A Happy, Healthy “Accident”

You’ve heard of the Energizer Bunny. I have an Energizer Cocker Spaniel. My dog Bitsy turned 14 today and she’s still going strong! Today we went out into the yard and she chased her tennis ball, dug for worms and barked at cows. Aside from a little arthritis, some low light vision problems and the loss of most of her hearing, she acts the same as she did when she was a pup.

Bitsy was an experiment. She was the first dog that any of my family had ever raised as a house pet. This was long before Cesar Millan (whose methods I’ve wholeheartedly adopted since then) and all the dogs we’d had growing up were outside pets who were considered more “working” dogs than pets. They kept away all the vermin and wild animals that might venture into our yard and kill chickens or damage the garden or fields. Bitsy and her litter were the result of a full-breed Cocker Spaniel wandering into our yard one day and breeding with our Chow/German Shepherd named Chief. (This was also long before it was in vogue to spay and neuter your pets.) So the Cocker we named “Lady” gave birth to a litter of several adorable mixed breed pups, of which Bitsy was the runt.

As I mentioned on her last birthday in my post “The Blessing of Bitsy,” we’ve been through a lot together in her 14 years. This year we’ve moved into a new house along with my other dog Snoopy. The three of us have been learning how to carve out a new routine in our new environment and sometimes it’s challenging. They both like to lie on the couch beside me, but since Bitsy’s the old-timer, she obviously ranks higher in the pack than Snoopy and won’t allow him up there if she’s gotten there first. She’s also very territorial about her food dish and if Snoopy ever gets the idea that he can eat her leftovers when she’s not looking, she lets him know right away that, “I might be old, but you still can’t sneak something like that by me!”

The biggest challenge for me is that Bitsy is moving more slowly and she loves to stand right beside me and follow me everywhere in the house. The problem is that sometimes she stands right underfoot. I’m having to learn patience as I walk through the house and she walks in front trying to figure out where I’m going and looking behind her all the time to make sure I’m still there. On our walks outside with Snoopy she loves to stop and smell everything and it’s frustrating for me and Snoopy because we like to walk fast. But practicing patience has been good for me and it’s teaching me valuable lessons.

Next year I hope to report on a happy, healthy 15 year old “accident” who continues to love me and teach me lessons. Her batteries are still going strong and, with God’s help and some TLC, she’ll be around for several more years, teaching me lessons and keeping Snoopy on his toes.

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