Puppy

Puppy has been a part of our lives for about 8 years now. She has been a great puppy, a great friend and a wonderful protector of the kids. I remember when my youngest son would snowboard down our side yard (about 250 feet long on quite a slope) and puppy (she isn't really a puppy but that's what I call her, she runs about 100 lbs right now) would run around and then pull him up the hill so he could do it all over again. In fact puppy would do that will all of his friends. It was fun to watch them. Puppy is a mixed breed of malamute and wolf. Beautiful and smart. She has been limping for about a week and while we were in St. George, we took her to the vet to get checked out. We found out that she has hip displacia, arthritis and both illness are degenerative. We found this out Friday. We were all sad. She is currently on some pain meds and anti-inflammatory pills and she seems to be doing all right. My wife and I took her for a walk this evening. She started off running around but toward the end of the walk, she started limping a big again. It's sad. She interacts so well with us. We have several levels on our yard and we would put her up on the top level during the day and then bring her down at night. During the school year, she would be quiet up on top until she KNEW when the kids got home and she would demand some attention. She didn't see them come home, she doesn't have a view to the front door, but she just KNEW. She is smart. She likes to lay on her back and be a baby and get a belly rub. It is funny to watch her get all "baby". We are putting her on a diet and we will continue to give her pain and anti-inflammatory meds but... Puppy is amazing. My wife, who doesn't like dogs due to an extremely negative experience when she was young with a rabid dog) loves puppy and even will take her on walks. She, puppy, has a sweet heart and can communicate when she wants. I know she is getting older and I know that big dogs age differently than smaller dogs. I love my puppy...