Pat is about fourteen or fifteen years old, we’re not quite sure. She came to us in June of 2002 as a “stray,” but Pat didn’t look like a stray. She is a Yellow Labrador Retriever - healthy, well socialized, beautifully trained, intelligent and affectionate. We always have our strays tested for heartworms and fortunately, she was negative. The person who found her assured us that they didn’t know who she belonged to, that she had just shown up at their house. Pat seemed to have a touch of arthritis upon arriving here and over the past six years it has slowly progressed. She sleeps a lot but is always up for a short walk on a cool day, barking along with the rest of the pack (be it at a visitor, a rabbit, or some noise heard only by the dogs) and enjoying a long-lasting chewy while on her orthopedic bed. While Pat moves pretty slow these days and takes a bit of time to get up after napping, her quality of life is still quite good. She’s keenly aware of everything from medication time (and the spoonful of peanut butter that encompasses her pill) to the pack dramas that unfold every day. Pat is very attentive to her humans and responsive to any interaction with them. She loves being brushed every day and finds that sleeping in the sun (along with her meds) eases her stiff joints. Probably the hardest part for us is not letting her old age remind us that she’ll be gone sooner than later. Pat is deeply loved by us and respected by all the dogs here. When the day comes for us to let her go because she can’t get up, or becomes incontinent, or stops eating (all cues to not be selfish humans and keep an animal alive because “the thought of euthanizing them is so painful”), we will be there for her. If a person truly understands the meaning of love, they don’t selfishly withhold a painless, humane response to their animals undignified, lingering (and sometimes excruciating) death. Be assured that Pat will not suffer simply because we’re reluctant to step out of our emotional comfort zones. Remember, there’s no sweet without the sour.
