do you know what is the most universally socially accepted forms of animal abuse?..plain impatience and rudeness....that messes up more animals than neglect or physical violence (cuz most people aren't actually neglectful and violent) we are just all impatient and rude alot of the time.
there is a very good reason why i don't like people nagging and yelling and pushing the animals around (everyone is entitled to a bad moment now and then but it better not become a habit.)...it is because it destroys their feelings of safety and acceptence and self worth...it sucks their happiness away...ain't no happiness suckers putting down roots at saints.
we say "excuse me" here, we wait for crippled old bodies to move out of the way...at their own comfortable speed...we don't honk our human horns to make them move faster or more efficiently or anything...this is their home, not mine, not yours, not someone elses....we built it for them and we are visitors into their home and life (visitors who happen to serve constantly).
and yes we out yell them sometimes and tell them to "be quiet, shut up and knock that off!"...but once it is said, it is over..no hard feelings, no onging grudges, no happiness sucking...we move on to the next moment and thing. and for every time i lose my temper, they have one hundred times of me touching them softly and kissing their face.
and i think that is what happened to tuggles..his foster mom became impatient and frustrated because she did not understand what was happening to him (he was stroking and growing very much older) and he had the happiness sucked right out of him.
this morning tugs was playing with me...he was happy to have my arms around him again and have his butt scratched, he was enjoying the kissy face thing...he can pace around all he wants, he can bump into everything in sight, he can fall over under my feet and pee on the floor as much as he needs ...he is ok with all of that as long as i let him know i think he is so cute and wonderful every single time i pass him on his disjointed wanderings...god he is such a lovely and sweet and very, very sensitive little dog.
so next time we all feel impatient with our animals, remember tugs and how he had the happiness unintentionally sucked right out of him not cuz anyone was mean to him but because we felt he should be somehow better or faster or smarter or more coordinated or not as needy or....even younger, healthier and more with it than he now currently is.
he is perfectly messed up in his growing so old, he is perfect in every single way.
bless you.