane – necessary to help you, so you can help your dog. Perhaps they could also be used as amplifying devices to make your average moods good and your good moods even better. Every uptick in your emotional mood will help you, and help your dog.

Chapter 3: Three Common Questions
     
    T here are three questions guardians tend to ask first when they get a cancer diagnosis. Because these three questions seem to weigh on the mind and could distract you from learning anything new, I am going to answer them as best I can.
    How could my dog get cancer almost overnight?
    Why didn’t my vet catch this earlier?
    Is my dog dying right now?
How Could Cancer Happen Overnight?
    One of the hardest things for most guardians to grasp is how they didn’t see this coming. Many times the dog seems healthy right before she’s brought in for an evaluation. Sometimes dogs don’t seem sick at all.
    How did this grave illness escape your attention? The answer may surprise you: your dog may have hidden it from you.
    Dogs have an old, genetic program that encourages them to conceal any sign of illness, a legacy from when they ran in packs. The pack mentality oriented them toward maintaining their position in the hierarchy and defending the pack from predators. Weak dogs slow down the pack and become predators’ targets. As a result, they risk losing their rank in the hierarchy or being left behind, which is a terrible fate for a dog. A dog will do just about anything to avoid this – including behaving as if nothing is wrong for as long as she can.
    Despite generations of domestication, dogs still think like wild animals when they feel ill. If your dog felt sick before his diagnosis, you can bet he did everything he could to make you think he was just fine.
    When a dog can no longer hide his symptoms, he gives up trying and seems to get sick over-night. This is called