As you can probably guess, I have a senior dog - Emma, 11 years old. She has a lot of disabilities that have developed over her 11 years.
If I had to briefly summarize it:
She has:
• KCS (also called Dry Eyes) on both eyes - requires Optimmune ointment 1-2 times a day
• Low metabolism – take Forthyron every day
• Suspected epilepsy (has tics) – takes medication every day
• Severe food allergy – is on hyperallergic food again (had to give up BARF) – often affects her intestines (screaming intestines & upset stomach)
• Back problems – we don't know what, but she has been in severe pain twice and in treatment and subsequent rehabilitation.
• Often lame on the front legs – treated with massage and painkillers.
• In addition, she has experienced ingesting – rat poison and mouse poison (discovered it both times very quickly and acted in time)
• Large outbreak of Giardia.
Some might say – “enough is enough – leave the poor dog alone” – but here, as humans, we can disagree vehemently.
I have a fantastic relationship with my regular vet, and have cried many times from both fear and relief – because I feared that this WAS the last time with him – whereupon he smiles and looks at me and says, eeej Lotte, we're not there yet 😊 So I KNOW that he will tell me at any time – as I as the owner can have a hard time assessing it.
But what I KNOW is that by getting a dog, I have also made a choice - and that is to take care of a living animal with EVERYTHING that entails - both financially, but also in terms of care.
Where we are now with Emma has a big impact on our lives – but we take the bad with the good 😊 Summer vacation – or traveling in general, is 100% on hold as long as Emma is here. We can't/won't travel away from her – because due to her diagnoses, we constantly have to be assessed (I see every little sign of a change – so we can fix/correct before it goes completely wrong) and the medicine every day can also be a challenge to get her into – but I have my tricks 😊 So right now we're not going anywhere – we're looking after the senior lady – and that's totally OK, I would never forgive myself if something happened while I was away (and honestly – I wouldn't be completely calm during the vacation – until I was at her house again).
We will be there when she becomes "difficult" - that's totally OK... no different than with our elderly fellow humans when they become "difficult" and, for example, have to get up at night because they can't hold themselves up... or because the home needs to be secured with blankets for a period of time to ensure that the legwear doesn't slip.
As long as the dog has a DIGNIFIED AND PAIN-FREE life – they should be allowed to live it. <3 even if it's difficult…..and the family doesn't get their vacation!
Well, you got a dog – that actually comes with a responsibility <3
A little about the blogger.
Her name is Lotte. She spends most of her free time training with her dog Emma, who is an 11-year-old beagle girl. They have trained and competed in Schweiss tracks for several years. Agility without much success (you can't lure them with treats) and now they train Nose Work. They competed at NW3 level (but Emma is now retired from NW), but they had a party together when they applied <3 – because the most important thing for this dog handler is that the DOG has fun, and that you learn the most from the mistakes you make. So instead of being angry/disappointed about a test that didn't go as planned, learn from it! - in most cases it's not the dog that makes the mistake <3
Senior dog - a hassle?
As you can probably guess, I have a senior dog - Emma, 11 years old. She has a lot of disabilities that have developed over her 11 years.
If I had to briefly summarize it:
She has:
• KCS (also called Dry Eyes) on both eyes - requires Optimmune ointment 1-2 times a day
• Low metabolism – take Forthyron every day
• Suspected epilepsy (has tics) – takes medication every day
• Severe food allergy – is on hyperallergic food again (had to give up BARF) – often affects her intestines (screaming intestines & upset stomach)
• Back problems – we don't know what, but she has been in severe pain twice and in treatment and subsequent rehabilitation.
• Often lame on the front legs – treated with massage and painkillers.
• In addition, she has experienced ingesting – rat poison and mouse poison (discovered it both times very quickly and acted in time)
• Large outbreak of Giardia.
Some might say – “enough is enough – leave the poor dog alone” – but here, as humans, we can disagree vehemently.
I have a fantastic relationship with my regular vet, and have cried many times from both fear and relief – because I feared that this WAS the last time with him – whereupon he smiles and looks at me and says, eeej Lotte, we're not there yet 😊 So I KNOW that he will tell me at any time – as I as the owner can have a hard time assessing it.
But what I KNOW is that by getting a dog, I have also made a choice - and that is to take care of a living animal with EVERYTHING that entails - both financially, but also in terms of care.
Where we are now with Emma has a big impact on our lives – but we take the bad with the good 😊 Summer vacation – or traveling in general, is 100% on hold as long as Emma is here. We can't/won't travel away from her – because due to her diagnoses, we constantly have to be assessed (I see every little sign of a change – so we can fix/correct before it goes completely wrong) and the medicine every day can also be a challenge to get her into – but I have my tricks 😊 So right now we're not going anywhere – we're looking after the senior lady – and that's totally OK, I would never forgive myself if something happened while I was away (and honestly – I wouldn't be completely calm during the vacation – until I was at her house again).
We will be there when she becomes "difficult" - that's totally OK... no different than with our elderly fellow humans when they become "difficult" and, for example, have to get up at night because they can't hold themselves up... or because the home needs to be secured with blankets for a period of time to ensure that the legwear doesn't slip.
As long as the dog has a DIGNIFIED AND PAIN-FREE life – they should be allowed to live it. <3 even if it's difficult…..and the family doesn't get their vacation!
Well, you got a dog – that actually comes with a responsibility <3
A little about the blogger.
Her name is Lotte. She spends most of her free time training with her dog Emma, who is an 11-year-old beagle girl. They have trained and competed in Schweiss tracks for several years. Agility without much success (you can't lure them with treats) and now they train Nose Work. They competed at NW3 level (but Emma is now retired from NW), but they had a party together when they applied <3 – because the most important thing for this dog handler is that the DOG has fun, and that you learn the most from the mistakes you make. So instead of being angry/disappointed about a test that didn't go as planned, learn from it! - in most cases it's not the dog that makes the mistake <3