Ok, team, my dog has an aggressive tumor we thought was benign but has become a big deal. We’ll find out for sure Friday, but the vet wasn’t real optimistic we could treat this. That’s going to leave a situation where the kids will know the dog is going to be put down, and still see it, before we do it; I’ve never dealt with that. Any advice?
That sounds like a horrible situation to deal with mate. We fostered a dog for the Australian border force for 18 months and the kids knew from day 1 he would go back. But the day he left was still very upsetting.
Best advice I can give is to be honest with them, let them cry, give them a bug hug and just be there for them.
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Do you think I should let them know the day before, and they cry all night, or like the morning of and they cry for an hour?
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Do they already know that the dog is sick and that he may have to be put down ? If it was me I would tell them that it is a possibility as early as possible. Then just tell them the outcome when you come home after.
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No. Last time we had him checked they said it didn’t seem to be bothering him and it wasn’t a big deal, so he just looked funny. It’s grown aggressively since then and they don’t think there’s a great prognosis (we’ll see for sure Friday).
I’ll start talking to them when I get home tomorrow. My poor wife is home alone with everything right now. Thanks man!
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These things are really tough but they are also a good learning opportunity for the children, for me - being open and honest with them is really the most important thing. I just hope as mine get older they are open to sharing and being honest with me too.
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I appreciate it. There’s not easy ways to do this stuff, so I like that you’re falling back on principle
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I haven’t dealt with that specifically. About 2 years ago our dog died in my arms (heart failure) while my 4 year old daughter watched. It was her first time learning what death really meant, so that was… complicated.
Best I could do was be honest with her and explain what happened.
I’ve always been of the mentality that its a merciful act, putting a dog down when they’re clearly in pain. Seeing some families with like 17 year old decrepit looking pugs (example) and not having the decency to give them an “honorable” death is cruel to me. Were I in your shoes, I think this is how I would explain it to the young ones.
I’m not great at the whole “thoughts and prayers” thing, but I feel for your situation.
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Thanks man, I appreciate it.
Dude’s face looks like a monster! This thing has grown fast.
They’ve changed who we’re seeing and our appointment time, so now we won’t find out until Tuesday (I’ll be out of town again, so my poor wife will be stuck with everything on her own).
As a side note, I never would have thought there were so many different doggie specialists.
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Good workout today! Crushing tons of volume lately, which is kind of a good break from heavy weights
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DB Row
Worked up to one hard set of 120 x 8 -
Wide Pulldown
Couple warmups, then:
10, 8, 6, 15ish -
Neutral Pulldown
2 sets of 10 + a drop -
Rack Pull
Went a little too high on the pins on this, which is actually less comfortable
225/3
315/3
365/8 x 2 -
Giant Set (3 rounds):
- 5 Supinated Pull-ups
- 5 Neutral Pull-ups
- 8 Straight-arm Pulldowns
-
Machine Triceps Extension
Worked up to a heavy 6
Then 2 sets of 8
Then one double drop set -
One-arm OH Extension
1 set of 10 then strip the rack -
Giant Set (3 rounds):
- Rope Pressdown
- OH Rope Extension
- BW Extension in a rack
- Conditioning:
Assault Bike 30:30 intervals
10 minutes on this Satan’s hamster wheel
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That read like a workout from flex magazine in the 90’s 
.
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Then I’ve done my job
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Staying on my 90s Flex theme and trying to piss of @anon6371718 today:
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Jammer Press
Used this kind of like throws. It’s fun to do
3 x 6 -
Bench
4s negative on all reps, 45s between every set
135lbs for every set, so I could embarrass myself in front of @simo74
Medium-grip: 4 x 8
Wide-grip: 3 x 8 -
Incline DB Flyes
Mechanical Drop Set, so lowered the incline for 3 “mini-sets” each set
3 x 12ish (for the first one, then half that on drops) with 30s -
Superset (3 rounds):
- Cable Crossover x 12
- Stretch Push-ups x 8
- Giant Set (3 rounds)
- EZ Incline Front Raise: 20/10
- Seated DB Lateral: 15/10
- Rope Cable Upright Row: 40/10
- Machine Rear Delt
55/20 x 4
1m between sets
I need to figure out some kind of conditioning goal or template, else I just skip it. Hell, I need a goal in general
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Throw the 10k swing challenge on top of your training
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Wouldn’t be embarrassed with that, lots of TuT and those 45s rest would have been a ticket to pump city. Hope you were wearing denim shorts.
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Accepted. Thank you - I sincerely appreciate you.
@simo74 my wife gets annoyed enough at my fanny pack - I need to find some denim shorts!
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Hell yeah dude! You and I need a joint subforum called “Iron Sharpens Iron”. You make me better.
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That’s praise from Caesar. You’re the Drago to my Balboa, which paints you in an unfair light, but I get to be the hero of my own movie.
It’s seriously a good idea at least for a thread, though. If you come in and whine, you’ve got to accept the gauntlet that gets dropped.
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Keep at it and I’ll be the owner of the best arms on T Nation. Nothing to be mad at here 
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Maybe one day, but not today.
Today I did a full arm workout and 500 swings (our biggest KB is 55#, so that’s almost exactly what the article recommended). My forearms had an outstanding pump! My delicate poet’s hands got sore, though.
I did the first 100 while writing my folks’ workout on the whiteboard, then the rest in sets of 25 between sets in my own workout, then I had 50 left at the end and trained my team.
These were good! I was a sweaty mess. I’m guessing I’ll improve at them with relative quickness.
My daughter finally got to pitch yesterday. We’ve been practicing a ton, but she hasn’t gotten any innings for most of the season. She did outstanding yesterday. The coach said she surprised him and she’d be pitching a lot more now and gave her the game ball. It was awesome. We talked in the truck about it because I’d been telling her the way to get her chance is to stop running her mouth and just be so ready that when she’s gets a shot there’s no choice but to keep her there… that’s exactly what happened and she saw it play out. Then we played in the pool all afternoon (which is why my swing workout didn’t happen until today)
The dog goes to his specialist on Tuesday, so we’ll see. The kids know he isn’t right and they’re sad. I fed him some McDonald’s cheeseburgers today; in my mind, that’s like doggie morphine, so I eased his pain.
My poor boy had a double ear infection and one eardrum burst. He’s starting to feel better, finally, so now it’s kind of funny (since it’s short-term) that he can’t hear anything because he is usually a little spy picking up every conversation anywhere in the house.
In other news, I ended up with all the winners on my team from that 6-week weight loss challenge at the gym. When I have some time, is anyone interested in a write-up on what they did? If not, and it’s just self-aggrandizing, my feelings aren’t hurt.
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