The
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife opens an early pheasant season to
benefit the old guys – give them a handicap, as it were. You have to be at
least 65 to participate. At our house, we laugh a bit over the joke of giving the
experienced old guys a head start on the season. Decrepit they may be, but they
still do pretty darn well in the field and as mostly retired, they can schedule
plenty of hunts.
Anyway,
today was the day of the “old man’s hunt,” and while my old guys went and took their
Shorthair pups, poor ol’ Nell stayed behind. After hunting Saturday and Sunday
mornings, she was so stove up this morning that she could hardly move. If it
had been up to her, she would have gone anyway. She knows the signs of a
hunting day just by the way Mike is dressed. She got up from her pillow and
went to the door to watch for Ken, but she knew in her heart that she wasn’t
going because Mike hadn’t exchanged her regular collar for her hunting collar
and bell. And she knew she really wasn’t up to it. As they drove off without
her, she stretched out on her pillow with a quiet sigh of resignation.
“Nellie
is just an old pro,” announced Mike with pride in his voice after Saturday’s
hunt. She just works so hard in the field. But Baby Bess is coming along well
with her skills, and Sunday the two dogs practiced some teamwork, where Nellie
scouted and Bess retrieved. However, two days of work in a row were too much
for Nellie.
Even
last year, Nellie needed a day or two of recovery time after a hunt. Now we’re
reading how to keep our old dog comfortable. At Walmart this morning I searched
the shelves for helpful products, finding canned senior food with supplements
and also some chews with glucosamine. What matters is that Nellie is able to enjoy
what she loves to do as long as she can.
But
she recovered some by 11:00 and invited me to take her for a walk. I had said I
would and she remembered. We hadn’t left the premises when the old guys
returned from a disappointing hunt (no birds found). After lunch Mike and I
took both Bess and Nellie for a neighborhood walk. KW
[Photos
were taken on this afternoon’s walk.]
2 comments:
I hope Nellie's feelings weren't hurt too much. Is she allowed to take a little ibuprofen or anything for some relief?
I don't think her feelings were hurt. Dogs can have a little aspirin, which we administered. That and the rest had her in good shape by evening. It's best that she just doesn't overdo in the first place. She always has preferred a day or two between hunts and now it seems crucial.
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