Fall Weather is closing in

When I walked the dog this morning there was a decisive chill in the air that comes this time of year.  I needed to wear a fleece jacket to fend it off.  A flock of Canadian Geese squawed above me as I rounded the park corner towards home and steam was rising on the manmade lake across the street.

I’ve walked this path a thousand times with my dog.  Every morning for the last 11 years we would get up before sunrise and venture out to either see (me) or smell (him) what the night left and just enjoy the sounds of the neighborhood coming to life.

MTD (as I call him, his name is Mike The Dog) is getting on in years and the walks have become shorter in distance but the time outside probably still has remained the same.  He can hardly walk anymore due the stiffness in his back legs.  It takes him awhile and sometimes he’ll tend to move both of those legs at once.

This past week was a little tough around the house.  MTD wasn’t doing too good and had forgotten more than a few times the house rules on where to go to relieve himself.  At one moment I ignored his urgent pantings and nose nudgings and within seconds he had let go involuntarily.

I made an appointment for Saturday to see Dr. Schwartz.  After an exam, x-rays, blood and urine extractions, and the confirmation MTD’s legs were indeed built up with bone from arthritis the belief was that he might be suffering from an infection.  I’ll know today what the lab reports say.

Sunday was an all out ordeal.  I couldn’t go an hour without the poor fur making machine conduct his circling maneuver.  At the very sound of tap..tap..tap..pause..tap..tap..tap…pant I’d run over and shuttle the beast to the door.

My eyes feel heavy from too much coffee and not enough sleep.  I have to go to work in a few minutes and I can only hope MTD will make it through the day without an accident.

“Be sure to give him some rice and chicken” the doc says to me on Saturday.

I make rice this morning and layer on some leftover chicken breast.  The cat takes interest in the chicken too but this time I’m just watching to make sure something gets down the hatch of the old dog.

MTD stands.  Eyes heavy.  A wobble.

The endings are never easy.