Old Dog, Young Dog

Magnus had a bad night and a bad morning. He woke me up a few times wanting company, something he never does without what he considers a good reason, and it's usually a reason I can at least detect even if I don't agree with it. This time he just seemed to want reassurance. When I left the lair at around 6:30 the others bounded out as usual but he was really moving slow. I mean he's usually the last to get moving, but he was really moving slow. I noticed that he was favoring his right front leg almost to the point of not being able to put weight on it at all, and that was completely new. Usually it's his rear legs that need some time to wake up in the morning.

I couldn't see anything wrong with the leg, and after working him back and forth for a bit he seemed to loosen up and feel better. Our morning walks are always a tonic for him, so once he was moving good we set off earlier than usual. Now I kinda wish we hadn't. I wanted to know if S&L had come in last night, and with the weather so nice I wasn't in a big hurry to get there. So we worked our way up the BLM road to the top of the big ridge, then around toward their property. I kept an eye on him, and though he was moving kind of slow he didn't seem in any special difficulty. But when we got to S&L's place and he was getting lovin' from L, we noticed that the muscle on that front leg was trembling. I watered and rested him before we set out on the shortest way home, and once home he drank again and just collapsed. When I went down to check on the apricot tree he got up, but wouldn't leave the ridge and that's really unusual for him. He always naps after a walk, but right now he's just inert. I'm kinda worried for him; he's pretty old and has good days and not so good days, but I don't think I've ever seen him like this.

In a nice ironic touch, the first thing S said when I showed up was, "Do you want a puppy?" Actually I've been thinking about maybe getting myself a puppy, so rather to their surprise I said so. It seems one of their friends has an Akita that mated with a German Shepherd and had a litter of 12. Three died, alas, but that leaves them with 9 mixed-breed pups to find homes for when they're old enough. Shepherds I'm familiar with, of course: Akitas not so much. Reading about them this morning, though, it seems like a Shepherd/Akita mix might be a pretty good fit out here.

Prior to my sojourn with my landlady's dogs I never seriously considered getting one for myself. I always used to joke that I liked other people's dogs, because they're nice to visit but needy to live with. But now I'm not sure I'd care to be without at least one, and this situation isn't going to last forever. Plus, (tee hee) Ghost needs a puppy. So I'm severely tempted to look into it more seriously, but really don't know if I should. Truth is, after living here alone with these three I've a feeling that I'd be really bereft if I found myself completely dog-less. They do kinda grow on you. And if it's going to live out here with some measure of safety, it needs to be a pretty big dog who's not afraid to show some aggression if it needs to. Shepherds fill that bill, and from what I read so do Akitas. And I've always found, though admittedly my direct experience is limited, that mutts are at least as smart and somewhat less quirky than pure-breds. So maybe I should, I don't know. It's a big step, a dog of my own. But I have had a pretty good education on the subject these past few years.

:-} I'm waffling, as you see.