PET CHRONICLES If you have kids that make nasty faces at you, their siblings, their friends or basically anything that makes them upset then you have probably said at some point, "don't make that face, or your face will stay like that." Of course this veiled threat never actually works for long. In fact, more then once I had to ask our middle son "what are you doing with your face scrunched up like that?" When I received the answer "I want to see how long you have to make a face for it to actually stay like that", I thought I had clearly just been bested at my own game. My response of "its not a tootsie pop kind of thing", prompted a whole another conversation about how may licks it takes to the center of a Tootsie pop, and for the record, the world may still never know, Fast forward to a few years, to just the other day when Pike was laying in his bed, teeth bared at his pesky new brother. We were all sitting on the sofa with a perfect view of Pike and the puppy. The puppy had given up his interest in his grumpy older brother and moved to the other side of the giant dog bed in the center of the living room floor. Pike continued to lie there, 20 minutes or so later, teeth bared, gums fully exposed, his eyes mere slits behind his scrunched up snout. Jacob called over to him "Pike put your teeth away" a now familiar refrain at our house. Our daughter said, "Pike your face is going to stay like that, now stop it." At this point the three of us were all starring at him. He seemed to try and relax his face but the snarled look, teeth still bared, gums still exposed remained. He clearly was having an issue and his face was really stuck like that. He tried to stick out is tongue to dislodge his lips but his tongue must have been as dried out as his gums. His lips would not budge and his tongue was a useless muscle to him as he lay their looking at us like he was repeating every swear word he had ever heard uttered. Well, as you can imagine, this situation was made only funnier when our daughter said very clearly to me "Mom so your face can actually get stuck like that?" "I always thought you were joking." At this point we were all laughing except Pike whose gums and lips were conspiring against him and were winning. We laughed as he trying to fix the situation but with no moisture available to him he was going to need an assist. Our daughter got up and walked over to the sink and wet her hands down. She walked over to him and moistened his lips and gums with her wet hands and then walked him over to the water bowl so he could get him self a long drink of water. He lapped at the bowl for a good long while until we actually had to stop him in fear he might vomit. The puppy confused by all this commotion decided to go ask his brother what was wrong. So naturally Pike resumed the afore mentioned face. The puppy undeterred by this face for clearly it was his Grumpy old brothers defauli face, preceded to pursue him and in true Pike fashion he continued to make this face for the rest of the night. Only this time he seemed to realize that between bouts of disgust and contempt for the newest member of our family he needed a bit of water and got up occasionally to get him self a long drink of water. I guess this is evidence that some of the things that your mom tells you when you are young might actually be based in a small bit of truth. As our daughter leaned over to whisper to me, "someday mom I can tell my kids not to make faces, but unlike you, I actually have real evidence to back that up." "Yes you do I said, Yes you do." Keauhou Veterinary Hospital, Experience your pet deserves, Experience you can trust. Best Pet Care F ACE BEST Hawaii 2020 West 12 Years! r LAC BEST Hawai 2020 West ACCREDITED The S way Keauhou Veterinary Hospital, LLC Jacob Head, DVM 808-322-2988/Fax 808-322-2303 78-6728 Walua Road · Kailua Kona www.keauhouvet.com 7:30-5:00 Monday-Friday 8-5 pm on Saturday Emergency call 24/7 PET CHRONICLES If you have kids that make nasty faces at you, their siblings, their friends or basically anything that makes them upset then you have probably said at some point, "don't make that face, or your face will stay like that." Of course this veiled threat never actually works for long. In fact, more then once I had to ask our middle son "what are you doing with your face scrunched up like that?" When I received the answer "I want to see how long you have to make a face for it to actually stay like that", I thought I had clearly just been bested at my own game. My response of "its not a tootsie pop kind of thing", prompted a whole another conversation about how may licks it takes to the center of a Tootsie pop, and for the record, the world may still never know, Fast forward to a few years, to just the other day when Pike was laying in his bed, teeth bared at his pesky new brother. We were all sitting on the sofa with a perfect view of Pike and the puppy. The puppy had given up his interest in his grumpy older brother and moved to the other side of the giant dog bed in the center of the living room floor. Pike continued to lie there, 20 minutes or so later, teeth bared, gums fully exposed, his eyes mere slits behind his scrunched up snout. Jacob called over to him "Pike put your teeth away" a now familiar refrain at our house. Our daughter said, "Pike your face is going to stay like that, now stop it." At this point the three of us were all starring at him. He seemed to try and relax his face but the snarled look, teeth still bared, gums still exposed remained. He clearly was having an issue and his face was really stuck like that. He tried to stick out is tongue to dislodge his lips but his tongue must have been as dried out as his gums. His lips would not budge and his tongue was a useless muscle to him as he lay their looking at us like he was repeating every swear word he had ever heard uttered. Well, as you can imagine, this situation was made only funnier when our daughter said very clearly to me "Mom so your face can actually get stuck like that?" "I always thought you were joking." At this point we were all laughing except Pike whose gums and lips were conspiring against him and were winning. We laughed as he trying to fix the situation but with no moisture available to him he was going to need an assist. Our daughter got up and walked over to the sink and wet her hands down. She walked over to him and moistened his lips and gums with her wet hands and then walked him over to the water bowl so he could get him self a long drink of water. He lapped at the bowl for a good long while until we actually had to stop him in fear he might vomit. The puppy confused by all this commotion decided to go ask his brother what was wrong. So naturally Pike resumed the afore mentioned face. The puppy undeterred by this face for clearly it was his Grumpy old brothers defauli face, preceded to pursue him and in true Pike fashion he continued to make this face for the rest of the night. Only this time he seemed to realize that between bouts of disgust and contempt for the newest member of our family he needed a bit of water and got up occasionally to get him self a long drink of water. I guess this is evidence that some of the things that your mom tells you when you are young might actually be based in a small bit of truth. As our daughter leaned over to whisper to me, "someday mom I can tell my kids not to make faces, but unlike you, I actually have real evidence to back that up." "Yes you do I said, Yes you do." Keauhou Veterinary Hospital, Experience your pet deserves, Experience you can trust. Best Pet Care F ACE BEST Hawaii 2020 West 12 Years! r LAC BEST Hawai 2020 West ACCREDITED The S way Keauhou Veterinary Hospital, LLC Jacob Head, DVM 808-322-2988/Fax 808-322-2303 78-6728 Walua Road · Kailua Kona www.keauhouvet.com 7:30-5:00 Monday-Friday 8-5 pm on Saturday Emergency call 24/7