Aging Pet

 When I moved out on my own, with Duste of course, we adopted a dog. She is a lab/pit mix and her name is Sadie. She is named after my first family dog, a boxer, who used to walk me to and from school!

Sadie has been with us through all of life’s changes. She has been our traveling companion on all of our adventures. She loves children, especially our very own Keaton Michael and puts up with our cats.  She is a medium size dog that stands about knee high and weights a little more than she should at 65lbs. She has the head of a pit bull with mostly the personality of a lab. She is independent and hard headed but loves to sit on your lab when you sit on the floor. She thinks she owns the couch, any pillow or blanket, the yard and pretty much anything she sees. She has never been a mother but thinks the chickens and ducks are her babies. She takes food out of your hand so gently but can scare the pants off anyone who knocks on the door. If you want to see something funny, try to get her to jump-turns out not all dogs know how! When she is super happy and over the moon to see you she will do lots of “helicopters” to let you know. She used to love the snow, to dig, run and play in it was oh so fun. She has a nose like a blood hound and can track down anything from her humans, cats or underground critters. She also loves to lie in the sun or extremely close to any heat source. She used to have separation anxiety but with age comes reassurance that both her mommies will return. She knows Santa brings her a stocking filled with babies she can shred and kill the squeaky that’s inside. She has a special place to lay inside, outside on the covered porch and in the garage where she also has her very own dogie door. She is a little spoiled because she will only eat dog food that also has people food mixed in! Sadie has been in my sisters and my senior pictures and has gone to our schools to show everyone how pretty she is—and show that her breed is nothing to fear.

She is older now but still very much loved by her humans. She hasn’t done a helicopter in a very long time but her human know how much she misses them when they are gone. She no longer plays in the snow—the cold makes her hurt.

She is our dog and has been for 12 short years.

Sadie is like many 12 yr old larger dogs and has arthritis. She is also like most labs and has a skin allergy. These two things combined makes for a very expensive last few years. But we do what we have to keep her comfortable. Her allergy meds, Atopica, are working wonders on her so far but she is only one box in. These pills are $90 a box and it takes two boxes to get through the month. Luckily, she only has to take one a day for a month then she goes down to every other day, which is half the price. Her supplements are about $60 and should last 2 months. These are to help with the swelling and mobility of her joints. She is also on an Anti-inflammatory and pain pill—those are around $50 a month. I don’t like to run a total on what is cost to keep my baby happy but with our tight budget I have to know how much this is taking a month. The price does not change our decision to keep her happy and smiling—that is priceless.

We will keep her in our lives for as long as she wants to be here, no matter what the price! I have lost both sets of my grandparents and an Aunt and know there are always signs, if you open your eyes that will let you know when it is time to let go. We are still hopeful this is a few years away.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras