Day 3388

I'm glad I never had a parent with Alzheimer's to take care of. Now that Dash is showing signs of dementia, it's easy to see what a monumental task this could be. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether Dash's problems are physical or mental. I suspect that is usually a combination of both. Dash gets confused on his walks and sometimes reverses direction for no apparent reason. We end up walking in circles occasionally. There are no regular mealtimes anymore. Breakfast can be at noon and dinner can be at midnight. Dogs are creatures of habit and I think it bothers Dash that he can't always remember his old habits. I wish I could help, but I can't always remember my old habits either. I do what I can. I make sure he takes his pills, gets enough food, and has a little exercise. Most of Dash's day is spent sleeping.

I never realized that half of my blog readers came from Google+. Now that the platform is gone, so are the readers. I guess it all makes sense. I had over 30,000 followers on Google+ at one time. Most of these people were photographers or loved photography, but some of them must have become blog readers. I'd almost forgotten what a great place Google+ was for photographers in the early days. You could actually have conversations with and get tips from some very well known photographers. I learned a lot.

I think the Covenia is working. The open sores on the underside of his muzzle are already starting to heal. I think the loose flaps of skin on the sides of a dogs mouth are called flews, but I keep wanting to call them lips. I guess dogs don't really have lips. Since Covenia targets bacteria on the skin, I'm not sure how well it will work with Dash's periodontal disease. Bacteria under the gum line, especially under the teeth can be very hart to eradicate.

I'm getting discouraged with my attempts to liquidate my collections. I've spent so much restoring my vintage synthesizers that I probably won't make any money at all when they eventually sell. The same thing is true for an Ellsworth Kelly print I had an art conservator restore. She did a fantastic job, but the print is expected to go under the hammer at auction for about the same price as I spent restoring it. I thought the vintage guitars would go quickly, but that hasn't been the case. One guitar sold quickly but the buyer changed his mind and convinced the dealer to let him exchange it for a different guitar. I'm still waiting for the guitar to sell. The main problem with the train collection is that nobody knows what a train is anymore. Old men still buy these things, but there are fewer and fewer of them left. I've consigned my collection with one of the best dealers in the entire country, but sales are still very slow.

I wish sleep would restore Dash's energy. He certainly sleeps a lot. Unfortunately, he still seems to be getting weaker. We had a real problem on our walk this morning. He was determined to keep going, but I could tell he was getting tired. I tried several times to cut the walk short and return to the house, but Dash refused to turn around. He is very stubborn. It was almost like his brain and his body weren't on the same page. When we eventually made it home, Dash was exhausted.

Somebody parked their car where I usually take my trash on Thursday night. Little things like this bother me. I'm superstitious about the garbage truck and always want to make sure that my trash is in exactly the same place so the driver will see it. One more thing to fret about tonight.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day