Maggie on Monday

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas at Mum's. So I loaded Maggie into the car on Saturday morning and drove to Luray to Mystic Pet before heading over to Mum's.When she walked in the door, she headed straight for the groom room where she usually stays. But it was rather busy with grooming and dogs. So we took her back outside and took her thru the cat room.  She was desperate for a bath, so when I got back on Sunday afternoon, she was all nice and fluffy:

Here she is when I came back to pick her up. See her blurry tail wagging? 

We started her on a raw diet. Lena says her senior dog is doing really well on it, and Maggie ate it right up.

Anytime Gareth is in the room, that's where she goes.

Hullo.

Behind the counter, settled in.

Gareth calls this his "Fireside" pose. Just imagine his elbow on a mantle. 

Gareth went to feed the other dogs in the kennel, and Lena and I took Maggie outside to load her up. She wandered around and then sat down:

What are you looking at Maggie?

So alert.

Of course. She saw Gareth in the kitchen doing food prep!

Lena said that Gareth misses Millie, but that she was grumpier than Maggie. Maggie is ever cheerful!

Loading up:

Saying goodbye to Lena. 

Back home, this morning:

On the front porch, overlooking her domain. Life is good. :-)

Old Dogs

There is something special about old dogs. Gene Weingarten sums it up so eloquently in his book, Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs:

Old dogs can be cloudy-eyed and grouchy, gray of muzzle, graceless of gait, odd of habit, hard of hearing, pimply, wheezy, lazy, and lumpy. But to anyone who has ever known an old dog, these things are of little consequence. Old dogs are vulnerable. They show exorbitant gratitude and limitless trust. They are without artifice. They are funny in new and unexpected ways. But above all, they seem at peace. This last quality is almost indefinable; if you want to play it safe, you can call it serenity. I call it wisdom.

Today I thought I'd share a few photos of Millie & Maggie together. They came together as a package, and they were inseparable.

INSIDE

 VISITS WITH FRIENDS

Fisherman Willie.

Meeting GSF Bess. 

Meeting San Diego friend Aida. 

I am forever grateful to Gareth & Lena at Mystic Pet. 

I don't remember what we were laughing at, but I managed to snap a photo at the right time!

The girls LOVED Gareth, which made me & Lena think that their original owner must have been a man. Lena told me that one time Gareth leaned over to her and whispered, "I think Millie is my favourite of the two." As if they could hear him in the next room & understand what he was saying!

One time after a vet visit, I popped over to the store before heading home. In the parking lot, Millie & Maggie were looking out the window & they started barking & howling. I look waaaaaaay across the parking lot, & there's a guy with a bald head. They thought it was Gareth! It wasn't, unfortunately!

THRU the SEASONS:

 WINTER

These gals had v. long & thick fur. So they were quite comfortable on a sunny winter day.  I kept the door open and the wood stove blasting so they could come in or go out when they wanted. Millie stayed out much more than Maggie did, tho.

Venturing down the driveway. I once watched a turkey cross over the drive. A couple hours later, Millie tracked its scent. She hadn't seen the turkey, but she could smell it!

They LOVED the snow!

Maggie plopped down.

Whatcha lookin' at, girls?

Neighbor Dave plowing out from the Historic Blizzard.

"This here's good eatin' snow," says Maggie.

SPRING

Red bud trees in bloom.

Oprah's favourite colour--new grass green.  ;-)

SUMMER

In the driveway.

Lazy-dazy porch days.

Going down the ramp. They always stopped to survey their domain from this place.

My favourite!  Laundry day!

AUTUMN

By the labyrinth.

Frosty day.

GORGEOUS.

My sweet girls.  :-)

M&M Monday

It's been a busy week for the girls. I dropped them off at Mystic Pet when I went to Yogaville on Monday, but I got back in time to pick them up at the end of the day.

Gareth leading the pack. Lena carrying out the dog beds. Millie saying Hullo to dogs, Maggie circling back to join her.

Hullo.

Then Maggie gets in the car . . .

And Millie plops down. Where she stays. *sigh*

But with the promise of treats from Gareth, Millie gets up when she hears Lena opening the bag!

Back home, on the way up the driveway:

SO SWEET.

Here's Mama.

Breakfast:

Bookends.

Lena gave me a coupla pig ears for the girls:

Millie happily gnawing away.

Nom nom nom from Millie. Maggie just watches.

And never eats hers. Then Millie will come over to try to get Maggie's. I think Maggie does it to taunt her. Lena said, "Whenever I give the girls a treat, one of them eats it right away & the other one doesn't . . . "  "Yeah, that's Maggie," I said. Silly girl. So I'm stuck with one pig ear.  Eeewww.

Tuesday we had a vet appointment with Dr. Clark. He comes out to the car and does the whole exam & everything in the parking lot so that I don't have to maneuver them in to the office. He answered all my questions and essentially the answer is: Benedryl. I noticed that Maggie is breathing heavily. At first it was just when she was going up the ramp, and then when she's walking, and then! ALL. THE. TIME. Except when she sleeps. But if she gets up in the middle of the night, she wakes me up with her breathing. Dr. Clark said as long as there's no coughing, that she's OK. He said he sees it in older, large dogs. He said that Benedryl will help her to sleep thru the night and will help with her breathing.

She also has a bit of a foot licking thing going on. He said it could be allergies or it could be behavoural. I'll think I've got it under control, and then I look over, and she's licked another spot! "If it's allergies, Benedryl will help. Some dogs go on Prozac if it's behavoural, but really, Benedryl will help with that, too." Benedryl it is! He gave me a topical anti-itch spray for her, and a new eye ointment for her eyes ( goopy in the a.m.).

Millie, on the other hand--no foot licking, or anything! They're both on the Deramaxx for arthritis and are getting around pretty well for a coupla old gals. And that was our exciting week.