Old Timer

As I mentioned below, it is a good thing to bring a dog to visit the vet from time to time when there isn’t anything obviously wrong.  Firstly the dog gains some confidence that the vet is not their enemy, secondly the human gains some confidence that the dog won’t be upset! Third reason I can think of, but certainly the most important, the vet or nurse may spot something that you haven’t.

Today we had the regular weigh-in for Chloe, see the post below… and Tim and Chloe were both due their shots so I had an opportunity to have a good talk with Neil at Anicare about his (Tim’s!) state of mind.  I wasn’t sure if I’ve been anthropomorphising Tim, but I’ve begun to believe that he is going senile – he wanders into a room and stands there barking until I come and get him… he stands in front of the shed door expecting to get into the house, occasionally he just stands about looking bewildered, his eyesight is not what it was, he seems to indulge in selective deafness, he occasionally cops what can only be deemed a rebellious attitude  and it all reminded me of my mum when she hit her eighties..  and true enough it turns out that dogs these days live long enough to become senile.  However, Neil could assure me he is surprisingly good health for an old dog.  On the other hand, he did notice an abcessed tooth which is treatable with antibiotics  - I hadn’t spotted it and the poor old boy could have ended up in quite a bit of pain if it had gone on much longer. So thanks Neil!. After the vet viisit he bounced around St. Anne’s Park with the girls, attempted a courtship with a nice collie cross , did his best to dominate an extremely large and thankfully patient male labrador and followed that with a little gentle volleyball in the back yard.  Fingers crossed it stays that way,