Walking around the park with Tilley yesterday I realized how things have changed. I clearly remember being out with my poodles and having that sense of safety, with big dogs around you don't worry. They can handle themselves pretty well and made me feel that if anything came down that they would protect me too. But things have changed; as I scan the park to be sure that there are no young rowdies running around. I just cannot have a young energy packed dog barrel into Tilley; I hover around her like she is a toddler, ready to catch her if she falls.
I kick her ball around the park to get her running; she loves it but falls often now. With her added Vestibular disease she's also crooked at 13 so if she gets going too fast she tends to head dive every so often. When other dogs do come around I'm like a hired security guard standing between the other dog and Tilley; always ready to intervene when needed. One wrong move and she is down for the count; but I'm there to help her to her feet again.
Aging is a fact of life; change. Change as a dog ages is neither good nor bad; it just is. With my little Jack Russell the change has been that she doesn't see or hear like she use to. She is often running around the house in a panic because she cannot find me. She doesn't clean up the kitchen floor like she use to and she is startled by our touch constantly. But as far as her body aging; that doesn't seemed to have started yet, she is still the little tank she's always been.
Even Luke is now showing his age and although he is not frail like Tilley; he is much less able to take a hit from a younger dog. He will be 10 in August and he looks amazing for his age; everyone says so. As a big dog it is his body that is failing him first; his energy level is intact as are his eyes and ears. So with an energy level still going strong it is difficult for us to cut his walks shorter. Its been a process; slowly slowing down.
But things sure haved changed; from the days when miles and miles of running didn't phase any of the dogs to now knowing a stroll around the park is enough to put them out for the day. When they go down for a rest now; it's a much needed deep sleep. Tilley spends most of her day now on the couch in the family room sleeping. Jessie typically is on one of the beds in our bedroom and Luke rest but is still my constant shadow; even if getting up and moving is becoming a slower process.
If it were somehow in my power to control time I would leave us forever in 2005.
Beautifully said.
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