What I didn't think about was the proximity of my desk to the couch.
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There's a lot of joy with a new pup and I just want to say how much I've enjoyed seeing your photos and reading your stories and look forward to following along as Cody grows. As the time with my dog draws to an end and the feeling of impending loss and sadness builds, seeing Cody with so much life ahead of him, and knowing that he has a good home makes a difference. Like many here I've lost a lot of dogs over the years and it never gets easier, and it shouldn't.
I've had Rainee since February of 2016. She was found on Facebook by an ex-girlfriend less than a week after one of my lovely Rottweilers had passed away. The idea was that we would foster her until a good home could be found. More than 9 years later she's still with me and I wouldn't change a thing. I don't know how old she is but 11 or 12 seems reasonable, and maybe a little older than that. She's been an amazing dog and such a great companion and she's introduced me to the wonderful world of 40lb dogs having had 80lb or bigger dogs my entire life.
She's been having Librela shots for a few months which seems to help with mobility but she's had three small seizures that I know over the past few weeks, and possibly more. We've stopped the Librela this month to see if it's causing the seizures. I recently started giving her Myos on the recommendation of her vet to try to counteract muscle loss, but overall she's not doing great, and I feel like we're in the week to week phase now, and sometimes it feels like day to day. She falls and stumbles all the time, her gait is almost robotic like she has to think how to walk and control all four legs, and seems to get "stuck" cognitively when doing things such as heading outside to pee. She's eating well, and doesn't show any signs of being in pain, and I hope she surprises me and is still here at Christmas but I can't say that I believe it to be possible.
I've worked from home for the last five years or so which means that I've had her close to me for most of that time and she will be missed more than I can put into words. She's on the bed next to me as I sit here and type, and this was her yesterday when I rudely work her up trying to take her photo as she slept. She's never more than a few feet away, and as she nears the end she's increasingly anxious when she can't see me. She's so much more tired than she ever used to be and spends much of her time sleeping.
I have a road-trip coming up and won't be able to take her with me. She would love to ride in the new truck for days on end but it's just not possible to bring her out East since I'll be combining a couple of pick ups with a week of work. My neighbor really likes her and does a great job of taking care of her when I'm away, but I will be more than a little anxious about her during this upcoming separation.
"Grief is the price we pay for love" .... no truer words were ever spoken.
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