Itinerant Muse

Driving Miss Daisy

    My happy girl here, Daisy, is not so happy these days ~ and one of the many reasons I haven't written for a while.  You can see here her bulging left eye ~ that's glaucoma and she lost her vision in that eye quite some time ago.  Didn't bother her much as you can see from the smile on her face, but last week  she lost the vision in her good eye and is blind and totally disoriented.

Normally, I write about happy, fun, good things ~ food, wine, lifestyle, etc.  But I have been really grieving for my beloved Daisy who will be 12 in September.  She has always been so fiesty, loving, obedient, the perfect pup ~ always doting on her brother, Popper,

who is much bigger than she, but totally defers to her.  Now I am trying to have him guide her, although he is totally confused as to why she bumps into him, won't move out of the kitchen doorway when he wants in to drink some water.  Here he is trying on my son's flip flops.

And, I find myself trying to retrain her to find her way ~ we live in a second floor condo, so getting down stairs when you can't see them is very traumatic for her ~ so I am trying to teach her the word 'step' so that will alert her to know to step down.  Guiding her to food and water is another big challenge.  As advised by my vet, I am trying to guide her by sense of smell with food in my hand.  She loves to eat and when I am cooking and doing prep work chopping veggies, etc. she is always right at my feet, because she knows eventually some yummy morsel will land on the floor.  Not any more until she finds the way to my feet or smells the food.

Here they are anxiously awaiting dinner on their 11th birthday when I made them turkeyburgers.  Oh boy, did they love that meal!

Sometimes for their amusement, I read to them "The Daily Wag" written by Martha Stewart's two dogs, Francesca and Sharkey.

Another pastime Daisy loves is riding in the car, looking out the window and barking at anything that moves while the wind blows through her fur.  Well, I will always be driving Miss Daisy ~ she will still feel the wind, smell the fresh flowers and  ocean breezes, and hopefully this will be enough along with my constant love and caressing of her and Popper's companionship to keep her happy for a long time to come.                            

Popper and Daisy after  going to the beauty parlor.                                                                                             

Anxious about my Aging Pups

My two babies, 10 1/2 year-old Daisy and Popper, Samoyeds pictured on my blog, are aging day by day ~ more difficult to climb stairs, slower to get up from laying down, slower to sit and much slower to walk these days. And, since they are originally dogs from Siberia, with a heavy coat of hair, as the temperature and humidity rises, so does their lack of mobility.
I am also aging and know how hard it is to jump out of bed after a previous day of body pump or combat, pretending to be a karate or martial arts pro. All my bones and muscles ache, but I have the luxury of a soothing bath or a heating pad. So, I have researched deeply into being assured that I am giving my dogs the best quality care and nutrition to keep them alive and comfortable for a long, long time.
One product that I have been using for about two years that has significantly helped then be more limber is Walkabout from Naturmix.com. It is a fine grain, like the finest sand, which I had to devise a menu for them to be able to eat. I mix it with vanilla yogurt as a breakfast food and when I say to them it's time for breakfast, they are both barking like crazy and after eating the mix, they push the bowls around the kitchen hoping to get every last lap. It has not only given them more flexibility in their limbs, but a reason to get up from an aching body in the morning. Breakfast is definitely rise and shine, woof and whine for more Walkabout.
For anyone with an aging pet or for a pet of any age, I strongly recommend looking into the Naturmix website.
Health and food is not only about being beneficial to us, it also is about helping and protecting our loyal pets who love and trust us unconditionally.