The End of a Run

Our wonderful yellow Lab, Gable, died yesterday around 4 PM. I am very sad. He was truly my most very favorite of our six dogs that we've had. He always had quiet dignity (unless he was chasing down something that didn't belong in our yard!)

The other three dogs that lived with him over the years knew that they could run out or swim out after the Frisbee but they absolutely could NOT touch it. That was Gable's job and no dog should ever think otherwise.

Gable was named after Dan Gable, an Olympic wrestler, because of his tendency to trip other dogs by reaching around in front of their leg and tripping them as a wrestler would. In this photo from awhile ago, he is "smiling." Something he did when we would say, "Gable, are you a bad dog?" He loved veggies. The only food he didn't eat recently was an offered basil leave which he spit out. Carrots and green beans were his favorites and I had to fence both of those crops to keep him out.

I miss him, but know that he was just barely holding on. His weight while once a proud 95 muscular pounds had plummeted to 61. He was skeletal. I asked doc Martin how old a 16 year old dog was in people years and he said that it was off the chart so that we could be proud of how well we had taken care of him for him to last that long. That and probably very good genes.

There is a big hole in my heart. On the relationship scale he was at the very top.

Life is a Surprise

I would never have guessed that our almost 16 year old dog would outlive one of the younger ones, but that is how it went down today.
Dillion II, our Springer Spaniel, died today around 2 PM. He was 11 years old. He had been in constant pain for about a week and we made the decision over the weekend. We know that it was the right decision because he was so incredibly unhappy and
sick.

We will remember all the good stuff about this dog: the fact that he would sit in front of Steve staring at him in devotion; or that if Steve was in the hammock, there should be room for Dillion, too; or that Dillion also liked to ride in the kayak trying to kiss me right on the lips when both of my hands were busy paddling. He liked to play Frisbee, but he never picked it up, instead giving way to his elder, Gable. We got Dillion and his brother, Owen, to replace Steve's first Dillion. We think that the day we put Dillion I down is the day the new Dillion was born.

It is quiet around here tonight, but it is better not to hear Dillion moaning. I'm sure he is happier.

One More Time

For those of you who have followed this blog, you know that I've written a few posts about our yellow Lab, Gable. He is now almost 16 years old.

Each time I write about him it seems like he is nearing the end.

Last Monday night it seemed for sure.

His back leg kept thrusting out toward his front, crossing over so if he was standing it would trip his other back foot. Worst of all it would just collapse beneath him. I wondered if he had broken a hip. When he did manage to pull that foot into place, more times than not he was walking with the foot turned under. Ouch!

Steve made an appointment with the vet at 8 AM the following morning and asked me to go along. I know we both thought that it was going to be Gable's last trip.

But I am happy to report that the Everyready dog is still tickin'. He has a spinal cord injury that is making his back leg paralyzed. There is not much to do except enforced rest. Hopefully within a month it will heal and be better.

Right.

We couldn't figure out how to help him navigate our home with all the slippery wood floors. We didn't want him to exert himself falling down and then trying to get up. You guessed it. The next day I was at Bass Pro buying doggie boots that have rubber soles. I sure felt the need to tell the cashier that these boots were a for a medical need not just foo-foo! We are using just two for his back legs and they seem to keep his feet under him better.

So I'll keep ya' posted.

One thing is, Gable doesn't understand the rest part and still wanders a half mile throught the snow to go pee on the neighbor"s bushes. (That's the closest neighbor and Gable goes out through the fields to accomplish this feat.)

He still thinks of himself as Top Dog!

Seeing It Again and Again

Reticular activation has kicked in. As I understand RA, once I see something, when I see it or something like it again, I am more likely to notice the second sighting because of the initial viewing.

Saturday, when Steve let the dogs out of the barn in the morning, it was obvious that something was seriously wrong with our 13 year old yellow Lab. Now my friends know that I'm not too wild about our three dogs because the three form a pack and the pack is not well-behaved. But if I could have one dog, it would be the Lab, Gable. He is a lover and an all around nice dog. (In this picture, he looks like he is snarling, but actually is getting ready to smile.)

Steve said that Gable had vomited and I could see that he, Gable, not Steve, was stumbling around as if he had no control over his body. When this proud dog urinated in the house, I insisted that Steve take him to the vet. I was sure he'd had a stroke. Luckily, I was wrong. He didn't have a stroke, but has idiopathic (no known cause) vestibular syndrome. This is an inflammation of a nerve in the ear which causes him to have one big hangover -- or at least the symptoms of such. The course of care is keeping him quiet, giving him prednisone for the inflammation and Dramamine to help control the nausea. He is much better already.

Okay, here's where the reticular stuff starts.

1. Hubby, Steve's buddy that he grew up with, had the same thing within the last year. He is an orthopedic surgeon, so you can imagine the fear that set in when he awoke with the symptoms.

2. Saturday I was reviewing a list of new chamber members, and sure enough there was the Vestibular and Balance Clinic that had joined.

3. Then Sunday in the paper, the veterinarian's column was also about this syndrome. Weird, huh?

I know that I am just noticing this word because I have been exposed to it. It has visibility with me.

Gosh, I hope Certified Networker of Ohio is striking people in the same way! (in a good way, that is!)

Do you have a crazy reticular activation story?

Passion for Pedro

My beach dog!

He is still there at the wonderfully isolated San Josecito Beach.

In fact he looked so good that I almost thought he was a new younger dog.

I've named him Pedro, which gains a lot a of laughter back at the lodge, because the manger's name is Pedro. I don't think Costa Ricans give their animals human names.

I must admit that I'm totally smitten over Pedro. I think he's waited for me for six years now -- or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

One year I didn't think he'd be there when we came back, because he had obviously been in a terrible fight and the whole side of his temple was a huge, swollen, open wound.

Each year I take dog treats for sure, and some years I must admit that I've taken both flea and mange treatment! Pedro has the softest mouth of any dog I've ever been around. If offered a treat or food from the picnic lunch, he takes it very gently from my fingers. (Our dogs that get fed everyday, grab treats like there's no tomorrow.)

Pedro has earned my trust. On the relationship scale, I would rate it at the highest level, profitability! The love goes back and forth equally.