Getting Old SUCKS!!!

Rocco turned thirteen in October '07, so this is no surprise... he's old.  But knowing the aging process is happening, knowing the time to say goodbye is getting closer and closer... knowing about it absolutely does not make dealing with it any easier.  

This time last year I was worried he wouldn't make it much longer.  His hind legs were so weak he couldn't go for walks anymore and just the act of standing had them trembling with the effort.  Then we discovered his low thyroid, got some magic thyroid boosting pills, and suddenly life was better.  He got stronger and has spent the last year walking a mile per day.  

Until last week...  

Last week he fell, hard.  And now the degenerative nerve disorder in his hips is creating all sorts of havoc with his ability to stand and walk.  He can't feel where his hind feet are placed, so he falls frequently and ends up dragging his hind legs behind him.  This is not a strength issue, it's an inability to feel where & how the legs are placed and a lack of communication between the brain and the hind legs.  ~~ Kind of like trying to walk with your legs completely asleep. ~~  I have to use a sling under his abdomen to support him so that he can walk without falling.  This upsets me so much more than it upsets him.  He'll drag himself over to his sling, look at it and then bark at me - he likes that he can walk fast again when we use it.  When he first figured out the sling made it easier to walk, he took off running down the street with me chasing behind trying not to drop him & yelling at him to slow down.  He hasn't moved that fast in over two years!  I'm not in good enough shape to be jogging down the street in the best of circumstances, but carrying the back half of a 105 pound dog while doing so sent me into an asthma attack.  We've been walking one block per day - he would like to go further and attempts to drag me along with him, but I just can't carry him any longer than that.  

We're seeing the vet later this week.  She might have one more magic pill up her sleeve - actually it's a series of shots.  Other than his hips, my beautiful boy is in excellent health.  His heart is good, his hearing hasn't diminished a bit, and mentally he's as sharp as ever.  So I'm hoping the shots work.  The same hope I had as a child and had to deal with my little Patches dog getting old.  Because, just as I wasn't ready to say goodbye then, I'm not ready now.  And just like Dr. Aldene managed to pull some magic shots out of his bag of tricks to give me several more years with my little Patches, I'm hoping Dr. Torchia's magic shots will give me more time with Rocco.  Because I'm just not ready to say "goodbye".

 

Perspective

Nothing like sliding off the icy road into the ditch and then sitting there for two hours to help you see the positives in an otherwise ordinary day. First; I wasn't hurt. Second; the car wasn't hurt. Third; at least a dozen people stopped to make sure I was ok - almost everyone that went past. Fourth; the idiot good Samaritan that was driving too fast and hit his brakes at the last minute thinking he'd stop and help, but instead causing his SUV to slide around on the road, didn't hit me. Fifth; the tow truck managed to pull my car out of the ditch without sliding into the ditch with the car - things were pretty icy and the tow truck was sliding quite a bit. And most important, I'm home and no longer sitting in a ditch out on a snowy icy country road.

Sometimes God has other plans...

I thought there were enough animals in my house.  With three dogs and two cats all living indoors (a total of 232 pounds of animals), I THOUGHT my home was full.  No more four-legged furry creatures.  That's what I thought.  But evidently God had other plans.  Because there is now a fourth dog living in my house.  

Well, he's really more puppy than dog.  We're guessing Gabe is about 8 weeks old.  He weighs 5 1/2 pounds.  And no one has a clue what he is - best guess is some sort of hunting breed mix due to the black ring around the base of his tail.  As for how he came to live at my house... well, he just kind of fell out of the sky.  At least that's the vets explanation, "Puppies just sort of fall out of the sky here in Tennessee and no one ever figures out where they came from." 

My sister and I found Gabe walking along the center yellow line of the road out in the country where homes are at least 1/2 mile apart.  After checking every home in the area, leaving notes on the homes that didn't answer the door, & leaving a note at the church to please announce it during the service (it was Sunday)... not a soul had ever seen him before or knew of anyone whose dog had recently had puppies.  We weren't even supposed to be on that particular stretch of road at that time - we were running 20 minutes late.  It was one of those mornings where the clock is moving in fast-forward and you're trying to move in quicksand.  No particular explanation for running 20 minutes late, the clock was just moving extra fast that morning.  But, if we hadn't been late, we wouldn't have found Gabe, and maybe the person who did find him in the middle of the road would have been driving too fast and hit him.  

So now there is this little brindle & white spotted munchkin that God has trusted us with living in my home.  He's smart & is very good (for a puppy).  The big dogs tolerate him as long as they get lengthy breaks with him locked in Rocco's old crate.  Miss Lilly Ann has discovered that he makes a better playmate than Sylvester when it comes to games of chase and tag.  Sylvester has beat him up several times and Gabe has finally figured out to steer clear of that particular cat.  Jack the cat is trying to learn not to run from Gabe - he did a bit better at that today and didn't get chased anywhere near as much.  We keep trying to tell Jack that he needs to take a page from Sylvester's book & just wallop Gabe while he's still bigger than the little brat, but so far no luck.  He's such a cute baby.  I'd really like to get my hands on the moron who dumped him!  As for what I'd do to the idiot... well, I think I might get in trouble if I wrote it out here - I'm sure your imagination can come up with some appropriate punishments.

Miss Lilly Ann - It’s been 10 whole months!!!

I can't believe it's been 10 whole months since Lilly joined our family!  

The timid, scared of everything, pees if you look at her wrong little girl is no more.  She is a confident, happy, precocious two year old little girl that is rarely intimidated.  She has gone from knowing 5 signs when I adopted her to 23 signs today.  Little Missy has learned to fetch and will bring specific toys when asked.  She loves walks now & does just fine having her harness and leash put on (no more rolling over and peeing all over herself).  She gets in and out of the car by herself and is confident enough to sit up and bark at the cars behind us.  She also learned about the lake this summer & discovered how much she LOVES to swim.  She still hides under the bed when told she has to take a bath, but will actually crawl out on her own now and doesn't fight being put in the tub or jump out at the first opportunity.  I no longer find pockets of dog food hidden throughout the house (there's still a small stash hidden under my bed for "emergencies") and she no longer tries to guard all of the food bowls (just hers).  We haven't had to use the crate in over 5 months and there have been absolutely no "scared the pee out of her" accidents in almost 4 months.  She gets along very well with big brother Rocco, still hates cousin Sarah with a passion (the girls can't seem to settle the argument of who is in charge), loves it when Grandma visits with cousins Toby & Maverick, and is best friends with Sylvester the cat.  It's hilarious to watch 45 pound Lilly and 21 pound Sylvester play tag and hide & seek through the house - yes, they take turns.  It's even better to watch them play ball.  Lilly will throw the tennis ball toward Sylvester and then wait for him to bat it back to her.  They'll play this back and forth with the tennis ball for a good 20 minutes before Sylvester gets that disgusted cat look on his face and walks off.  She has mastered the art of greeting other dogs while we're out on walks without getting scared and freaking out, and has even discovered that it's o.k. to let human children pet her and will sit quietly beside me to let them tell her how soft and pretty she is (this is something that had her crying, rolling over on her back, and peeing all over herself back in March '07).  Lilly has learned that any light flashing on and off (both inside and outside) means you're calling her.  She has also learned that when outside, if she looks away she doesn't see the light flashing on and off and can therefore ignore you until you go get your shoes & coat and actually go get her.  Fortunately, she has not figured this tactic out with hand signals (the deaf dog I had in high school, Vander, figured this out and would actually cover his eyes with his paw so he didn't have to "listen").  She is a huge fan of the well executed tummy rub and will take advantage of any opportunity to climb in your lap and lick your hand until you comply with the tummy rub request.  She was ingenious enough to learn that if she climbs up on the back of the sofa and walks across it, she can reach her leash and harness that hang by the front door - she hasn't managed to get them off the hook yet, but it makes it quite clear what she wants.  I know I'm a bit biased, but I think she's pretty amazing for a severely abused, deaf, and partially blind little girl who was in at least 2 shelters and 3 homes before coming to live with me at 15 months old.

Our goals for this year are to continue learning new signs, completely stop scratching holes in the wall next to the door when she wants out (she's gotten much better, but I'd like to be able to repair the drywall without her digging another hole in it), stop guarding food altogether, successfully visit the dog park (we haven't even tried yet), have fun being left at the groomers/dogie day care for the day (haven't tried this either), and actually go get in the tub on her own when it's bath time (Rocco does this).  They may be a bit ambitious, but she's progressed further in 10 months than I'd even hoped for in 2 years so I thought I'd set the bar a bit higher for 2008.

The Christmas Tree Massacre

Miss Lilly Ann discovered the Christmas tree.  It was all that stupid tennis ball's fault.  There she was minding her own business throwing the ball against the wall and then chasing it through the house, when the darned thing decided to roll underneath the small table the 4 1/2 foot tree was sitting on.  In her quest to get that ball, she knocked the tree off the table.  I'm sure it frightened her.  But, since no one was home to hear her ruckus, she had time to get over her fear and investigate this thing that fell out of the sky.  And wouldn't you know it, that tree had all sorts of dog toys attached to it (ie: ornaments).  Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!  She had the best time pulling all of the ornaments off of the tree and then playing with them!  When I got home the tree was on it's side, ornaments were strewn throughout the house, Rocco & Sylvester were hiding with "I didn't do it" looks on their faces, and Miss Lilly Ann was sound asleep in the middle of the disaster with hot pink stains on her nose and paws from one of the ornaments she chewed up.  She woke up all sorts of happy and excited to show me her new toys.  "Look what I found Mommy!  Isn't this just great!  Someone left all of these toys out just for me!"  Rocco and Sylvester were still hiding in the other room - waiting for me to start yelling.  Which I should have done.  Lilly SHOULD have gotten in HUGE trouble for killing the tree.  BUT... she was so happy and so cute... well, I just couldn't rain on her parade.  So I sent her outside to play while I cleaned up her mess and moved the tree to a safer location.  The tree was a bit mangled, but a bit of fluffing and it looks fine.  As for the ornaments, she only broke five (four of which can be hot glued back together).  She basically just played with them.  I found little ornament figurines all over the house, including in her favorite hiding spot - underneath my bed.  BTW, crawling underneath my king sized bed is not fun.  I should have taken pictures, but didn't think of it until I had most of the "fun" cleaned up.  She really was cute!

Merry Christmas!