15!

He made it!  My sweet Parker is now 15 years old!  Time to party!

My friend tortured Parker with this hat at her dog birthday party.

I have had different Boston Terriers in my life over the past 28 years and never had one live past about 13 & 3/4 years until Parker.  But then Parker has never been an average Boston Terrier.

Even though his litter was registered for April 4, 1997 because the majority of the pups were born on that day, Parker was actually born on April 3rd at about 11:30pm.  After having owned several Boston Terriers over the years, my family had decided to take on the challenge of breeding a litter of pups ourselves.  Wouldn't you know it, the very first pup born is still the largest pup we've ever seen even after a half dozen more litters that we birthed over 10 years.  Parker was so big that we ended up going to the vet to get him out as he was stuck and his mother was in major distress.  When the vet finally yanked him out he was blue and needed resuscitation.  Thank goodness we had the famed and eccentric Dr. Jeffrey Mayo to help us out.  Dr. Mayo just laughed and said it was a good thing we were able to save this one as he was about the best specimen of the breed he had ever seen! 

Parker as a pup a few months old.  You can see him on the right and still about a fourth larger than his sister.

 

 

Throughout his life Parker has continued to be remarkable.  He has had boundless energy and people have always been attracted to him.  Everywhere we go people stop us and tell us how handsome he is.  Then when they find out how old he is they just can't believe it. 

Parker still loves to play with a squeaky ball, be near one of his people whenever possible, give his opinion of any situation and sleep in the warm sun. 

Parker has slowed way down with his recent health and age related issues, but things have leveled off in the last ten days or so and he seems pretty comfortable for now.  Although he won't be able to travel anymore, the list of places he made it to is none too shabby.  Outside of his home here in the Northwest, Parker has been to Vancouver B.C., Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and most recently California.

Parker has been such a source of energy, love and fun.  I'm so glad we have been able to have him in our lives these past 15 years!

Still Kickin'

Warning: this is yet another doggy post.  Sorry to those who are annoyed.  I know we dog lovers can be a bit crazy... 

This morning I had just about the strangest sort of dress rehearsal that I can imagine. 
Y'all know that my dog, Parker, is very old and has had some health issues.  So there is no mystery to the idea that I could lose him in the near future.  I feel as though I have faced this fact with some level of maturity.

When I let my dogs outside this morning I got to face up to this reality a whole lot more.
Parker stumbled out the back door onto the wet deck as he often does.  But this time he coughed hard a couple of times and then kind of fainted.  As he laid there I found myself accepting that this could be the end and I also found that I just wanted to comfort and speak softly to him.  I actually thought about the fact that I didn't want his last moments to be chaotic in any way.  I was shocked and sad, but level headed.

Then just as suddenly as this all began, Parker got up and shook himself off.  And I swear he gave me a look of, "what the heck are you so sad about?"  He then ran back into the house, grabbed a squeaky toy and dropped it next to his dish so he could loudly proclaim how hungry he was.  I stood there in amazement. 

After the initial shock wore off, I remembered that back when he was about 8 years old,  (he is now 14) the vet had told me that Parker has a pretty loud heart murmur and that he could require medication one day if he ever displayed symptoms.  You guessed it.  What I had just experienced was just what I had been warned could happen- some coughing or wheezing and loss of consciousness due to lack of oxygen.  When I called the vet they were shocked to see how long it has been between the diagnosis and the onset of symptoms.  Back when this all started, we had chosen to go with natural supplements for heart health and had since forgotten all about what those daily 'vitamins' for Parker were all about.  Just goes to show, you never do know. 

Believe it or not, I'm actually grateful for the experience.  Like many other aspects of my growing up, loss of pets was never handled with any kind of grace or reasonableness.  At least I know now that I'm pretty sure I won't lose it completely when the real moment arrives.  Don't get me wrong.  I am absolutely in no hurry.  And apparently, neither is Parker!

"Yeah, I'm obnoxious.  So what?!  At my age, anything goes!"