Minor Modifications at Home to Help an Old Dog

Shadowfax is 14 years old and still gets around pretty well for her age. We've tried to do everything we could to keep her healthy for as long as possible. Even with her Cushing's Disease (which we have posted about before 1st post here and 2nd here) we have managed to be pretty lucky with her health.

As she has gotten older we have made some minor changes to our daily activities, we help her up and down the stairs and monitor her more closely when she's outside on the deck when it's raining and slippery. We're also keeping her active. Our two walks a day may be shorter and slower, but we still do them, rain or shine. Allowing her lots of time for sniffing on walks keeps her brain engaged as well as her body physically active.

In the house we've started adding more area rugs and runners so she can easily get from place to place. We've noticed her feet slipping every once in a while on the tile floor and the rugs seem to help her keep her grip on the floor. 

We have also started making it easier for Shadowfax to get in and out of bed by stacking her dog beds, raising their height. Since we have a lot of dog beds, we put the less popular ones on the bottom and they aren't missed.

When Dog Beds Attack!!!

We have a cover for the back seat of our car for Shadowfax to sit on, and for safety we always have her harness on and secured to the seat belt. But we figured an additional dog bed designed for a car on top of the car seat cover, would give her a more comfortable spot to sit.

The bed has made car rides more comfortable as we try to take Shadowfax with us when we go into town for an errand. One of us will run into the grocery store and the other will sit with her in the car. We've also started integrating stops at small parks in town to let her spend some time sniffing.

The other day I was dropping off Alycia to pick up her car from the repair shop. Sahdowfax was apparently very concerned that Alycia was going to abandon her forever so she started thrashing about in the backseat. And in 10 seconds ended up like this...

I did what any self-respecting dog parent would do, make sure she wasn't in any immediate physical danger, then take some pictures. Shadowfax realized that she'd gotten herself in a pickle and stopped thrashing and let me help her out of her predicament.

Thoughts on 16 Years of Blogging and a Throwback Picture from 2017

Time travel back to 2017, Shaak Ti and Shadowfax snuggling on the floor with Alycia at our house in North Dakota.You can find the original post here.

This blog is at 900+ posts, spanning the last 16 years and four states. It started as a way to easily post stories and pictures to family and friends that were spread across the country. Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes has been many things over those long years: a low stakes vehicle for creative writing, a place to try to become a paid interweb blogger (didn't work), a burden that could never be alleviated, a source of guilt for not posting enough, a medium for expressing love and grief after losing Tito and Shaak Ti, and finally a place to document a life well lived. 

We've finally come full circle and are back to where we started, a place to share stories to friends and family near and far. But now instead of inducing guilt, it feels lighter. A hobby that I get to when I have time and inspiration, or to post a quick photo. Not a burden or a source of unfinished work. Most importantly I've come to realize that it's a way to chronicle a loving history of amazing people, places, and pets. A living photo album that will never be completed, to be enjoyed as a guided tour down memory lane.

A Very Tall Tree and Shadowfax Sleeps On

 Wow it's been months since we've posted. Sorry.

All is well. Shadowfax is a happy camper.

We're enjoying the Oregon Coast and all the rugged outdoorsy beauty it has to offer. 

Blogging is great fun and we enjoy sharing our stories and pictures, but there are really tall trees to go check out too. Sometimes posting takes a back seat.

Assorted Weekend Projects Starring Shadowfax

We spent some time this weekend in the garden working on a few projects.

There were a few plants that John had gotten on his birthday trip to the local nursery that needed to get in the ground. Shadowfax stuck to her core competency of supervision. She's more of an idea person than an action person.

Shadowfax was more focused on recharging her batteries than pitching in to help. Supervising from her various spots on the mulch.

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Town

Shadowfax got some quality time with the Grandparents when they came for a visit recently. She was extremely excited as she hasn't gotten to see them in a few years as they weren't able to travel during the pandemic. 

She spent a lot of time going back and forth for pets and love and would instantly be on full alert if there was any activity in the kitchen. Treats were dispensed in a manner that only Grandma and Grandpa can. After they left Shadowfax spent the next few days recuperating from all the attention she got.

We had a great time visiting, took them to see some of the sights, and ate fish & chips with abandon. They lucked out and had some pleasant weather as well, so the coast of Oregon made a good impression.

Pup Cup Follow Up

We posted about Shadowfax getting her first pup cup a few weeks ago. It took exactly one pup cup for her to go from "Wow this is an unexpected and neat treat" to whining in the back seat and staring at the barista as soon as we got to the window. 

We ordered our coffees and also a pup cup. The barista laughed at me when I ordered it, but we assured her that if we left without one there would likely be an epic tantrum and a lovely Sunday ruined with pouting.

Beverages in hand we drove a few miles down the road to our favorite spots and strolled around and sniffed the forest.

Earth Day Spectacular - The Solar Powered Pittie

We took this picture yesterday and were in the process of conjuring up some witty "just recharging our batteries this weekend" comment, but we realized that today is Earth Day.

In honor of Earth Day we present the solar powered deaf pittie (patent not pending) Shadowfax.