When Pets Are Feeling Down...

 We have one dog...we used to have two. Our first dog lived for fifteen years and at the end, was blind, deaf, and suffered from dementia. Poor girl. She had been going downhill for years until finally, her quality of life was painful to watch. We made the decision to end her pain. I miss that dog.

The remaining dog is so much different than the last. The first was a small, not very bight shih tzu. Our other dog is a poodle...

Big difference, and I'm not just talking about the size.

The shih tzu would like nothing more than to sit in your lap. Of course, her age made her not want to do much of anything else. The poodle, he'd run all day if we let him. The little dog was not very smart. The poodle - wicked smart.

Today, the poodle didn't feel too well. He lost that spark in his eye. It started last night, and continued into today. It wasn't anything major, just slight personality changes. Thankfully, he's perked up in the afternoon, and--fingers crossed--we're hoping the worst is behind us. Tonight he's acting more like his intelligent, mischievous self.

I feel so helpless when a pet is hurting. I'm obviously no veterinarian. I suppose I could do some internet searches, but that would most likely result in me thinking the dog is in much worse shape than he actually is. No, we're going to keep monitoring him to make sure things don't get worse.

It reminds of the times when there's a baby in the house and they also cannot tell you what's wrong. For us, it's been almost two decades since that's happened.

Pets are wonderful and important and strong and sometimes vulnerable. I'm so glad he relies on us to help take care of him...

And I'm glad we can.