ONE LAST WALK

Our dog Sadie is almost ten. She has been such a sweet dog. She is good natured and has been so great with the kids. This past year, maybe a little longer it has been really noticeable that her hips have bothered her. Hip dysplasia is fairly normal for Labradors and she is part Lab. We've been giving her CoQ-10 and special hip and joint supplements and for awhile they seemed to be helping. But in the past 3 days she has gone down hill so fast. She can hardly move her back legs at all and she will just lay there and cry until one of us comes and helps her move. We've been helping her up and down steps -- but this afternoon she would not even try to tackle them at all.

I finally put a leash on her and took her out the front door which is considerably easier. It still took some lifting and assisting but we made it--only to have her just lay down and refuse to move. That is until her sister Tashie stood at the door whining to come out also. So, we put a leash on Tashie and brought her out front, too. Tashie just assumed we were going on a walk. So, she came out all excited like she does when we put her on a leash for a walk. When Sadie saw Tashie all excited she got excited, too and stood up and started walking, and she kept walking. I was kind of astounded and the kids were very excited to see that she wanted to go for a walk --so we all went. I didn't let her go far before I stopped and turned her around, though. I didn't want her to hurt herself or cause more pain for later.

I had to tell the kids this was probably our last walk with Sadie. They are really sad--and so am I. She has an appointment with the vet tomorrow evening but I am fearful of what we will find. After Rob got home later this evening, we couldn't even get her to stand up to go out again--not even after Rob carried her outside. She is in pain and it makes me so sad not to be able to stop it. I am hoping, against hope the Vet has some ideas on how to help her, short of bionic limbs. 

Our sweet Sadie on what may prove to be her last walk