Gypsy

Today, we took our 16 year old yellow lab dog to the vet…for the last time. She was the oldest Labrador Retriever at her vet’s practice.

It was time. Up until today, she always acted happy to be a dog and would be excited when we would get the leashes (and poop bags) out. Today, when I got the leash out, she just lay there looking at it, not even wagging her tail. Today she would not even eat chicken.

Our daughter, when she was 10 years old, picked a young yellow lab dog out of all the dog’s at the humane society dog adoption center. We called her Gypsy.

Gypsy was found, three days earlier, tied to the front door of the humane society when the staff showed up for work. They said when they found her, she was frightened, hungry and thirsty and estimated her age to be around 2 years. No one knows why she was left, but it was better than abandoning her in the desert to die.

Our daughter is now 24 years old and living in the Northeast USA, so she had to say her goodbyes via Facetime.

We were hoping Gypsy would see her new 18 acre “territory”, but it was not to be. The injection was done at 8:03pm April 23.

We had her pack mate with us at the final moments. He, too, got to say his goodbyes. He licked her muzzle, like he always did. Obviously there was no response.

So he is now, at age 12, “the senior dog present”.

From June 2021.

Leaving

Two days ago we were in Mackinaw City, Michigan, USA and both my wife and I, and our daughter were ready to drive off to our homes. Our daughter the 100 miles back to her new place in northern Michigan and my wife and I the 2,400 miles back to the USA desert southwest.

Our daughter was sad and excited, all at the same time.

She picked “yellow lab” when she was 9 years old and that was 13-1/2 years ago. Yellow lab is now 14 years old and this is likely the last time they will be together.

And, excited that she will be starting a job at a bank…and the job is related to her business administration degree….

Good Luck.

If you are lost, you can look and you will find us

Cold or Flu?

For the past few days I’ve had no energy, a dry cough, sore throat, muscle aches, a headache, but no fever.  And, it’s going away as quickly as it showed up.  The only remaining symptoms is a sore set of ribs from my coughing and some fatigue

One year I broke my foot, leg and ankle in multiple places and I had to make my way 1/2 mile (800 meters) to my car (I spent 3 days in hospital, plus had a several hour surgery for that little “stunt”), so I know I can keep moving when it’s not comfortable.  This makes it even more difficult for me to accept the idea that I need to build up my energy to walk from the bed to the sofa or back.

The 19 year old cat and the 9 year old dog laid tight against me when I was in bed.  The other dog is 13 years old and she isn’t able to climb up into the bed.  So, she laid on the floor where I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed without stepping on her.