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| Spot as a puppy not yet a year old |
I have to tell you this – pet parents go through this denial earlier. A child is still a kid at 10 years of age but your pet dog at 10 is a senior in his twilight years.
“Hi Spotty,” my vet greeted him enthusiastically as she came close to the dog sitting in the back of my SUV. I had brought him to the vet clinic for his yearly shots, blood sample, and this time, inflamed gums. She hadn’t seen him all year and was surprised at what she saw. “Oh my,” she observed, looking him over. “His eyes are tearing and his nails are grey, not black anymore. His coat is not even white. Why, Spotty is an old dog!” she exclaimed unbelievingly.
That last sentence jarred me to reality. Only your vet would say something as honest as that. Spot entered 8 years old only three months ago and maybe because of his exercise-oriented lifestyle the dog remained in good form. And thanks to his white unspotted face, graying hairs were cleverly hidden. Thanks too to his flashy Dalmatian colors, the dog always elicited admiring remarks in public all the time (which never stopped even as he turned 8). And I, his proud pet parent, felt happy that he didn’t look old and senior.
But on that drizzly October afternoon, a few days after a fight with the feisty Packy, Spot wasn’t in top form and the vet saw his age. His gums developed an inflammation which made his face swollen, rounding out its contours. We made jokes at home that he looked like a bull terrier.
But after that vet’s remark, reality bit. It was a sad reality. I realized I had been hiding my denial behind the dog’s good physique and coat colors.
My mind flashed back to those years Spotty was a celebrity dog, always catching the cameras every time he appeared in public. I remembered how he looked the first time I saw him perform at a dog agility trial in General Santos City. He was an instant crowd favorite as he approached the starting line, his highly contrasting colors visible even at a great distance. He was still young then, and he walked on soft white feet against the green grass.
I remembered the brave trek he did that muggy summer morning joining a protest march against animal cruelty, his placard fastened to his body harness so it stood on his back. That photo went all over the world provided by Reuters, the Associated Press, and other international news syndicates, surprising my sister who saw his photo on the front page of a newspaper tabloid in a café in Germany.
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| During that protest rally, Spot was known internationally as the "Dalmatian with a placard on his back." In Germany he was front page news, the Germans being a nation of dog lovers. |
He also made it to the front page of a major local newspaper. When a local pet magazine featured that protest march, they used only two photos: one was a group shot and the other was a solo shot of Spot with his placard.
When a local animal welfare group borrows him as one of the pet models of their yearly canine fashion show, his entrance on the ramp always ripples the audience. He was unusual, often the only Dalmatian in any event where dogs gather. Photographers would have field day.
He was always capturing the camera lens that it kept me busy hunting down those newspapers or magazine issues. I had to create a scrapbook because it was happening too often and I noticed the number of clippings was increasing.
When a television crew covers any pet event and during the few seconds it is aired, a spotted dog always unfailingly crosses the television screen in everybody’s homes. Rare is the event no cameraman or photographer does not notice that flashy Dalmatian.
So when I started to introduce dog agility in the metro, I had the best possible dog with me to market my efforts. He was lean, agile, smart, and magnetic. He was highly visible in a crowd and doubly appealing because of his breed.
Now there he was a few years later, an old fading dog and I couldn’t see it. It took my vet to state the fact.
My senior boy had to have vitamin supplements, eye drops, and extra vitamin C to address the swelling of his gums. He had to take an anti-inflammatory medication too.
Spotty is finally an old dog.
All parents must go through this. It is a downside to parenthood. As their children grow and face the world to make a life of their own, many doting parents find difficulty seeing the change. In their mind’s eye, it’s still their boy in short pants or their little girl in her early teens.
But I have to tell you this – pet parents go through this denial earlier. A child is still a kid at 10 years of age but your beloved pet dog at 10 is a senior in his twilight years.
I decided to take the positive view to all this. Spotty is one dog whose life I saw move from stage to stage because I personally took care of him. My education with Spot is not yet finished. I saw him move from puppyhood to adolescence, to his celebrity years as an adult, to his retirement from competitive sports; now I will see him enter senior life and watch him live it. His best years were these past 8. I don't know how many more are left. How short is a dog’s life and how short is our enjoyment of him.
But there will be more things for me to learn about in this last stage of his life.
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