Dog Days of Summer

This summer is a sad one for us as we watch our beloved dog’s health slowly fail. Last winter she seemed to have what I would call a stroke, if her symptoms applied to humans. Then she entered a long plateau of not getting much worse for a few months. Her condition was sad, but manageable.

Dog dementia is very disturbing to watch, but of course it doesn’t bring the worries of human dementia; the sufferer doesn’t leave the stove on or attempt to drive when they shouldn’t. But watching your dog stumbling around or standing in a corner confused is heart-wrenching all the same. Fortunately, Lucy sleeps almost all the time and still loves to eat, even now. But this also makes the owner’s final decision all the harder.

By the way, I don’t object to the word “owner”. I’m not a pet parent. Lucy is a treasured pet but she is not my child. I’m also not a big fan of dressing dogs up for special occasions but as long as the dog doesn’t object it seems harmless, if a bit silly. Of course, I would far rather see people go overboard showing their devotion to their pets than neglect them or worse, a subject I can hardly bear to think about.

Lucy is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, a breed that is loved for their cute looks and devotion to their owners. They are named after King Charles II, who loved these little spaniels, though the breed looked quite a bit different in the 1600s. I believe the current British monarch, King Charles III, has Jack Russell terriers, however. Cavaliers can be a bit clingy and are sometimes called Velcro dogs but this only endears them to their owners.

As with many purebreds, Cavaliers have their medical issues from overbreeding and are prone to problems with eyes and heart among other things. Some vets recommend against breeding them because of these reasons, and potential owners should know about the risks. Cavaliers don’t seem to have the breathing problems that short-muzzled dogs have. I know everyone loves those little French bulldogs but they are prone to breathing problems, especially in hot weather.

(Once again, I encourage anyone who finds a dog locked in a hot car in a parking lot to notify someone immediately to save the dog’s life. As for children locked in a hot car, I can hardly bear to think about it. If only common sense was truly common!)

Our first dog, a Sheltie, died suddenly while we were away on vacation (this was over 30 years ago but fresh in our memory). There’s a reason I always worry “what will go wrong this time?” when we go on vacation. A couple of years ago when we hit a rock and got a flat tire on the Tamiami Trail going to the Everglades, I blurted out “I knew it!” That situation ended OK anyway and no pet loss was involved then or in any other of our vacations at least.

Speaking of our dogs (six dogs over a period of 45 years), it turned out that our purebred dogs each had a longer lifespan than the three shelter dogs we have had, for whatever health issues they had. So, in our case anyway, it’s not always true that mutts live longer than purebred dogs. It is always true that there are so many shelter dogs that need a good home.

We hope that when these sad days are over, we’ll be able to look past her illness and remember how Lucy used to get so excited to go on car rides (and usually fell asleep in the car) or how she loved to go on walks and was so friendly to everyone she met. We will treasure the photos and videos of her.

We got Lucy when she was 4 from a reputable Rhode Islander breeder. The dog is now just short of her 13^th birthday, but her last few months have not been easy. Sadly, Judy (the dog’s previous owner) died four years ago. She was very fond of Lucy, so our little dog will have someone waiting for her on the proverbial Rainbow Bridge. This is such a comforting story, if only I believed it. Meanwhile, we’re giving Lucy as much love and care as possible while accepting the inevitable. Such a good dog!