Seasons of a Dog

I took our Good Boy Jacob to the vet today. He goes monthly for his Librella shot, which is used in pups with bad hips. Jake has always had bad hips, and I wish this med had been around in his younger days! Jacob was born in the spring. We brought him home mid May, which is the best time (in both our opinions) for a pup. In the springtime of his life his hips were already wonky, but never bothered him, or slowed him down at all. 

In the summer years Jacob s hips didn't visibly affect him, but we started a regimen of glucosamine, condroitin, and fish oil, to keep things limber, and they did. Jake has always been an extremely healthy boy, and we made sure to keep him a healthy weight, knowing those hips would thank us later. In his late summer years we also got him a baby brother,  Loki. Same breed, Great Pyr- German Shep mix, but good, solid hips. Solid. That's a good word to describe Loki. 106 pounds of love, and loyalty. We thought Jake was smart, Loki is smarter, and not as opinionated. Jacob has his own ideas, especially when it comes to listening to me. 

During the fall of his life, we noticed a little tenderness, but no real slow down, and the Dr. prescribed Carprofen,(kinda like ibuprofen for dogs) which he has been on since, along with supplements. Jake and Loki continued their daily play battles, and patrols of the border, and Jake helped Loki  to be a Good Boy too. In fact it wasn't until Jake was somewhere in his 10th year, the Winter of his life, where we started to see a decline. 

Jake is 12 and a half now. Fully into his winter season. I requested a "geriatric appointment" at Librella time this month, because I don't think the once a year physical is good enough when your Good Old Boy is in his final season. The librella was a wonder at first, but the last six weeks have been a backslide, and we are back to square one. We'll continue the shot, to get whatever benefit we can. His carprofin is at its max, so we will add some Gabbapentin as needed. That's about all we can do. Otherwise, he is a healthy, very happy Good Boy.

In this final season, he can get a little goofy at night, but we have a supplement that handles that. He now hates storms, which never bothered him before. His eyes and ears are not what they were, but he's maintaining weight, so that's good. He still only listens when it suits him. We are laser focused on giving him the best Winter we can,  making sure he has the best quality of life possible. When quality comes into question, I'll handle it with a heavy heart, but it's my job. A large dog like Jake usually doesn't live this long, we know how blessed we are. 

Winter, the actual season, is Jacob's very favorite thing. I was suprised that we still had him last winter. I'm just hoping he has another chance to play in the snow. ❤️