I worry more about her. I've been taking her with me more too. She seems to prefer to go with me, even if it means being stuck in a a luggage type carrier much of the day. I take her out of it to walk a bit, have a treat, whatever, every couple hours, but I imagine it has to get boring for her. She seems to be saying, "I'll put up with a lot just to be with you."
Since the summer of 2017 I've suspected that she may be older and that by giving a birth date whomever gave her away may have taken a year or so off her life to make her more adoptable. Gracie is visibly aging. She's lost teeth and though she eats and all as well as always, she's looking thin. Her hair is darker - more creme colored than white - and she has less of it. I give her mostly grain free foods and treats, but once in a while she gets some salmon, lamb, tuna, or fattier foods.
She is also becoming more opinionated and expressive. There is a place that used to have dozens of ground squirrels running around and she always wants to go there. So, because I think Parks and Recs or some other agency poisoned the squirrels in their holes and I have not seen a single one in three weeks, I want to go into the opposite direction. Though about 12 pounds, Gracie becomes a 200 pound dog at the corner, not willing.
She has also been barking more, though overall she is still not much of a barker, in response to sounds, I notice, but I also think in response to men. This screws things up for us when I go undercover with her in her suitcase-like carrier to the library. I've been thinking about this, wondering if there is something about the men she barks at, if perhaps she smells something on particular men that I cannot, maybe a substance - or maybe it is their mood or intention towards me. It's not all men. I'm not sure that this is to protect herself or me. If she herself feels more fragile or knows her own aging, perhaps herself.
Gracie likes to go out in the morning to pee, but go right back in. I used to think she was manipulating me into long walks by not going until we were well on our way. I think maybe she has arthritis or is out of sorts. If I insist, after walking a bit longer, she gets into it, especially if she sees lizards going by.
I read on an Internet site that Maltese-Poodles live on the average 12 years. I had never heard of a Malti-Poo until I got her and then started meeting people who have them everywhere I went. I met two that were 15 and one that was 18. But since I learned I'm her third owner and that the second owner bred her (once for sure), I've felt that she may have not had enough vitamins and minerals before me. I know she ran away and got caught when she was in her third trimester of pregnancy when she was supposed to be about two and a half. So I've been asking other people who have Maltese-Poodles how old they are and what's happening with their teeth, their eating habits, if they are still spry.
A few people lately have said they know she is old because of her EYES. The hair around her eyes is darker but I don't see what they mean. One person with a 12 year old male who appeared younger for his whiter curlier hair, told me he was starting to develop cataracts. She held him up for me to see, but I didn't notice this film she said he has. She said they would go blue, then white. I never know if I'm seeing glare in Gracie's eyes or not. I don't think she's started with cataracts... A dog's perfect vision is about 20 feet away. She seems to notice squirrels and lizards just fine.
Gracie has also taken to doing the sounds puppies use to locate their mom, and, I was told this and didn't believe it till I myself heard her, crying - more like a coyote. OK, a neighbor got a puppy who also cries when they are not home and I want to think that these two are influencing each other. I cannot train her out of it. She cries or howls and when I come through the door, she is rewarded.
Another issue this past summer is fleas. Gracie has never had it so bad with fleas. There are 400 different kinds and it seems all of them love her. We started with a collar and I give her frequent baths, but I don't want to give her the pills. She needs a bath often for dirt, I reason. and she had a bad reaction to her last vaccinations that was scary. I hear that over 400 people wrote to the FDA after their healthy dogs died from a certain prescription flea pill.
Gracie has been with me longer than her other two owners combined and I promised her I would give her a forever home. I'm not prepared for the day when it's her time to go over the Rainbow Bridge.
C 2018 Christine Trzyna All Rights Reserved
