Wednesday, August 06, 2008

beloved dog

Alison once observed that some people blog about specific topics, while others of us simply blog about whatever is on our minds. I'm afraid that I fall very much into the second category; blogging gives me a chance to write down whatever is most on my mind.

However, that having been said, I strongly suspect that a certain topic is going to come to dominate my posts over the next chunk of time.

I live with a dog. I don't know, and probably never will, if Sam picked me out at the animal shelter or if I picked him. There are times when he drives me bonkers. There are times when he finds me frustrating. I am probably closer to him than most of the human beings I know - he is my friend, my pal, my hot water bottle, my alarm clock, the source of most of what needs to be vacuumed up each week...

In the last few months I've been confronted with the reality that Sam is not only no longer young (maybe 12?) but that his arthritis is starting to slow him down and to restrict his activities. He still feels entitles to his spot on the sofa, but I need to help him up and down. He still protects me from the squirrels in the yard, but he needs to go outside late at night or else we both regret it...

Sam may yet have years of defending me from wildlife - but it's hard to accept that my companion is slowing down. Anyway, I'll probably be blogging more about this as time goes by.

2 comments:

itsmecissy said...

I am in tears as I write. I am owned by three kitty cats who grudgingly allow my husband and I to live with them (We have jobs and keep them well-fed and in cat toys). My oldest, Phoebe G. is (maybe) 14 and shows the same signs of slowing down. It's simply awful to lose a beloved pet, worse is to begin preparing yourself for that loss.

I'd love to hear more stories about Sam.

Jason said...

As well you should write about Sam. It's tough to deal with the mortality of man's best friend. I'm not looking forward to it.