I've never done a blog before, but I figure what the hey, now is as good a time as any. This one just happens to be about one of my dogs (I have two), Bear, who happens to be in his senior years. He is about 12 and I've been lucky to have him since he was about two. It's a long drawn out story about how he came to be with me, so I'm leaving it out for now.

Anyway, Bear is a black lab mix, mostly black with some white on his chest and paws. He also has some on his muzzle and his eyebrows just due to old age. The dilemma I'm facing is how to deal with the fact that he has pretty bad arthritis in his back knees and his hips are starting to bother him too. I have him on a doggy NSAID everyday. All in all though he's the most loyal, loveable, hungry all the time, adorable piece of baggage that is under my feet every day.

He's not as happy go lucky as he used to be. My darling nieces and nephews (all 7 of them) try to love him and pet him but usually he's not too keen on it. They just move too fast for him (they are all of the very young in age variety). He's just grouchy and afraid they might land on him in the wrong area while he's lying down. However, he is still good with them and lets them pet him and even hold onto his tail while he/they walk sometimes.

Herein the dilemma: His appetite is still great, he still wrestles with my other dog, Nala, and is so affectionate. He doesn't seem like he's in pain or anything usually. He does groan occasionally when he's lying down and has to adjust to a new position. He can't get up and down the stairs much anymore; usually I have to help. I try to tell him to stay, but he can't seem to be wherever I'm not :). He still walks; stiffly only when he's been lying down for a long period of time. I've talked to my vet (God bless her, she's the best) about him, and she tells me I'll know it's time when he has more bad days than good. What should I consider exactly bad days, I ask myself. I'm in agony over when is the right time to say goodbye. I don't want him to be in pain, but I know he's getting steadily worse. It's kind of like putting down, so to speak, an elderly member of the fam just because they're not productive like they used to be. His mind is still there, he still plays, he doesn't have a terminal illness or is even on his death bed. Or is this me just being a whimp and only thinking about how I'll feel when he's gone and I can't pet him or smell him or feel his wet nose push against me when he's trying to tell me he's hungry and I'm not moving fast enough to get him his dinner? Or that Nala won't have her partner in crime anymore?