Milestones with Eddie
For the past two years, I've been embracing Eddie's senior doghood. When he turned 10 two years ago, I started to lament his lost youth. But I decided he still had plenty to offer and he was much too young to mourn. Now that he's turned 12, I've successfully reached a place where I cherish every new behavior and I celebrate each and every milestone in his life.
This summer already, I've noticed several small changes. One makes me smile: When he was younger and didn't want to keep up with me on a walk, I could always "herd" him the direction I was going by saying "I'm gonna pick you up!" He HATED being picked up when we were outside and always insisted on walking.
But a couple times this year, he's slowed down or stopped on our walks. When I tried to use the "I'm gonna pick you up" threat, he just stayed there as if to say, "Please!" He's had surgery on both his back legs, and while he seldom shows it, I have no doubt arthritis is setting in. I think he's learning to appreciate being picked up when he gets stiff. I gladly oblige, smile and tip my hat to Eddie the senior.
Another sign I see more frequently is a softening in his personality. As a puppy, Eddie always insisted on owning every toy, getting every treat first and bullying his way through the door first before any other dog could get somewhere ahead of him. I managed the toy issue as best I could through training, but he was adamant about some of the other things and I didn't see the need to try to change other behaviors.
But this year I see Jillie pushing her way past him more often when they're both lined up at the door wanting to go in opposite directions. The young Eddie would have snapped at her, but now he lets his pushy younger sister have her way.
At the dog park, changes have been the most dramatic. Eddie has gone to enclosed dog parks most of his life and, for better or worse, was always very good at keeping pushy dogs away. If a dog got in his face, he would snarl viciously. If that didn't work, he'd move in and fight the dog, and size didn't matter. In 12 years, I always anticipated those encounters so I was able to avoid or break up the few fights he tried to get in before anyone got hurt.
But this summer, I've noticed those skirmishes have almost disappeared. I'm not sure why, but I've seen him just stand there and let some dogs get in his face without reprisal. He doesn't enjoy pushy dogs, but I think he knows he's not as tough as he used to be and it's much easier just to ignore them until they get bored or Dad comes in to rescue him.
I'm torn on that behavior. While I always thought he had perhaps too much of a hair-trigger when he was younger, at least he could take care of himself. Now, I'll see him sometimes with a distressed look on his face and I have to be prepared to scoop him up and solve the problem for him.
The latest example of that happened last weekend when a couple midsize young dogs thought they'd test Eddie. I was there but taking pictures and didn't rescue him soon enough. By the time I got there, he was looking distressed and allowed me to pick him up.
But I had to smile when I got home and went through my pictures. I'd snapped a frame of the encounter before I realized it was starting to get out of hand -- and there, just like the old days, was Eddie snarling viciously and showing he was still in charge when it came to dog park hooligans! I felt bad I let it go that far, but I was secretly smiling that he still had some fire in his belly!
Lastly, another milestone is passing this month. Eddie's registration with Pet Partners is expiring in a couple weeks, and I'm considering letting it lapse and sending him into therapy dog retirement. They say at about age 10, you should start looking for signs that therapy dogs don't enjoy visits as much as they used to. While he's still a patient and staff favorite at the hospital, I do see those signs. He used to perform his tricks in 10-15 rooms over a couple hours and keep coming back for more. But over the last year or so, I've noticed him telling me that a couple trick demonstrations was enough. I changed up his types of visits so he only had to do group shows for one or two groups each visit.
Also, he's gotten good at letting me know when maybe he's not up for a visit entirely one week. I always ask him, "Do you want to go to work?" If he comes to me, I clean him up and take him. But if he heads to the back room and hides under the bed, I smile and realize he's not up for it. Jillie takes the shift at the hospital.
At the end of this week's visit, I took the top picture. When I looked at it in my car in the parking lot, tears started streaming down my face before I even realized it. Here was perhaps one of the best therapy dogs the hospital has ever seen, one who has literally made thousands of kids, adults and staff smile over the past eight years. He's known by name by dozens of doctors and staffers at the hospital, and a week hardly goes by when he isn't recognized by kids around town who have benefited from his visits at one time in their lives.
While I'm toying with the idea of registering him for another two years just so we could attend special occasions at the hospital, I may not. If anyone has earned his retirement, it's Eddie. If he's retiring now, he's leaving at the top of his game. And that's the way I think people want to remember him.
Ah, milestones in a dog's life. I am determined to embrace each and every one, the ones that make me smile and the ones that make me cry. When his journey ends, I will be able to say I didn't miss a step.
Comments 0
Total Comments 0