Oh love her! (Grace)
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Blogger and gransnetter, Christine Human, describes getting a new puppy - and the sleepless nights and extra work that go with them - at sixty-three years old... At what age would you say 'no' to new pets?
At what age would you say 'no' to new pets?
The last time we had a puppy I was eleven years younger. I am now sixty-three, my husband, Shed Man, seventy and suffering with mild MS. The list for and against having another dog was long and complicated, sprinkled with revisions but in the end it came down to the empty space in our hearts where a dog should be. It’s like having a toddler around; it's turned our lives upside down.
This is the story of a day in the life of our Border Collie, (fourteen weeks). Rosie started the day by grabbing the elastic cord of my anorak which, when pulled, is designed to gather the hem in. On this occasion, with plastic tag firmly grasped in her razor sharp baby teeth, she ran outside to escape the consequences.
I spoke sternly, "Rosie drop" and to be fair she did. The cord, now with the tension usually associated with firing a catapult, was launched back at me, flicking me across the upper thigh, the sound reminiscent of a headmasters cane on a youngster's bottom smarting like a bee sting.
It's like having a toddler around; it's turned our lives upside down.
We go to weekly puppy classes together, and Rosie is reminded that we are top dog, and eat first. Breakfast, formerly a leisurely affair, is now reminiscent of a fast food chain prior to a cup final. We gobble cereal, slurp coffee and have taken toast off the menu. We watch the oven gloves being deftly flicked off the cooker oven handle, admiring her dexterity, and take note of the directions of travel for later recovery. We relax as she settles down under the table after ignoring her requests for attention which involve jumping on laps and licking ears as enthusiastically as a surgeon scrubbing up pre-op.
Shed Man rises with shoes like flip-flops while Rosie sits innocently, a long droopy moustache of shoelaces making her look like the baddie in an old Kung Fu film.
The recycling is deftly spread around the patio, the clanging of tins, the puncturing of plastic bottles, and the enthusiastic sorting of wine bottles sound like an orchestra tuning up the percussion section. Pots of pansies bravely survive replanting, (four times this week). And the cat sits motionless on the shed roof with narrowed eyes flexing its sharpened claws, ready to strike.
I wear a gadget to measure my footsteps and the 10K that I found so hard to reach prior to having Rosie now transmits gold medals to my iPhone for doubling my target.
In the evenings we turn off the TV and yawn loudly. Rosie knows it is bedtime and after a final run around the garden chasing shadows she pops into bed, sighs and settles straight down. And then we sneak back into the sitting room and pour ourselves a glass of wine...
Rosie has thrown down the gauntlet and we are rising to the challenge.
Read more posts from Christine on her blog A Dangerous Age.
By Christine Human
Twitter: @adangerousage
It's that moment when you think Is this my last dog?
One way or another I have had a dog most of my life and I just wonder if I can face that heartache more than one more time? In a way I was lucky with the first 2 greyhounds I had, the first developed a brain tumour and although fine for about a year, when the end came it was a sudden collapse with no agonising over what to do. He was 12. His successor ran in from the garden early one morning, made for her bed, squeaked, her front paws slid away and I reckon she was dead almost before she hit the floor. She also was 12. A dreadful shock but mercifully quick. The latest girl is now 13 and still going (fairly ) strong but I realise we are living on borrowed time.
I am 68 and no way could DH look after a dog if I weren't here, he would probably have to go into a care home or sheltered accommodation at best. Is Grace my last dog then?
This question has been on my mind alot lately. I am 63, DH a year older. At the moment I am fit and well, he is not. we have a 12 year old Rough Collie, and I dread the day he walks off to pastures new
. We have had Dogs all our lives, and I cannot imagine a home without one.
Our old Dog has been, and fingers crossed still is very healthy, apart from the odd Tummy upset he has never been to the Vets, apart from his yearly Jabs of course. I still walk him but really not far at all as he gets easily tired, and his back legs are a little weaker so he is very much mollycoddled. His walks are more to give him a bit of interest, see a few other dogs, get fussed by people, which he always does!
He is like an old person now, he loves his routine, and almost seems to have OCD in as much as he Has to sit/lie in a certain place at certain times. We let him do that, no skin off our noses, as long as the old boy is happy.
Big question is though, when the time comes, would we have another. I really cannot imagine being without, but one MUST put the Dog first. A young Dog would need so much more excercise, which would be down to me. My Husband is going to get worse, and of course I am getting older too! I guess an alternative is to take in an older Dog, but that can bring other sorts of problems.
Perhaps helping out with Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, or Guide Dog Puppies may be an alternative. I just don't know.
Hopefully our Old boy will continue for some time in his own happy OCD way 
, and when the time comes I will have to see how things are and make my decision then. Difficult, isn't it?
And here's my Sophie (again!) Half greyhound.
Sounds like a fine plan. Enjoy your cuddles.
Made me smile, the thought of you creeping around.
I don't think that there is an actual age when you finally say," No more" but rather there is a time in everyone's life when enough is enough.
The last in our own long line of 'feline employers' died shortly before we moved house and so there was a natural break where we felt our home life was too unsettled. As time went on we became used to a cleaner home and no ties and now we just couldn't go back to all that extra work of caring and training. The final goodbye is often such a heart wrenching time and I really don't feel I could go through that again so we will remain without a furry friend.
I will confess that I did confide to DD that if I was ever left on my own I would bite the bullet and find a new furry friend but please don't tell Mr S! He wouldn't be at all impressed at the thought of my replacing him with a furry friend!
(as near as I can get to a "like"button)
So glad we have our two, big part of our lives
Just watch out for that whippet tsil! There is a condition known as Happy Tail where the poor happy greyhound whacks his/her tail against things so often the tip bleeds (and greyhounds know how to bleed!) Grace came to us with a bleeding tip and every time she whacked something like the door frame with it the blood would spatter all over the place!
An open-tipped dry bandage under a pop sock protected it until it healed but THEN of course, last Christmas there was the tale of the tail. Several weeks of Buster collar, bandaging, vets bills antibiotics, Tramadol etc until she lost a good 4 inches off it by amputation and I lost a lot of money!!
Lovely dogs !!
Thank you Daphne if I remember correctly you are mum to Grace,this name was one I wanted for Bella as we had to re name her,unfortunately a neighbour shares this name and I don't think she would be impressed....and neither would the neighbour,it is very true about learning to play and learning the difference between her toys and our possessions,we live her from the tip of her pointy extending nose to the end of her punishing whip like tail, she is like bambi ..on ice
I would love a couple of kittens but DH is adamant that he does not want any more pets
I had always been the one to take our elderly and/or sick pets to the vets when the time for euthanasia was right.
For the first time, four years ago, DH took our lovely cat for the final visit to the vet as I was at work. He was devastated for days. A year later. when I mooted getting a new cat/s, he was still totally against it. We do go away quite a bit but it would not be impossible to manage!
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