4 reasons Im jealous of my dog’s Cone of Shame.

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the proud owner of a new fabric cone of shame.

A few weeks ago we took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge.

I had the fab idea (which will reveal itself to be not so fab in a moment) to bring the Doodle and board him at a fancy kennel near G.W.L.

All seemed to have gone seamlessly until 15 minutes into the drive home when I heard from the backseat:

EW, Mama. Charming has a big, big hole in his chest.

Vet visit, 10 days of antibiotics and a fancy fabric Elizabethan collar (AKA cone) later all was well again.

As Charming climbed awkwardly back into the car it brought to mind when he was neutered, had his first mandated cone experience, and it sparked in me feelings of  jealousy.

Which all sounds odd (and may still) until I elaborate:

Charming came through his neutering procedure without testicles flying colors and emerged from the vet’s office in possession of the always popular plastic Cone of Shame.

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Having been Crazy Canine Carla for previous periods of my life I had known what to expect.

The Child, however, was surprised and saddened by her dog’s post-op coned condition.

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She immediately went to release him from his plastic prison (I think she saw it like a hospital bracelet for humans. He was sprung it was time to remove the cone!) and as I told her not to I explained the reasons he needed it.

Over the following week, as I watched Charming bumble around the house wearing his unwieldy collar, I pondered the plastic around his neck.

A lot.

And, to my surprise, I started to pine for an Elizabethan collar of my very own.

4 reasons I’m jealous of Canine Cone of Shame.

  • He was forced to MONOtask. I’ve recommitted. Charming was guaranteed success as he had no choice. When he snuggled with his stuffed fox (below) while wearing the C.O.S. it was all he could do. There was absolutely no option to love-up the fox, and cradle a Kong and graze on his morning meal. MONOtasking—forced or not–rocks.

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  • He had to seek help. He’s The Chairman. Of course he thinks he can do everything himself. Wearing the C.O.S. forced Charming the Doodle with the odd nickname to seek assistance. Everything from scratching his back to picking up toys now required the help of a biped. He asked for what he needed (or just forced his way onto my lap.)

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  • He was compelled to rest. This Doodle is active. Super active. He doesn’t bat his eye at a 40k step-count on his my Garmin. After surgery there was no frolicking free in the dog park or romping through a local creek. Charming initially fought valiantly against slowing down, but in the end he surrendered to the healing rest of the cone.

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  • He had no choice but break habits which didn’t serve him. Charming is licker. Prior to surgery it was merely annoying. After surgery, C.O.S. in place, he physically couldn’t lick. Now that the cone is finally off? He seems to have lost the urge! He shed his habit *and* it was fun in the process—at least for the Child who decorated his plastic prison.

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Now that the cone-time is once again behind us I’m fairly certain we relearned lessons about wearing our virtual cones of self-care.

  • I know I did.
  • I know the child did.
  • I know the Doodle learned how to indicate to his bipeds he’s decided—intuitively—he’s *ready* to resume normal, energetic activities:

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(destroyed bed = healed doodle)

And you?

  • Has your life grown so hectic you need a virtual Cone of Shame? (raises hand)
  • Or do you already rock the 4 traits of the Cone of Self-Care?

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Comments

  2. Presents wrapped, packages mailed, home-made cards delivered and house decorated inside and out. I don have some cookies to make later on today for a party tomorrow at work but always look forward to it. I set aside time this last weekend to write 50 progress reports so am glad that is out of the way – they are ready to print up and send home with kids tomorrow! Racing has bought me to pace myself at with work and holiday stuff….or have work and holiday traditions forced me to be good at pacing myself in races? (chicken/egg syndrome…)

  5. Carla, this is my favorite post of yours.
    I’m a crazy canine lady too (LOL) and I can’t believe I never considered any of this.

  7. What a great idea! Altho my family already thinks I’m nuts…I can only imagine if I had a cone of shame…

    BTW, my dog refused to eat when she was sporting a cone of shame a few years ago. She was mortified! I bought her a vest that covered her surgical wound and she was good to go.

  8. Love your perspective. Do you think the Chairman felt the same way? I’m so fiercely independent (and picky, and tired of sitting/etc) that the crutches have me asking for help but they also have me doing too much. The cone of shame I think would be better for me.

  10. I think we all need to slow down and take stock – especially at this time of the year – not sure I’d want to have the COS to help me but it is definitely a good mental image to carry around with me over the next few weeks!

  12. I could definitely use a cone for mono-tasking. I am constantly multi-tasking… CONSTANTLY!! I need to work on focusing on one task at a time for sure!

  14. compelled to rest – yes. I’ve been going through some health crap this year and overestimating my stamina has been one of my biggest issues. It’s hard to slow down, isn’t it?

  16. Oh poor Charming!! My boy Finnegan was in the cone of shame last year and you’re so right about it forcing them to rest and monotask. It also bruised up my legs and knocked the kids down all the time!! Hope Charming is on the mend!!

  17. Working at the bakery is monotasking, you have to concentrate! And because i’m working so much, i’m asking for help at home more. The others i will keep working on.

  19. So you finally broke the licking habit, eh? Oh, wait I meant to say, you are valuing monotasking, courtesy of Doodle’s example. Is the feller back to full running? Meantime, I hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip to GWL.

  22. The idea of monotasking deserves a post all by itself.
    I should look into one of those collars for myself. I might be more productive.

  26. As a fellow dog lover AND multi-tasker/do-it-aller, I appreciate this post. Hopefully we can get ourselves to rest and relax without wearing an actual cone haha! But this post has some great reminders in it 🙂

  30. Oh Carla! You have a great sense of humour. When I read the title of this post, I was intrigued. I would have never thought of being jealous of a dog with a cone, but you have a great way of seeing things in the positive! Luckily (or not so lucky?), my dog Charlie has never required a cone. It would be great if it would cure him of licking!

  31. Taking a little pre-Christmas vacay forced me into a COS. I almost completely let go of all social media (besides the occasional IG/FB post), as well as blogging (not counting the scheduled posts). I’m just now getting back to reading all of bloggers’ posts, and I’m okay with having a lot to go through. It was a nice break 🙂

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