Box fan brings Angel bliss

Trina

Box fan brings Angel bliss

 

By Tracy Ahrens

Experts often tell us about basic essentials for things such as cooking, maintaining beauty or being successful.

The three necessities I’ve learned make my dog Angel content are her yellow stuffed duck toy, a small bully stick and a basic box fan gently blowing air across her furry physique.

Her duck toy was a gift from a social media acquaintance. That duck never leaves my bed, the place where Angel sleeps beside me.

Bully chew sticks are always stocked for her in a glass cookie jar on top of my refrigerator.

While these two things are obvious desires of most dogs, Angel’s love of a box fan was a discovery for me.

The box fan, which sits on my office floor, is something that Angel not only loves, but needs.

Angel is a husky/shepherd mix with a thick fur coat. I adopted her when she was approximately 11. She had no name or history on file.

Huskies get hot in warm weather and need cool air to maintain a healthy body temperature. Their dense double-coat withstands cold temperatures, but it also makes them vulnerable to overheating when it’s warm.

Apart from a thick coat of fur, Angel also came with several age-related health issues and a paralyzed larynx. A paralyzed larynx makes breathing harder and that hinders her from cooling down quickly.

Couple this with a thick fur coat and my Angel unquestionably must be kept in a cool environment.

I always provide her with cool water, and in the summer, air conditioning is crucial. It was by chance that I unveiled the mesmerizing effect a box fan brings her.

I remember the first time I set the simple $20 fan on my office floor and turned it on a low setting. It was forcing cool air from a window air conditioner to my nearby bedroom. Angel quickly drifted to the fan, lying within inches of the grate. 

Her panting eased, she sighed and fell asleep on her side on the rug.

As time went on, she kept gravitating to the box fan even on cooler days, expecting it to pump out a breeze. I fulfil her desire each time by turning it on low.

Since the fan has become such a vital part of our lives, I’ve affectionately named it “Nanny the box fanny.” Though Angel is hard of hearing, I swear she knows what I mean when I verbally offer to turn on Nanny.

One time I needed to move the fan to my basement to dry a wet floor. I couldn’t let Angel down, so I hurried to a store to buy her another box fan. 

Though sleeping beside me on my bed is her favorite location, Angel’s second favorite place is my office floor directly in front of the fan. When she’s on my bed, she always lies on the side where she can still feel the fan’s soothing airflow.

My neighbor who babysits Angel while I work also provides Angel with comforting requirements while she’s away from home. At my neighbor’s home, Angel has the same stuffed ducks, a big dog bed, bully sticks and beside her bed on the living room floor – a tower fan casting cool wind across her furry figure.

I’ve taken many photos of Angel sleeping soundly in the fan breeze. I think that she is smiling with an overwhelming sense of peace. 

While studying her one day snoozing in the current, I wrote a poem I believe she would have penned if she could, expressing her love for this simple soothing essential. I share that poem here.

 

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Tracy Ahrens is a veteran journalist, author, artist and mom to three rescued cats and one dog. See her web site at www.tracyahrens.weebly.com and add her children’s book, “Sammy Sparrow’s First Flight,” to your collection. All proceeds help 10 humane organizations.

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