Your Elder Dog – part 1

Chimo is 14 1/2. That’s on the upper end of life expectancy for a Black Lab Mix. She struggles getting up sometimes and her walking is unsteady. But, she goes through her daily routines like a trooper. All things considered she’s pretty healthy. Her hearing is fading but her eye sight is good and she still likes to sniff around. She will run after a tennis ball – short distances and only a few times.

I believe that the most important thing that keeps her going is her deep connection to our family circle. She wants to be around us and craves our love. She gets plenty of it and reciprocates as she always has.

If she picks up a new word to add to her vocabulary, that’s great. No more lessons though. We run through the basic commands during normal daily activities. She still loves to communicate. Her mind is still sharp.

In general we accommodate her. She shies away from stairs and likes to sleep. We make sure she gets just enough exercise to keep her limber, but nothing more.

Her heart is connected to ours and we want her to make it another year and beyond. As much as we can tell, she does, too.