Today we have a Talking Dogs guest post from the dog daddy at our house, known to some of you as the Chief Medical Examiner and my husband, Gary.
Remembering an old friend...
We have a fenced back yard of about two acres which the dogs have access to. However they all love to go for a walk outside of the yard with their daddy.
Nobody loved the walks more than Tucker. The last few years of his life he was suffering with arthritis and got to the point where he had trouble standing up, but once he was on his feet he was always ready to go for a walk.
I regret terribly that we didn’t take more walks. Once we were out the front door Tucker was on the move. Slow and steady but moving ahead. Regardless of how long the walk lasted or how tired he was, he never once asked to go back to the house. When I would tire out and start back, he would always want to go for more.
On one of those last walks together Tucker scared up a rabbit. I saw it lying in the grass long before Tucker did so I steered him toward it.
Now, to help you get the image, it helps to visualize a 98 year old man who needs a walker to get around. Although Tucker didn’t have a walker (he could have used one) he walked very slow and deliberate as he made sure each step was secure.
When Tucker got about 6 feet from the rabbit it bolted and ran. Tucker came alive and gave chase. Well at least until he got to the end of the leash and I stopped him. He watched as the rabbit hopped off and into the high grass and was gone.
In hindsight I wish I would have let him go. One last good chase. It’s not as if he would have caught the rabbit or even got close but he would have loved to try, and I know he would not have gone too far in his condition.
But it’s too late now and it makes me sad that my basic instinct to keep control of him deprived him of that good chase. I should add that we were about in the middle of our 46 acres so he would have had plenty of room to safely chase the rabbit.
You see, for years one of Tuckers jobs around here was to keep the yard clear of all invading critters, rabbits, armadillos, squirrels. He had retired from that job and had turned it over to the young and swift.
But when Tucker saw that rabbit he was young again. Age nor ability was not a thought.
I wish I had let him go.
