November 6th, 2010
A Guest Post by Earnest D. Cember
There have been many pets in our lives but there is one that I am now watching as she ages. I see so much of what my aging is like as I watch her. Her name is Betty. When I first saw her at the Humane Society I was immediately sure that she was the dog I wanted. She was one of a litter of puppies of a blond Cocker Spaniel mother. The folks at the Humane Society were sure her father was a Cocker Spaniel, too. I didn’t care. She fit in my hand and was as cute as could be. She was also the only one in the litter that was black and had been born without a tail.
As she grew she became my dog. She learned to leap into my lap and flip over on her back so I could scratch her stomach. She became an unusually long legged Cocker. Her coat was also strange because it was so straight and fluffy. I still didn’t care. She was way too cute to worry about that.
As she aged she developed a temper and decided to protect her position as the alpha dog. Our Dalmation, Pebbles, disagreed and that almost caused Betty to lose one of her ears. They were “divorced” and kept separate for the remainder of Pebble’s life. Also as she aged, the underside of her jaw began to gray. Well, her chin has gotten even grayer but she is still as black as she can be everywhere else.
She’s been a very good dog and had her 16th birthday last July. About a year ago we finally realized her daddy was probably a Chow. After all, her tongue was totally purple. We once owned a Shar Pei and her tongue was purple. We understood then that Shar Peis and Chows were the only ones with purple tongues. So, we now know our little Betty is probably half Cocker and half Chow. No wonder her coat was a ball of fluff. She looks like a black bear before she goes to the groomer.
She has slowed down a lot. I watch her and sometimes see me. I’m watching her now as she stands and has trouble straightening her knees. I can relate to that and how, like her, I sometimes don’t move very fast when I first start to walk. We recently had her shaved and I was amazed to see how skinny she has become under that heavy coat. Being a dog, she is aging faster than I, but it’s not much different. I recently got an email “written by dogs”. It implored owners to treat their aging dogs with love and respect. It reminded us that someday we would be in their shoes. It struck a chord and I’m remembering to more patient with her. After all, if that’s what I want from Gayle and my children I better be able to give it Betty!
She’s still a sweet (although sometimes stinky), loveable dog, and I just wish she was still able to jump in my lap and flip over on her back. I would love to scratch her stomach again while she squirmed in my lap.
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Read on Becoming Old, Bitchy, and Itchy
Read Why Does Getting Better Usually Involve Getting Worse
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