The Aging of Buddy and Sky

Sky & Buddy

It had been awhile since I’d spent time with the dogs.

Buddy the dog is 11 years old now, and he’s beginning to act his age.

Not long ago he could leap up on the bed almost effortlessly; this time I had to help him up. And now he wheezes, sniffles, snorts, slurps, and farts himself to sleep.

Sky, the Sheltie, once the sleek little herder, is now fat and gimpy. The vet’s put him on a diet and prescribed some pills for an arthritic condition.

And, of course, the sure sign that they’re older is that I couldn’t teach them any new tricks this time.