Grumpy Old Dogs

Last night, as I was surrounded by my 5 furry family members, I really felt blessed to have such great pets and loyal friends in my life.  I went from that feeling of joy to depression, thinking about the fact that they would all be climbing in years and eventually become old.  Which, to me, means grumpy, bald, and incontinent.

My limited experience with elderly dogs and cats has made me dread those late years of my animals’ lives.

My first childhood experiences with an elderly dog was with my grandparents’ dog, Bosco - a medium sized mixed breed – some kind of terrier.  My memories of him include keeping my hands close to my sides and never speaking to him, in an attempt to keep all of my finders and toes.  I don’t know why, but any noise with high pitches sent him off into attack mode.  I’m talking about whistling, sirens, and the squealy “baby” voice most people tend to use when they’re talking to small animals and children.

Another formative experience was with a friend’s small dog named Bubbles.  I was always warned not to try to reach down to pet her, that she didn’t like strangers.  I took that warning seriously and never did.  However, Bubbles must have really disliked me.  I didn’t even have to try to pet her to have her want to rip my hand off.  I was just standing there, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I had 6 lbs of raging animal clamped down on my hand.  I remember thinking that she would never let go, and I don’t recall how exactly we pried her off, but I know that shaking and screaming didn’t seem to loosen her grip.

Poodles seem to be the family dog of choice for us.  My grandma has always had a poodle or two in her home, my parents had one while I was growing up, and so did my aunt.  I only knew my aunt’s apricot poodle, Monique, briefly and as an old lady.  Monique just plan didn’t like anyone but my aunt.  Lessons had been learned about grumpy old dogs, so I carefully kept all extremities out of reach.  However, what freaked me out about Monique was the patchy, thin coat and nasty looking lumps all over her body.  This dog was ugly, and as an impressionable child, this created a grotesque picture in my mind that still haunts me today.

Just over a year ago my husband lost his 15 year-old Dalmatian to old age.  Tad and Haley were very broke up about it, but to be honest, I was not overly upset to see him move on.  Rolly was by far the grumpiest old dog I ever encountered.  When it came to children, Rolly was like a shark out of the movie Jaws.  After one incident, when he decided that he wanted to eat an earring off of a little girl's ear, we decided he could not be trusted.  So we kept him physically separated from any kids that came over to play.  One brave girl who came over frequently insisted that she wasn’t scared of Rolly and we didn’t need to keep him up while she was there.  What a disaster!  The poor girl was standing at the kitchen table when Rolly came from out of no where and bit her full force on the butt.  Thank goodness he had practically no teeth left in his mouth and had chosen a fleshy spot!

So now, though all of our dogs and cats are currently young to middle-aged, I am dreading the day they suddenly become bald, lumpy, grumps.  As if that isn’t enough to look forward to, I can’t wait to have my floors ruined by their inability to hold their bladders.  I think I may buy stock in Resolve Carpet Cleaner in preparation!