Empty Collars

  As I have mentioned before, once I realized Keeper had lost a good deal of her hearing, I put a bell on her collar. I actually lost her up at the airstrip. She was right behind me and I thought she would go to the van, but she stopped to smell something, and I kept walking. When she was done sniffing she once again put her nose to the ground and started back the way we had already gone! Of course I called and clapped my hands,but to no avail, she was a dog with a purpose and definitely on track(in her mind).In the end there was nothing I could do but jump in the van and get past her and then get her attention. As I drove I worried she would go into the bush and then I would have an awful time finding her. From that day on she wore her collar and bell, along with proper ID tags with my phone number. The bell was larger than a Christmas bell, it was the kind you put on a fishing pole to alert you that you have a fish on line. The bell proved to be a great communicator for me. It told me where she was, except of course if she was lying still. In the night it told me if she was pacing or if she had fallen down and could not get up. Letting her out at night, it told me again, where she was and that she was coming. I would strongly recommend, for people with deaf dogs to do this and also to have your phone number on the back of your dog tag. An elderly dog with poor eyesight and hearing is definitely at risk when lost. We owe it to them to step up our security and to know where they are at all times.

Keeper only had two collars in her life. The first one I bought with a matching leash(in pink would you believe?) I picked it up on my way to Castlegar where she was being shipped from Williams Lake. This collar served her well until I asked a friend in California to send us a prettier one. Thanks Diana,she wore that until Thursday when she was put down. I never realised how much I listened for the bell on that collar, until..it rang no more. I am getting better but, it was the first thing I thought about when I woke in the mornings. In her later years, when she could no longer skip out of the way, Keeper taught me to walk slower in the house and it helped me the other night when I went to the bathroom and didn't turn on the light. Rocky(cocker-spaniel guest) had chosen to sleep right in the way and though I stumbled and went to my knees I didn't hurt myself at all. When my brother was here he said I shuffled instead of walking. I hope it isn't quite that bad and prefer to call it walking carefully?

The Reddings have slowed down a lot and prefer to sleep a lot these days. Still, Otis the Bold gts at it at times. He does delight in making noise when things are too quiet. I went for a quick nap on the couch this morning and he shoved a dictionary off a bench and made enough noise to wake me and then added several meows to the mix. What a guy. He has taken over being the main “sleeper” with me and although Opus no longer likes to sleep too close to Otis, he still has some sleep time with me. I don't blame Opus as he can be slepingn nicely next to Otis and Otis will wake up and attack him.The “rassle matches” include many audible body slams and I think Opus gets the worst of it and soon cries “Uncle” or whatever word cats use. Once he gets serious about though, Otis will leave him alone.

Still not letting the dogs in the kitchen on the new floor as it needs a few adjustments yet. So I have spent days stepping over the ironing board but we should get back at it soon. At the moment Jim has gotten my cold and today we are burying Keeper so do not need to be doing floors. Rocky has taken to wandering so needs to be on a leash when he goes out the front. Teko as stated, hates to be away from me so sticks around well and scoots back up the steps when he is finished. So far I have remembered Teko's eyedrops twice a day except for yesterday morning. I am glad to have the two dogs for company and the two cats as well.

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