Dog's Death

Todd A. Slee
POB 462 / 210 N. Church Dr.
Roann, IN 46974
+1.2605683021

DOG'S DEATH

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1. TIME TO DIE? It is inevitable that a mammal, including humans, will die sooner or later. However, I think that sometimes we tend to write a dog off much too soon. Every breed has it's average as to how long each dog within that breed usually lives, and of of course, there are exceptions to the rule both ways. Some dogs get cancer or some other disease and die early, a few live exceptionally long and active lives. My Black Lab Whopper is now 13 years and 9 months old, and doing quite well, though much less active and energetic these days, partly due to his hips being loose enough to where he should no longer be jogged, his jogging I discontinued around 4 years ago. Until then, I jogged him a lot, off and on, though at 4 months of age the vet told me he showed signs of future hip dysplasia. At one time he could catch cats, a rather hard chore for most dogs. Whopper has been one tough, loyal, loving, protective and people friendly dog. When he was around 3 yrs. old, he was following along off leash while I was jogging Frisky and Hotdog on a very hot day, collapsing after 4 miles. I cooled him in the river and he has shown no signs of problems, seldom having ever been down much at all, much less sick. Whopper had a lump about 2 1/2 inches long by 3/8 of an inch thick around 5 yrs. ago. The vet prescribed some medicine, which took care of it. That's the most serious sickness he's ever had, and actually, he never got sick, just had the lump. Around 3 winters ago, while walking him, his back legs gave out and he seemed to barely make it back home, 5 or 6 blocks away, and I thought he was probably done then. Nonetheless, I started him on alfalfa and MSM, and he greatly improved. I walk him daily, usually around 1 mile, he gets up just fine, and every now and then, he has some of his old peppiness for a few minutes. He shows no signs of pain, and still loves to be petted and is as loyal as ever. He lays around a lot more now and his gait is much slower than it used to be, but he is holding his own. His hearing may be starting to go, but I haven't determined whether it's the hearing going or just "selective" hearing. A year and a half or 2 yrs. ago, he was dropping weight and I was worried that he was going. He picked weight back up after being low in weight for a few weeks, so I didn't have blood work done. Whopper is still the real pack leader amongst my 6 dogs. If he starts barking at something, or just starts barking to get my attention or to make noise, the other dogs follow suit. Mack my Dobe tried to jump his case about a year ago, and before I could reprimand Mack, Whopper snapped at him with a growl befitting a guard dog, putting Mack in his place. I was impressed. I knew of a 13 year old Walker hound outdoing the younger dogs, a year after he'd been shot in the leg and recovered. A book I once read on wolves told of a wolf who, during the 30's, was a menace to cattle for 17 years before a government trapper finally caught him. Dogs are darn impressive, especially the exceptions to the rule. At any rate, never give up on your dog. Sometimes, they bounce back when the odds are against it. And though certain treatments are sometimes more expensive than we can afford, there are often less expensive remedies. The herb shop I go to has given me herbal remedies for my dogs. Do research, learn, and save your dog.

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1. TIME TO DIE?

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