Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 8, 1995                   TAG: 9502080034
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BEN BEAGLE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THIS DOG TAIL BRINGS TEARS TO YOUR EYES

I suspect she doesn't comprehend massage therapy that can help animals with orthopedic or neurological problems.

Our dog Skeeter, who was insane for most of his life, might have benefited from such therapy, but it's too late now. Skeeter is now on the Other Side, where he probably is given all the sweat pants he can chew up and all the rugs he can debase. He was crazy, but he lived for 18 years.

There have been few discoveries to help Millie, who has big time skin problems.

She has had little discernible hair on her tail for 10 years now.

When she was young, we fed Millie lamb in the hope it would cure her.

She still has no hair on her tail - which must be devastating for a long-haired English setter/golden retriever who never knew her father.

Gosh, I'll never forget the lamb therapy. We would gladly have eaten Millie's leftovers - except that Millie doesn't leave leftovers.

Millie now has a chronic sore paw. I started to call the U.S. Army's 800 number to see if they would take me back when I found out I was going to take her to the vet.

I've dragged children - the heels on their new little white shoes digging into the floor - down the hall at the pediatrician's office. I've lain across them threatening violence if they didn't be quiet and let the nurse give the shot.

This is tame stuff compared to taking a 77-pound dog, who doesn't want to go, to the vet.

Millie drools. Whines. Shivers. Exhibits symptoms of throwing up. She falls on the floor with her legs splayed out from the rest of her body. She rolls her eyes and tries to climb the walls.

Other dogs in the waiting room obviously have master's degrees from obedience school. You can tell these dogs and their owners look down on Millie and me.

All of these dogs have hair on their tails. And their owners have newer cars.

There is a recent advance that may help Millie some. They are now playing tapes of thunder storms at low volume as a cure for fear of thunder. Millie's reaction to thunder storms makes her behavior at the vet's look dignified. She can act anyway she wants to in the privacy of her own home.

We can live with this fear of thunder.

What we need is some breakthrough that will let Millie see her tail again in her declining years.