Yeah...I've lived with animals all my life, I realize they age faster, don't have as long of life spans and all the other BS people usually bring up at a time like this (including the fact that her muzzle is almost completely grey) but still, she runs around the house like a puppy so much of the time that its easy to forget that she's 10 or so (rescue, so we don't actually know the age..or the med back ground) and she's been such a solid rock for me...cuddling when I feel icky, staying with me when I don't feel like getting out of bed...all to the point where she'll just sit on the couch with a paw on my arm while we watch tv...nothing else, so long as there's the little contact sometimes.
Now, both hubby and I have watched multiple times when she has started to run up the stairs to the back door, and slipped-slamming her muzzle into the stairs above. She bounces right back up like nothing occurred, but we (I) think she may have knocked some of her lower front teeth loose. A) her eating habits have changed, and B) I found they were loose when I noticed grabbing for one of her bones made her wince and slamming (repeatedly) into the steps, like we've unfortunately seen, is all I can think of for the cause... I feel terrible cuz I never really thought much of it cuz of how quickly she bounced up and continued up the stairs. But she never was one to overtly show what was bothering her. (e.g. there wasn't enough water in her bowel, so she wouldn't eat or drink, but instead stare at the door until water was poured, also wouldn't go out if the door was opened--that one took a bit to figure out). Hubby says she plays these games with me cuz I allow her and spoil her..and he's probably right. But I figure she put up with me all day babbling to her, she deserves something for it ^_^
Back to the original point...Hubby had hesitated briefly buying this house cuz of the stairs getting to the backyard and my ability to deal with stairs now and in the upcoming yrs. I can atleast hold on the railings...puppy dog should be more steady with her 4 feet, but if they're slipping out from under her even worse than mine...well..it just really brings home how old she's getting, whether or not she's bouncing right back up...Last night, Hubby even brought up the possibility of a ramp for the dog to aide getting up and down the stairs...don't know if it was serious or in jest...but I hate the idea of my dog getting old and needing stuff like that even before me..the one with a disorder that tends to lead to "home improvements" like ramps, etc
Gah...this probably sounds completely unreasonable, and weird...I think it goes back to the idea of "I'd rather it were me". I can't stand to see her suffer even a bad nail cut, plus how do you explain this kind of stuff to your best canine friend?
