Category: dogs

Rion went to the Bad Place (aka the groomer’s) on Friday.  What with one thing and another, this is the longest he had gone without grooming since he was a puppy. (The downside of a dog that doesn’t shed is that they have to be groomed regularly.)  I had forgotten what a trim dog was underneath all the fluff.  He looked like a 1970’s shag carpet.  Oddly enough, although he was shaking when I parked the car at the Bad Place, he followed quite readily into the anteroom.  Then he planted his butt looking dreadfully pathetic until the groomer scooped him up and carried him off.

A friend gave us two chews for the dogs this past Christmas.  Rion, the schnauzer cross, made short work of his.  Lightning decided he would rather carry his around the house and guard it.  When we would hear blood curdling growls from Rion, trying to drive Lightning away from his treasure, we would hide it for a while until we could give it back to Lightning when Rion wasn’t around.

After about a week of this, I asked Jack if he had seen Lightning’s Precious recently.  He hadn’t and we couldn’t find it.  Either Lightning hid it in a Really Safe Place, or Rion managed to slip in, grab it, and eat it. Life became a lot more tranquil.

It was a bit of a challenge operating the camera with one hand while playing tug with the other.

When Lily the Golden Retriever joined our household, I had to put dog toys out of reach because she would destroy them and possibly swallow the remains.  I didn’t feel too sorry for Rion because he viewed Lily as his toy.

Now that Lily is gone, Rion is making due with second best.  His attempts to turn Lightning the Sheltie into a toy have not been successful.

Lightning, our Sheltie, had become a mess of mats and dirty as well, so it was off to the groomers.  Even though he is 12, the clip makes him look like a youngster.

Lily the Golden Retriever came to live with us three years ago.  We had known her and her buddy the Sheltie Lightning since they were puppies because they belonged to Jack’s sister’s family.  She and Lightning used to stay here a lot when their family was traveling.  Lily was not able to adjust when her family moved to Denver, so she and Lightning came to live with us.

She has had several health crises the past two years.  An autoimmune disease prematurely aged her.  She has had several bouts of pneumonia.  I thought she was dieing in early December but she rallied that night after I restarted the antibiotics. She has been on antibiotics at least half the time for eighteen months. Two months ago I decided to keep her on antibiotics full time because she  tried to cough up a lung every time I stopped.

A couple of weeks ago, she started occasionally ignoring her meals, though she was still keen for people food and dog treats.  She stopped eating her meals completely three days ago, though she would take dog treats from our hands.

This morning, she had her morning dog biscuit, but once again ignored her breakfast.  She went out with the other dogs into the new field when I fed horses. She snatched a slice of bread that Jack offered her.  (This dog used to eat whole loaves when she could steal them.)

At noon today, I went out to find her collapsed on her bed in the mudroom.  She has been spending a lot of time out there the past two weeks.  She did not react when I called her sharply.  We called the vet requesting euthanasia but her vet couldn’t come until tomorrow morning.  I checked her every twenty minutes to make sure she didn’t seem to be in pain.  A little after one, I realized she was very, very still. She looked like she was just peacefully asleep.

…when Elaine gets cold, she wraps ME in a blanket.