03.24.2005
3:46 p.m.
Irish the Wonder Dog
When my ex and I first got Irish, she was 2 years old. She was happy and energetic and smart as a whip. She knew all her toys by name and could bring them to you if you asked her.
"Where's your BALL?"
"Where's your BONE?"
"Where's your DISC?"
"Hey! Give me back my sock!"
Of course, sometimes she'd bring you the dirty, saliva-saturated tennis balls that we usually kept outside, but hey, we didn't specify which ball, now did we?
She has always had SO. MUCH. ENERGY.
Why?
Because there are balls to play with and flying discs to catch in midair and squirrels to catch even though they're fastfastfast and birds to chase and sometimes cats and mail people and little old ladies and Hi! Who are you? Do I know you? Can I sit on your lap? I'm really a very tiny puppy dog.
Every time her birthday rolled around, we'd say, "Well, maybe when she turns *insert age here* she'll calm down a bit."
Except...not so much.
She turned 8 years old on Sunday.
This morning I got an e-mail from my ex. I haven't gotten an e-mail specifically about the puppy in a while.
I hate that she's getting older and more fragile. A couple years ago, she ruptured a disc in her back. That pretty much ended her running-and-playing-in-the-park-for-hours deal. Poor pup.
Then there was the incident with the benign epidermal tumors that required surgery and a biopsy.
Now she's torn the ligaments in her right rear knee. *sniff*
As soon as I got the e-mail from my ex with the doctor's finding, I started doing research.
Dogs who tear their cruciate ligament (the equivalent of a person's ACL) can often be helped with surgery, but even then there's no guarantee that they'll ever be anything close to good as new again.
Plus, there's the healing factor.
If she does end up having surgery, I have no idea how she's going to learn that she needs to TAKE IT EASY to let things heal.
The only way I can see that happening is if she's put in a full-body cast.
I'll give everyone a moment to picture it.
.
.
.
Got it?
*sigh*
I've been talking for years about creating something to make puppies stay puppies forever.
Too bad I haven't gotten around to inventing it yet.
So, I guess I'll wait to talk to the ex (tonight?) to see what he wants to do.
I love my puppy. I want her to be around, but I also want her to be able to move without pain. I don't know that we can ever really teach her to TAKE IT EASY. If we can't, though, she might just end up hurting herself time and time again.
Crap.
Shibbity shibbity shit.
We shall see.
(All positive thoughts appreciated.)
Listening to: Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Reading: Tango magazine
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