August 30, 2012
Missed a visit with Sir Thomas because I spent the morning at the vet’s with Elsie. She’d been lethargic – not typically a word found in a border collie vocabulary – and, worse, her pupils took up nearly her whole eye and stayed so even in the light. Happily, she’s back to her feisty if still creaky self. The vet increased her meds slightly (sounds familiar…). So it’s a brush and a long wall for her today before heading out to visit the young ‘un. I missed not seeing him for a day No Sir Thomas stories to share, no fur clinging to the slobber he drooled on my pants leg, no loving eyes gazing up into mine. Though we both still have some training to undergo, some more getting-to-know-you get-togethers, we’re close. Soon, I won’t have to leave him. Yes, Sir Thomas, you will be coming home.
August 28, 2012
Good boy! We’re having fun working on basics. Soon enough and we’ll be working on them side-by-side.
August 24, 2012
August 23, 2012
I feel as though I’m cheating on my old girl, Elsie, when I leave her to go spend time with a younger dog: Sir Thomas. A thirteen-year-old border collie mix, Elsie is the first dog I’ve raised from puppyhood. She was full-grown the day she wagged to greet me as I returned home with my Parkinson’s diagnosis. Well into old age now, she still blinks open an eye (or two) each of the ridiculous number of times I wake during the night. On those nights, I give her extra neck scratches. On some of those nights, when the occasional meltdown renders me teary-eyed, Elsie is there, the lone guest at my pity parties. We’re both getting creaky. She a bit more so than I. Her time is limited. And while the yogi in me knows that all of us are here for a limited time, I’m acutely aware of her […]