A River Never Sleeps

In the canoe, she leaps from side to side, snapping at dragonflys or climbs the gunwale, spotting and spooking fish. She gets herself tangled in your flyline, knocks over your beer and begs for your lunch. She never learned to sit and stay, until now.

I called the vet last night to find out what time they open in the morning. I'd had the dog (Molly - I didn't name her) to the vet the previous afternoon.

She couldn't get up. Couldn't move.

She's an English Cocker Spaniel. Places second from the bottom of the intelligence list for dogs, but even that couldn't explain the vacant look on her face. Given - she's almost 14 years old - you couldn't blame the situation on Lucas Electronics, even if there did appear to be a short-circuit.

Well, the vet examined her ears and eyes and heart and proclaimed them all in good shape. The fact that she can't hear, and stumbles a lot appears to be neurological and the prognosis was dim. The fact that she couldn't get up to take a pee suggested that this was the end.

I told him I'd have to take the dog home and discuss it with the Old Bag. It's her dog. Never was mine, never really liked it, even if it liked me best.

The vet gave Molly a shot of steroid in the hope that that might help and said they were open until 9:30 pm if I wanted to bring her back for another shot, the final chapter.

We carried her around all evening. Out to the yard, but she couldn't raise herself to pee; into the living room so she could be with us, but all she could do was look pathetic.

Toward 9 pm, I called the vet to say I'd be bringing her in at 7:30 am.

Well damn.

Would you believe that. A stay of execution at 7:23am. The damn dog got up. And then she checked out the kitchen for morsels that may have dropped on the floor the previous night.

Dropped another $50 for an oral steroid and the bloody dog keeps following me around. Came out to watch me mow the lawn (one of her favorite activities). She likes to see how close she can come to being mulch.