A Lady of a Certain Age

Hello Everyone,

With her bird-like frame and surprising speed and agility, Sophie has always been an odd mixture. When she was young, a lot of people told us, and we believed ourselves, that as she aged, she would 'fill out' or gain enough weight to not look like a velvet covered skeleton of a dog. But that never happened. If anything, today she looks even more like she's held together by orange fur and attitude than ever. The one thing that provided comfort, that kept away the idea that she was malnourished, was her energy level and athleticism. She was swift and agile, outrunning almost every dog in the park, effortlessly leaping into vehicles and happily swimming in the river. She couldn't be starving if she had that kind of energy. As she's aged, I worry more and more about her health. Unlike Arthur, who's robust nature means I rarely worry about him, she has so little reserve to fall back on if she gets sick. And so it was that on Saturday, when I left to go biking, I intended to leave her behind. She's 10 now, and I worried that climbing and descending a mountain, at speed, would be too much of a strain. But through a series of a circumstances, I ended up taking her anyway. And in the end, I needn't have worried. She spent two hours running up and down a big ski hill and looked as spry and nimble as ever. She takes a more considered route through the underbrush than Arthur, who mostly just bulls through, but that's always been her style. She gave up nothing in speed and looked happily in her element racing around corners, chasing chipmunks, and taking breaks in the streams that crossed the trail. She might enjoy a quiet evening on the couch a little more and her bedtime is a little earlier than in the past, but it seems I'm not done underestimating her. She's still got it where it counts.

wes

#Sophie #Dogs