In the past six months, Maggie has made the move from "senior" to "old lady." I haven't posted about her in a while, so I thought I'd share an update.
Maggie is now 13.5 years old, and in pretty darn good shape. Some things to know about the old lady dog:
She is DEAF.
Maggie can no longer hear. Well, she can't hear anything except for Rip's piercing "I want something" barks. I can't imagine that's any fun - woken up from a quiet nap by a piercing bark from a petulant pup.
Deafness means that she can't hear the "come on in" yell that brings the dogs in from the yard. If she looks my way, I can flag her in using a hand signal (I am very thankful for her Utility training - hand signals are invaluable now). If she doesn't look my way she'll stay out in the yard for a long time. Now that it's cold out we sometimes have to go out, tap her, and flag her in.
What is she doing out in the yard so long? Sniffing!
She SNIFFS a lot.
Maggie's nose seems to be supercharged. Maybe she's trying to make up for the deafness, but Maggie's sniffing has ratcheted up tremendously. She sniffs around the yard. Walks are now really sniff-tastic adventure strolls. A walk around the block can take as much time as we allow. And the worst part about the sniffing?
She has become a TRIP HAZARD.
Maggie's infernal sniffing carries over into the house. When she's not asleep, she can normally be found sniffing around the kitchen. Crumbs might fall. Humans in the kitchen must watch out or the old lady may trip them.
She still PLAYS a bit, though.
In the mornings Maggie will run down the hall and do some very mild frapping with Rip. She also gets excited when Rip and I are doing obedience work, too. So I often indulge her in a few dumbbell retrieves (no fronts required!) - she still loves to work!
We are really pleased, though, that Maggie is happy and healthy. She is a dear old lady.
The old lady likes to snuggle with Ziggy.
Maggie is now 13.5 years old, and in pretty darn good shape. Some things to know about the old lady dog:
She is DEAF.
Maggie can no longer hear. Well, she can't hear anything except for Rip's piercing "I want something" barks. I can't imagine that's any fun - woken up from a quiet nap by a piercing bark from a petulant pup.
Deafness means that she can't hear the "come on in" yell that brings the dogs in from the yard. If she looks my way, I can flag her in using a hand signal (I am very thankful for her Utility training - hand signals are invaluable now). If she doesn't look my way she'll stay out in the yard for a long time. Now that it's cold out we sometimes have to go out, tap her, and flag her in.
What is she doing out in the yard so long? Sniffing!
Yes, we indulge the sniffing.
Maggie's nose seems to be supercharged. Maybe she's trying to make up for the deafness, but Maggie's sniffing has ratcheted up tremendously. She sniffs around the yard. Walks are now really sniff-tastic adventure strolls. A walk around the block can take as much time as we allow. And the worst part about the sniffing?
She has become a TRIP HAZARD.
Maggie's infernal sniffing carries over into the house. When she's not asleep, she can normally be found sniffing around the kitchen. Crumbs might fall. Humans in the kitchen must watch out or the old lady may trip them.
She still PLAYS a bit, though.
In the mornings Maggie will run down the hall and do some very mild frapping with Rip. She also gets excited when Rip and I are doing obedience work, too. So I often indulge her in a few dumbbell retrieves (no fronts required!) - she still loves to work!
2 dogs reporting for work.
We are really pleased, though, that Maggie is happy and healthy. She is a dear old lady.
Old dogs sure are sweet! I've got an old Lab that is living with my parents and she is the sweetest!
ReplyDeleteGood ole Maggie. I love the semi-blurry tails in the work pic. She's a good egg.
ReplyDelete