I am sure I wrote this before, he was more like a cat. I want it when I want it and when I don’t – just leave me alone. I am not sure if the attention he comes for is because he is older or because there is another dog in the house. Perhaps a bit of both.
He is still a good dog. A bit grumpy at times, a lot like an old man, when you bother him or make him move because he is laying in the way. He doesn’t like being told that he has to get up. I don’t like telling him as I have notice that he is having a rougher time when he goes to sit/lay down and when he goes to get up. Once he is up, he is fine. There is no noticeable issue with his legs or hips. Just probably a bit of arthritis in his bones.
I am not sure how long a dog his breed will live. I am figuring that he has at least another few years in him. Hopefully more. Yet, I am trying to prepare myself in some way for his eventual loss. I think this has been brought about my brother’s dog, who is only a little older than Ramsey. She has started to become noticeable slower, less movement, harder times using the bathroom, needing to be hand fed, etc. All those caretaker things we have to do when our dogs get older.
It is difficult to lose an animal. Not just a pet but a family member. I don’t want to dwell on it and I don’t. It’s just at times when you notice the longer it is taking to get up and down. The small changes in behavior and I have to think, that nine is not a youthful number when it comes to big dogs. No, nine marks the start of getting up in years. Especially for a breed that doesn’t have a long life span.
Of course my lab/sharpie mix lived to be 16 – which was a lot longer than anyone thought she was going to live. She was still a wonderful, sweet, happy girl her entire life. I didn’t want to have her put down and only when I realized she had hit a point that I really took a long look at her and had to decide was it my selfishness or for her that I was delaying things. I finally decided that perhaps I should do something for her, the day I was going to take her to the vet, was the morning that she didn’t wake up.
It was a very hard time for me. As I am sure you can imagine. It has been almost 12 years since that time and now I grow closer to losing another beautiful friend. Of course, like I said, he still has at least a few years in him (I think.)Which is time I will enjoy and I think he will too. Even if our walks are getting a bit slower.
He still plays with the girl dog. They wrestle and chase each other. Of course, she can keep going even when he can’t. He will just lay down while she runs circles around him. Dancing and teasing him and trying to get him to get up and play. There are the rare occasions where she will be laying down and he will be dancing around her. Which is just another indicator that he has a lot of life in him.
I ended up changing his food again to Rachel Ray’s Brand of dog food. He is on a grain free fish diet and doesn’t get rawhide. This makes life a bit more expensive. The benefits are outstanding. Plus we are living in the desert, which has also helped him. He doesn’t have the ear and eye problems and his belly is white now not the brilliant red it gets in the grass.
Overall he is a happy, healthy dog who only grumbles when you bother him when he doesn’t want your attention. (Like when I lay down on the ground and cuddle him a bit.) Still, he comes and wants you to pet him and scratch him.