Can you hear me now?

I've been testing Jessie's hearing and vision for a while now. Every once in a while I will whisper call her; a bit louder, a bit louder and then finally hit the "response" decibel. Although Tilley and Jessie are so close in age they are aging very differently. Jessie is loosing her sight and her hearing; Tilley on the other hand is getting very wobbly. Her hearing is good; perhaps not quite what it use to be but pretty good and her eye sight not bad for having such cloudy eyes.

Aging sucks and for our dogs it happens far too early; Jessie will be 14 on her next birthday, Tilley will be 13 and Luke will be 10. Luke is not showing aging signs yet except that he has finally matured. Jessie's body is very deceiving; she doesn't look like an old dog and she doesn't move like an old dog. No one we meet on our walking adventures ever believes it when I tell them that she is 13.5. And although Tilley doesn't look old; she moves old.

I can come and go now from the house without much notice; at least as far as Jessie is concerned. The other day I went out and she was sound asleep curled up in a blanket in my room. When I returned 4 hours later she was still in the same spot and didn't know I'd been gone. She sleeps very sound and with her hearing failing her she doesn't hear the goings on in the house. She is not completely deaf though; I just have to yell alot. I remember not so long ago yelling for Clyde my old boy.

This is when sign language really comes in handy; that is if they are not asleep. I use to sign to Clyde all the time; and when he lost his hearing from old age he continued to watch me sign to him. Let's face it aging sucks; but we are all headed in the same direction right? Dogs are resilient creatures; and even when her hearing is long gone, Jessie will adjust.