Dogs

Some people are animal lovers. And some just aren't. I was raised with animals and can't imagine them not being a part of my life. One animal doesn't ever seem to be enough for us. We have always tried to keep animals as long as we can. We have had to loose a few cats though that had some issues. But my mom has a dog that came from my grandparents dogs. They gave Melissa the dog and mom inherited the dog down the road. She had a poodle and then her dogs gave us Spot. Her dog has been around a long time. She had to put him down here recently. Man he lived a very long doggy life. I think he had to be about 15 or 16 maybe. He was a pretty and good little dog. Our Spot is getting up there. She is 11 now but still quite frisky. But our other dog Buddy who is possibly Great Dane and lab or golden retriever is probably about 12 or 13. That is very old for the size dog that he is. We have had him 11 years. He is quite elderly now. I have had a few times where I stop and watch his breathing to see if he is still with us. We are watching him decline rapidly now. He has been struggling with his back hips off and on for years. Not a terrible struggle, just work for him. His hips have never been super strong. But now he has had some days with great weakness in his legs and he has had a few potty issues which he never has. So this could be his last summer with us. He has lost weight and his back legs don't look good. That is pretty sad for me even though I have never been a big (I mean by large) dog lover. He is a very good dog we rescued from the pound in Nampa. He has had a long and happy life with us. He has played with puppies and put up with kittens he would have rather have nowhere near him, but he was kind. Kids could crawl all over him and he would just lay there and let them. He barely chased after tennis balls but he chased the neighbors cat until the fence was bent in and could care less about the cat anymore. If you have seen Morley( Marley?) and Me. Well that movie got me because the end of movie is where we are. And coping with the kids when he goes will be the hardest part of all. But that's a part of life's lessons isn't it? Then you realize then how much of a gift that pet was in your life. The kids still mourn the cat that had to be put to sleep years ago. So Buddy is still here right now and hopefully he will die peacefully here. I don't know. He is about 70 -100 pounds. Maybe I won't think about those details quite yet. We will remind the kids to appreciate every time they let him out and in from now on. Because it might not be for much longer.