Deb Diamond loves her dog Ben. He's had numerous health issues in the last few years but he's doing just fine now.
Ben is Schnauzer owned by Deb Diamond and he's eleven years old. "He was a shelter dog," said Diamond, "he was living with a family that had a couple of small kids who felt like they already had an older dog and it was just too much to have a young puppy."
He was adopted by Diamond and her partner Mary, "so he's been with us since he was about 8 months old."
Diamond said that Ben is "very neurotic and he's got a pretty quirky personality." Ben has a lot of anxiety and he gets nervous around other dogs even though he loves playing with them.
"When I first met him, I put my face up in his and gave him a little scratch on the ears and he growled and let me know that it was going to be on his terms and once I ignored him and he decided he wasn't being paid attention to he decided to be my friend."
Ben has been a good dog but he has faced numerous health challenges. He's had three life threatening instances over the last few years. About three years ago on Christmas night "He had emergency surgery for bladder stones that had blocked the passage of urine and they told us that if we didn't have the problem fixed we would have lost him. As a result of that he's on a special prescription diet. We went from using Beneful to a prescription high water, low calcium diet."
"Very recently he had to be shaved between the ears because he had a mast cell tumor that we had to have removed," Diamond concluded.
"He kind of hops and his back foot goes up when he's walking. It's kind of funny to watch him do that."
How to nominate your pet for Pet of the Week:
Want to nominate your pet for Pet of the Week? Stop by the VCA West Seattle Animal Hospital at 5261 California Ave. S.W. and just ask for a form. A nomination is not a guarantee of appearance and your name and photo may appear in our newspaper and online.
Photos may or may not be used and our "Pet Reporter" may be in touch with you to arrange to take a photo. Pets nominated will be chosen on the basis of uniqueness of the pet and the quality of the story and information submitted.
