I realized my dog was getting old...

[Midwesthonky]

When I was turning into the driveway and saw him standing to one side of the garage door. On the other side was a good sized rabbit drinking from my dog's water dish. All I could do was laugh that my black lab is so old that rabbits are not afraid of him.

He's 16 now. Still in good spirits, body not so willing. On Monday, he ate one of the kid's chocolate Easter Bunnies. Like about 9 oz left of the chocolate. Fortunately I was working from home that afternoon and found the package. He started tripping out pretty good with the hyperactivity, etc. He's doing ok, but I had to wonder if his old body could handle that much chocolate. He didn't make it out of the house fast enough though and did drop a turd in the kitchen, then on the step going outside and across the patio. He just looked at the one on the step with a Erkle like look of "did I do that?"

Now that he is old, his gas is getting pretty bad too. One night, it smelled so bad I had to go over to his sleeping form and lift his tail to check and see if he shat himself.

Dogs...

 

[bigbassdave]

Haha, dogs are the absolute best and > people in almost every case

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Our Airedale is almost 14 now and she shares her breakfast with a stinking squirrel every morning now. She would historically have just eaten it along with her breakfast.

She is on meds and still in pain a lot now and it's hard to see. She also quit drinking 3 years ago but before that, she would knock you down for a beer. Her record was 3 beers in a row but my friend that gave her that got in trouble by us.We would normally let her have a sip or two.

Here she is a couple of years ago:

 

[Midwesthonky]

Our Airedale is almost 14 now and she shares her breakfast with a stinking squirrel every morning now. She would historically have just eaten it along with her breakfast.

She is on meds and still in pain a lot now and it's hard to see. She also quit drinking 3 years ago but before that, she would knock you down for a beer. Her record was 3 beers in a row but my friend that gave her that got in trouble by us.We would normally let her have a sip or two.

Here she is a couple of years ago:

In high school, we had an airedale/sheepdog mix. Pretty cool dog. As a stray, my dad let him in the corporate office while working late one night. They fed the dog pizza and let it wander. It took a big dump in the president's office. That's when dad decided to keep him and brought him home! He would drag logs, not twigs, logs around the yard. He also would jump straight up in the air to look over the 6 ft high fence. Quite the escape artist too... Great dog with great attitude!

Don't know how much longer my lab has left. He's been drinking a ton of water lately and not holding it. Almost daily runs with the carpet steam vac. He also still craps in the driveway and I hit one last night and now have brown spots up half the driveway spaced exactly the circumference of the tire.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

In high school, we had an airedale/sheepdog mix. Pretty cool dog. As a stray, my dad let him in the corporate office while working late one night. They fed the dog pizza and let it wander. It took a big dump in the president's office. That's when dad decided to keep him and brought him home! He would drag logs, not twigs, logs around the yard. He also would jump straight up in the air to look over the 6 ft high fence. Quite the escape artist too... Great dog with great attitude!

Don't know how much longer my lab has left. He's been drinking a ton of water lately and not holding it. Almost daily runs with the carpet steam vac. He also still craps in the driveway and I hit one last night and now have brown spots up half the driveway spaced exactly the circumference of the tire.

That's funny. Annie had a favorite log for years and she would drag that thing along with her everywhere and she would chew on it until her gums were bleeding almost daily.

Since her back legs won't really lift now, she hates to go in the grass so she poops on the pool deck 3 times a day. I finally blocked off the deck where the outdoor kitchen is and now she goes to the other side of the deck that we seldom go to.

 

[Midwesthonky]

That's funny. Annie had a favorite log for years and she would drag that thing along with her everywhere and she would chew on it until her gums were bleeding almost daily.

Since her back legs won't really lift now, she hates to go in the grass so she poops on the pool deck 3 times a day. I finally blocked off the deck where the outdoor kitchen is and now she goes to the other side of the deck that we seldom go to.

Yeah, hate to see those back legs go. That's what my lab is dealing with. Back hips are knees are not so good after 16 years. I'm tempted to make him a ramp so he doesn't have to do stairs. I have a lot of drop at my shop that I can use. I figure he only has months left. Butthen I wasn't sure he would make it through the winter. 3/4 blind, mostly deaf unless it involves food or something he wants, poop chute muscles getting weak, etc. Pretty much always was the one on the special bus, strapped in with a helmet on so it's hard to tell if he has lost any metal faculty.

 

[j_garcia]

 

[herbu]

I finally blocked off the deck where the outdoor kitchen is and now she goes to the other side of the deck

We make a lot of concessions for our critters, especially as they get old or sick. Non-pet owners wouldn't understand. You wouldn't believe the length's we went for a blind cat, 2 dogs w/ cancer, etc. It's always heart breaking when they go, but more than worth it when they're here. (At least until they learn how to ride bicycles... then they're not so great. )

 

[Midwesthonky]

Latest adventure is is loose bladder. He needs his yearly oil & lube so the vet wants a urine sample to see if that is the cause of the peeing in the house. How do you get a urine sample from a male dog? Their aim is only good for a tire or other object you don't want sprayed down. I tried to talk one of the genetic offspring into holding a cup for him to pee into. They didn't go for that. Ended up with a yogurt container taped to a stick. Worked pretty good but kinda freaked the dog out.
Kid then asked what it looked like. I was "uh...looks like pee..."