Visited my mother today, and got some sad news. Her dog Dozen, who we got when I was 18, is being put down tomorrow. Dozen’s arthritis has worsened to the point where she isn’t able to get up without help, and in the past couple of weeks it’s become obvious that she is in pain.
When Dozen was just a puppy, she’d sleep in my room curled up on the pillow beside me. More recently, my wife and I took care of Dozen when my mother went to the North West Territories for two years.
Dozen is a neighbourhood dog. My mother lives on a small, dead end road with great neighbours. Every morning at 7, Dozen gets let out. She goes straight to the house of the retired couple next door, where she jumps on to the bed and stays there until they get up at about 11am. Then she goes to the other neighbour’s until about 5pm when my mother gets home. A charmed life; if only every dog was loved as much as this one.
Here's Dozen & I with my mother's neighbor. Dozen spends ~40% of her time at his place.
RIP Dozen, you will be missed.