Two tired days


Luke followed us outside but slept as Elsa retrieved. 


Yesterday and the day before were the first days that I have ever been able to sneak away from Luke.  I got up from my desk glancing over to see if he was awake.  He was not, he was sound asleep with his little feet twitching.  I quietly walked out of the office and into my bedroom; then came back to check on him.  I don't want him going up and down stairs without assistance so if he is up I need to know.  Elsa and I headed downstairs where I had many things to do.  I kept an ear out to hear the sound of his feet up and in the hallway, nothing.  I have never in all of Luke's life been able to move without him following; these past two days are a first.

I remember leaving Tilley sound asleep in my office.  I could go out shopping for an hour and come back to her in the exact same place.  She never even knew that I was gone.  Old dogs need to sleep and there is nothing more peaceful than watching them do so.  But Luke has always been my shadow and his hearing is still pretty darn good as are his other senses.  I believe a big part of it is just that he feels me moving, even without hearing me.  I try to sneak so that he can have some uninterrupted sleep when I need to move around.  Walking without creaking is not easy; either the floor creaks, I creak or my chair creaks. 

Of course Elsa is on it; I imagine I'll have the same thing with her unless she totally looses her hearing as she grows old.  Her sense of my whereabouts is scary.  I cannot even move my chair in the office without her in the ready.  Elsa and I are joined; where I go, she goes.   Where I sit she sits and where I sleep she sleeps; even  more so than Luke and I.  Not all dogs follow so intensely.  Tilley followed but nothing like Luke and Elsa.  Jessie followed more than Tilley but as she aged she would find a spot and rest her head until she was done.

Monday and Tuesday, Luke was very tired.  Not getting up and following, sleeping for hours at a time, deep sleep.  I love that my dogs follow me wherever I go; but now I want Luke to take what he needs.  He needs to sleep and following me around at 14 years of age is tough.  I have put a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs that go up to our bedroom and my office.  I often place it there when I'm running up and down.  This lets him know that I will be back and he cannot follow me.  I often come back down the stairs to find Luke and Elsa right behind the gate waiting.  But they are starting to get use to it now.

Life is ever changing but it seems like only yesterday that I was tip toeing away as Tilley and Jessie slept.  I would hand signal to Luke to come with me.  It is now Elsa who is reading sign language and following as Luke sleeps.  Life doesn't stop for anyone. 



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