Sucks for dogs too.
He’s not curious, unfortunately this is his new normal. Crash is going blind. He has cataracts in one eye and a bone tumor behind the other. He still smiles, wags, eats, drinks, and enjoys wandering around the house looking for us. Just don’t move any furniture! As a puppy he took great joy from slamming into things, now that’s how he stays upright. Bank shots to get where he wants to go. He walks in three dimensions and sometimes gets stuck out in the open. But he’s still Crash and as long as he’s smiling about life I’m ok with that. He’s earned the right to sleep most of the day and despite living in a increasingly small, confusing bubble he still has his house manners.
These days his only hunts come behind closed eyes but judging from the woofs, wiggles, and paw twitches, they must be good and he’s no doubt going full bore through thick cover in the dream swamp. That was always his style: Why go around something when you can go through it? Sometimes I would intentionally send him off-line from the fall planning to direct him back once he passed a hazard but he would have none of that. He marked the fall and was taking the shortest path to it. Period. He would return proudly with his duck and a twinkle in his eye that said: “Nice try Boss but I like my way better.” Which is precisely why he’s a Hunting Retriever and not a Hunting Retriever Champion. More importantly he had an incredible nose and a matching drive. Best wood-duck hole pick-up dog ever. After the dawn chaos was over we would gather at the trucks on the edge of the swamp and keep sending him in the general direction of the falls until all were accounted for. Most of those birds would have been lost so he earned his keep.
I can handle sideways for as long as he’s happy crashing about.
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You may also add that he still chases one particular female lab around like he is still a 2 year old!!!
I think he’d gladly go out with a bang if Aspen would stop being such a bitch 😉
I could handle the sideways, too, as long as he seems happy. He doesn’t look unhappy.
Sent you a FB message & the same thing by e-mail a bit ago. Hope you have time to help Mark out a bit with info.
Love this post. We lost our beagle far too early, from a brain tumor. How I wish she could have lived a longer and happier life like Crash seems to be doing. When it’s time for him to reach the end of his path, I hope it’s peaceful. I’ve heard that it’s time when your pet isn’t having as many good days as bad days, and they can’t do the things they love. If Aspen still makes him feel young, he’ll grow very old I suppose.
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