Summer In Caregiverville

The days of June have blended one into another. Finally some warm days to alternate with the rain we've been getting have come to our corner of the world. The beginning of summer, for us, is marked by the first of the Blues in the Park series and by the start-up date for the Farmer's Market both of which happened this week. Summer is here and we don't even have plans beyond attending these two weekly events, raising a good puppy and contracting to have a couple of rooms painted. I should plan something beyond the normal rhythms of summer but between the cost of gas and the cost of getting older I don't seem to have the desire to seek out any more fun under the summer sun. We'll probably throw in a couple of art shows, a small town fair or two and call it good enough.

The new puppy, Levi, sounds like a herd of buffalo thundering across the carpeting as I write this morning. He litters our house with a dozen stuffed toys plus chew sticks and three balls. Several times a day I pick them all up and put them in his toy box in the kitchen and after nap times he gets them all back out again. Even Don is getting more puppy related exercise. As he makes his way across the floor in his wheelchair he's learned how to kick and pick the toys out of his path. Annoying as that must be for someone in a wheelchair, the puppy has been worth the effort. Don and Levi have already become barking buddies, much to my displeasure. The puppy is a schnauzer, a breed given to barking too much if you don't nip it in the bud. But what are you going to do with a guy with very little language at his disposal who enjoys interacting with the dog in their little joyful bark-offs? You make a half-hearted attempt to discourage the barking but you know that neither dog nor man will listen. I bond with Levi through training, exercise and feeding. Barking like two wolves in the wild is their bonding thing.

So I work at training Don not to bark at Levi when he's in the middle of transferring in or out of his wheelchair for fear the dog will bounce on him and push him over. It seemed to be Levi's favorite time to start their barking ritual. It's likes he's saying, "Hey, you're on your feet anyway. Come play with me." We've worked so hard at getting Don's transfers strong, dependable and independent again. Since last fall, really, and now that we've been going to the YMCA and working out, his transfers have finally become all three of those things and if not for the puppy I wouldn't STILL be on stand-by duty during transfer times. Life is full of ironies, isn't it? ©

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The Worst and the Best of Recent Days

Life goes on, doesn't it, when you're not looking. I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated this blog. The simple fact is I've been busy closing one chapter of our lives and starting another.

If you're not an animal lover you may not understand how attached people get to a family dog and how difficult it is to have that pet put down after living with him for nearly sixteen years. That is the chapter we just closed. Cooper was a challenge to get through puppyhood but he was as smart as a whip, a character, and he became Don's constant companion these last eight years since his stroke. He will be missed.

Before the decision was made to put Cooper down, it was getting depressing watching him go down hill and knowing that we couldn't do anything to change that. In the same time frame we had also visited a relative with the most aggressive form of Early Alzheimer's. Seeing how fast she had deteriorated both physically and mentally in such a short time had put Don and I both in a funk that was hard to pull out of. Seeing a woman years younger than me, as close to being in a fetal position as one can get in a wheelchair, unable to even make eye contact or hold a conversation was shocking. Especially since just a few months ago she was walking around and physically strong at least. Between the dog and thoughts of our relative our funk felt like imminent death was surrounding us.

But life goes does on and the new chapter we started is with a new puppy, a miniature schnauzer who was thirteen weeks old when we got him. Along with all the normal puppy stuff little Levi has to learn, he also has to be taught to have a healthy respect for Don's wheelchair without fearing it and to learn how to sit-stay when ever Don transfers. The former being a safety issue for Levi and the latter being a safety issue for Don. The puppy is doing well with both. I won't go into details here about our new puppy, though, because he is well documented in my dog's blog. (Find the link in the right hand column if you're curious.) It's enough to say that it's been fun having a new life in the house. Sometimes I can't contain my smile when I look down at the sleeping little imp.

So along with all our other comings and goings, we've added puppy socialization classes to our schedule and later this summer, obedience classes will come. Levi probably will also get us out to the nature trails this summer. It's something we've wanted to do for a couple of years and now we've got a four-legged obligation to spur us to act on that desire. He'll need to learn about things like birds and bugs and playing with blades of grass and not to bark at the wind. If only we could teach him to use a credit card and order flowers for Mother's Day..... ©

P.S. One of the entries in Levi and Cooper's blog touches on Don's aphasia, if you're interested here is a link to that entry. Click here.

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