Day 1936

I got up several hours before dawn to watch this morning's lunar eclipse. I left the house quietly, so I wouldn't wake Janet and the dogs and went out to the street where I cold get a good view. Apparently, watching eclipses wasn't a high priority in the neighborhood. All the houses were still dark and the roads were empty. It was quite peaceful.

As the dawn approached, I could hear birds begin to sing as the moon shrunk to a smaller and smaller crescent. This was supposed to be a Blood Moon, but I couldn't see the red glow at totality. Since the moon was near the horizon, it just gradually disappeared as it sunk into the low lying haze and ground fog. I went back to bed for a while after the moon disappeared and then started the day all over again when the dogs woke up and wanted their breakfast.

Janet takes Dot on a short walk now while I walk Dash. Dot made it all the way to the end of our street this morning. She was feeling good. The constant tremor in her rear legs is largely gone now. She is learning to stand normally and her paws seldom knuckle under anymore. We have reached the point now where she feels better than she did before the surgery. The main challenge now is to build back the muscle mass she lost both before and after the surgery. Her rear legs are very weak, but each week they become stronger. Surgery is always risky and sometimes you don't make the right decision. I think in this case, the surgery really helped.

Since Dot still sits down really hard if we aren't there to steady her and is prone to stumble at the least little obstacle, Janet and I still divide our time watching her. I ran my errands in the morning, so she could run hers in the afternoon. It would have been nice if the dogs felt like sleeping, because I picked up the Interstellar DVD while I was getting groceries. I thought I might get a chance to watch it this afternoon, but that turned out not to be the case. Dot didn't want to sleep. She wanted to bark and continually move from one dog bed to another. Every time I created a safe enclosure so she couldn't hurt herself, she wanted to go somewhere else. She didn't want to be penned at all and wasn't shy about letting me know. When Dot starts barking, Dash chimes in and starts barking too. It was a lot more peaceful when I was watching the eclipse by myself at 6 AM. The only way I was able to keep any semblance of sanity this afternoon was to divide the dog's dinners into small portions and feed it to them at two hour intervals.

I never was able to watch my movie, but I did manage to get some work done. It was a shame to stay inside on a beautiful day like today but I didn't seem to have much choice. I certainly can't blame Dot for being restless. I'm sure she would have rather chased squirrels in the back yard and barked at cars going up and down the alley. If Dot understood the cause and effect between exercise and being able to do the things she loves, maybe our sessions in the underwater treadmill would go smoother. We're getting there though and have really made an enormous amount of progress since February.

I should make an effort to go to the gym tomorrow. I need to spend as much time on my own physical therapy as I am on Dot's. It's kind of pitiful in a way. An old guy with a dislocated shoulder probably isn't the best choice to help an old dog with bad legs get back in shape. Maybe by Summer I'll be able to move my arm freely again and Dot can return to her walks in the park.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day