Last time to the dog park for Mary

[smkie]

SHe made it down to the water...she blew bubbles and walked about but i am going to have to admit this time i think was too much. SHe was still able to jump up in the car without help when it was time to go...which at since next month she will be 17 ..is just unbelievable. STill her tail didn't wag so much. There was no galloping. I made her stop and rest three times in the shade on the way back. SHe has been 5 times this summer which is 5 times more than i ever thought she would get to go. So end of an era...iz sad. WHen she stands her toes have no curl to them at all..they point straight up. IT's like they just gave up. THe arthritis has made her feet thick..they look like the foot of a Chinese woman that has had her feet bound. Just no fair at all...the rest of her is more than willing.

I was scared but took Victor. He had a grand time. I went early before the bees were about and still didn't see any when we left. HE managed to roll in something absolutely vile but a little girl let me borrow their ball and three times of a long swim removed 90 percent of it. THere dog wouldn't go in the water after the ball. WHen i threw it for VIctor tho the dog almost forgot and made a big leap but chickened out when her feet didn't touch bottom anymore.

Pepper had a grand time...and of course is never ready to leave. So next time without Mary they can have a longer run. I love the dog park. YOu never saw a more peaceful society then what i saw this morning.. THey visited/played with more than 30 dogs.

 

[bubbatd]

I'd still take her and let her do what she wants to do ...just going with you is special to her ,

 

[smkie]

SHe can go to the valley but not the dog park. IT's too far, it's too hot even at 9 am. I felt bad that we even tried today. THe other two were so not ready to leave which was a bummer too.

 

[bubbatd]

Maybe next fall ......

 

[smkie]

I Don't think so.. I think my dog is so very very old and fun is starting to diminish. I wish it were not so. We will go to the valley..that is short bit..not an hour's walk. I wish i could rub her old feet back to what they once were.
17 is an unheard of age for a lab. I have never known one to be that old. I know your Bubba made it to 17. Arthritis was his problem too wasn't it?

 

[Zoom]

There was a lab who was either 15 or 16 at the resort, he did ok until he died in his sleep, poolside in the sun, with his favorite Kong resting between his paws. I knew a Golden who was 17 but she wasn't in near as good of shape as Mary.

I think the heat just gets to her; she'll probably perk back up in the fall.

 

[smkie]

Hope so. IT wasn't all that hot compared to other times we have been there but this time i worried.. I am going by how bad her toes looked mostly...as if she were walking on the center pad only. I don't know how to describe it other than that. IT sure didnt' look easy to do. PEople paid alot of attention to her which she liked very much. Funny how she was never noticed until her face went white. THey all said she looks marvelous..incredible...wonderful...and i was thinking those old toes sure don't look good...not one bit. One child asked me if she were pg....i told her when you get that old your fat just doesn't know where to go anymore so mary's goes to that one spot instead of all over. IT does look about puppy size.

 

[Doberluv]

A-w-w...poor ole' Mary. I bet she can find something enjoyable closer to home. It does get hard on the older ones, especially in the heat. I skip walks lots of days in summer. It's just too darn hot and like you say, even early in the morning. It was 87 the other day at 7:30 or 8:00. The dogs don't even enjoy it. They just as soon lie around in the shade of the yard or occassionally run up the bank into the woods after a rabbit or something. And when it's really hot, they like it inside where there is air conditioning.

Bonnie, my Lab made it to a couple of months shy of 14 and I had a Lab mix as a kid who lived to 15. His mother, a Beagle mix outlived him and lived to 18. I hope Mary has some more time where she can get some pleasures still out of life.

 

[smkie]

Know what's funny? One person at the park said "that little brown dog sure keeps track of you. I watched her as she peeped out of the woods...went back in...peeped out of the woods...and went back in". hehehehe I don't even worry about where she is anymore. THat's progress.

Mary's tired ol body just ..it would be easier if her mind matched her body but it doesn't. YOu can see her want to and that makes it worse. I gave her a pain pill before we left but it didn't seem to make much difference..other than she was able to jump in the car. I would have helped her but she didn't need me to. You wouldn't believe how strong her upper body is. Two days ago she made a jump for the back seat and missed before i could get to her. I had both doors open and was still loading up. SHe just beat me to it. WHen her bottom hit the ground her whole spirit fell. I am watching my MOm deteriate about as fast as Mary is. It's breaking my heart in two different directions. MOm is shrinking but not straight down...to me little old ladys curl like maple leaves. ANd My mother is doing that. IT's like her pelvis has shifted and one leg rides higher than the other making it difficult for her to keep her balance. I have begged her to use a cane BEFORE she falls. BUt that doesn't seem to be happening. I need both my Mommies. Mommy Mary too. Being old just blows. THE whole park experience put me in a funk. Both because i saw my dog not be able to do what she loves...and me because i walk as slow as she does and i don't feel a whole lot better. Just sad today is all.

 

[bubbatd]

Yes. Aging sucks !!! Your body just can't keep up with your mind !!!

 

[smkie]

Mom too... she is so frustrated with her eyes. SHe has glaucoma and that was bad enough but now she has the mac degeneration thing. EVerything strains her eyes and she is bored. I was trying to get Mary's attention hollaring louder and louder tho she was only a few feet away. If it is loud enough she can hear. But that is at my utmost with her almost beside me. HE eyes however are surprising clear. Not much of any cateracts. Which is good. I have learned to hollar with handsignals..one means come the other means hurry up. Mary certainly seems to know both. But if her back is turned to me nothing helps but to scurry after her. SHe takes advantage of that when we go to the valley. She gallops ahead because i am not calling her back. I think it is her own private joke on Pepper and Victor that she doesn't have to anymore and they do. IF Hyia is with me i just send her to trot along side of her. LEt her enjoy her freedom while she still can. YOu can't put a collar or leash on her because she has one of those fatty tumours i think inside of her neck and when a collar even has a little pressure against it she gags. So we direct mary via hands on one side or the other.

 

[bubbatd]

That's what I had to do with Rufus and Bush as they aged . They also felt the vibration if I stomped my feet ad would look at me . Both never lost their sight .

 

[Tankstar]

Its the heart break of having a dog. watching them age.

Our old girl made it to only 13 but her body was like a 20 year old dog. but her mind was that of a young pup and her eyes too. it was terrible to watch her. she would love to go hiking. it would take us 20mins for her to hobble up to the hiking path we used to have up the road, where Blaze and I can make it in 5 mins. but she loved it so much.

Im sure when it gets cooler Mary will perk up.

 

[smkie]

I hope so with all my heart. THank you all for the kind words.

 

[bubbatd]

Smkie .... I know that it would be hard , but I truly hope that Mary will make her choice on her own and save you the decision . I truly wonder if Bubba waited until I was away and Tom found him . I would have handled it better if he was older ... to me he still was young .

 

[Renee750il]

Here's hoping for an unseasonably early cool down for Mary

 

[smkie]

A nice fall..would be nice if she had a nice fall. Winter strikes us both in the joints. SO not too cool.THis is actually about the best weather for her jointwise. THat is why i felt so badly for her today.

 

[Barb04]

Oh Smkie, please give gentle hugs & kisses to our Mary. I love that girl so. This is how I'll always pic Mary when we were at Grammy's last time:

 

[bubbatd]

She was such a trooper !!! Much better than the year before !

 

[MissMutt]

Gosh what a beautiful ol' dignified dog. Sorry her dog park days have ended, but like others said maybe she'll feel better when the weather cools down. Here's hoping so.