Keep Your Mind Active

As humans we've heard the benefits of keeping our minds active as we age.  I also know that it's beneficial to give dogs distracting, mind-occupying toys if they are bothered by separation anxiety.  What I had not realized was that I would be finding mind games to keep my 16 year old dog occupied.  The games all involve food (since Sam loves to eat) and our favorite one is the Can Game.  I take an empty (but not rinsed) cat or dog food can and put pieces of carrot, broken up treats, and sometimes bits of pizza crust (pizza bones, as we call them) into the can.  Then I give the can to Sam and he works diligently to lick the can clean and remove and eat all of the treasures.  He loves the challenge and goes at his work with enthusiasm - using both paws and twisting and turning his head to reach into the can as well as picking the can up with his mouth and dumping morsels out and pulling himself toward the can if it slips out of reach.  I think this is called occupational therapy :)

I'm glad that I have to think up ways to keep my old dog entertained - it works my mind in new ways too...  Sam's message might be, "Use it or lose it!"  He is mentally sharp as a tack and I think that his improved mobility (for as long as it lasts) is a gift to him in that he can again, plan and execute tasks.  His frustration at being able to conceive of things (including bodily needs and functions) and not being able to implement them was tough to watch.  I'm reminded to be grateful that I can lift what I need to lift, walk where I need to walk, climb what I need to climb, and that there is help if I can't.  Sam's lesson to me today...

Sam Runs Away...

So Sam has begun to run away.  I never realized how handy it was to have a dog with limited mobility - you put them somewhere and when you come back, there they are.  Now that our old man is moving around more again - he has started to run away.  At least three or four times in the last week I could not find him.  It was only for a few minutes of course, because he's not that quick :), but still, I didn't know where he was. 

One time was just yesterday, he was in the yard and then I looked and he was gone, "Oh bugger!", I thought, then I saw him in the driveway.  I went out and helped him move back into the grass (a safer place to be).  I went back inside and when I looked again a while later - gone.  "Crap!", I thought, "Now where did he go?"  He was not in the yard, not in the driveway, not by the car - he was on the trail into our woods.  I checked on him and then over the course of the next 1/2 hour or so he made his way back into the driveway into the shade of my car (lying down a few times along the way).  The picture below is of Sam yesterday at the barn on one of his rambles...

At the barn one day last week, I had placed him in a nice snowbank to rest. "HA!!", he said, "I'll go where I want to go!"  I looked and he was not only up and walking, but already 20 feet from where I had left him.  When I came back from giving the horses hay in the pasture and sitting on the fence for a bit - he was not in sight.  Gone.  Again, "Crap!", I thought....  Not by the car, not in the shade of the barn, not in the grass - he was next to the manure dumpster...having a snack...manure.  I dashed over, scolding him, and as I lifted him to standing he was reaching out to grab a few last bites.  Bad dog!!  I was laughing the whole time.  Back when Sam was still running, I would catch him having a manure snack and yell at him to quit it and he would grab a last bite as he was running off!  Same idea, just without the running...

It's a good day when your 16 year old dog runs away...a good day indeed.

"I Don't Like Big Dogs!!"

It was the summer of 1998 and Sam and I were at the Metroparks Polo Field (we spent a lot of time there that summer).  We exited the car and started walking into the big field.  Sam was, of course, illegally off leash (see previous posts for the disclaimer).  I saw a person running toward us and the girl yelled, "I don't like big dogs!!" at the top of her voice.  Okay, I thought, we should probably go in a different direction.  We turned to move toward a different part of the park, when the girl's parents approached and said, "Oh no, don't go, it's okay."  Hmmmm.... okay, so we stayed and started chatting with her parents. 

I could tell that the girl was young (maybe 10-12 years old) and very likely had Down's syndrome.  She was also with another girl who seemed slightly older, much quieter, and also was probably developmentally delayed.  Let's call the first girl, Mary.  As I began talking to Mary's parents, she occasionally came over and yelled (in a friendly informative way), "I don't like big dogs!!".  Sam and I were not bothered by this and Sam was, as usual, a perfect gentleman and often was off doing his own doggie things, any way. 

At one point I said to Mary's parents, "If Mary doesn't like big dogs, Sam is actually a really good dog for her to meet.  He's very gentle and kind and patient."  Mary's parents liked that idea so they called Mary and her friend over and spoke to them about meeting Sam.  Mary was adamant that she didn't like big dogs and still agreed to hang around for awhile.  I asked Sam to lie down (sometimes when dogs are "smaller" they seem more approachable) and then we all sat down in the grass. 

Sam at some point began wandering around our little circle visiting people.  I'll insert a little known fact about Sam - he is not the greeting type.  Sam is a one woman dog and I had to teach him to "Go say hi" so that he would go to other people and at least appear to be interested in meeting them (he has lightened up as he's gotten older).  So Sam was circulating and when he came to Mary she tentatively petted him a little (having seen other people do so safely :) and then before we knew it Sam was sitting in her lap!  In her lap!  At which point Mary yelled, "Sam, don't poop on me!!"  We all cracked up laughing (including Mary) and Sam didn't even flinch, just kept sitting in her lap being petted.  This whole event was probably a 1/2 hour or so and eventually we all stood up and started saying our goodbyes and thank-yous and nice to meet yous.  As Sam and I were headed off on our way to take a walk through the woods I saw Mary running toward the parking lot where a couple had just gotten out of their car with their big dog.  Mary ran toward them yelling, "I like big dogs!!"

Just another miracle ala Sam...