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Always had a dog and a cat or two around the place, although the cats are supposed to be part of the work force, rather than pets. Applies to the dog as well, in theory, but not quite in practice.
Current mutt is 14 years old, and beginning to fall about a bit at the rear end, so we're beginning to realise he won't last forever. He fell down the stairs just after Christmas, so now there's a plywood gate blocking them off.
Thought his time was up a couple of months ago, when we found weeping tumours around his rear. Took him on what we expected to be a one way trip to the vet, but it turned out the tumours were benign and operable, so one arm and a leg later (ours), he's back as he was again, although looking ridiculous with a bald rear end and tail in contrast to the rest of his scruffy long coat.
All our dogs are 'free running' , coming and going as they please, but they all have hung around the yard without wandering off.
We had one elderly dog about twenty years ago who was failing fast. This was a highly intelligent dog that had never wandered off in her whole life and knew how to behave around vehicles, but on one summer's afternoon a car pulled into our yard, with a dented front wing, and our dog's lifeless body in the boot. She had walked a third of a mile to a main road, and had what only can be explained as committed suicide by walking in front of a car.
Current mutt is 14 years old, and beginning to fall about a bit at the rear end, so we're beginning to realise he won't last forever. He fell down the stairs just after Christmas, so now there's a plywood gate blocking them off.
Thought his time was up a couple of months ago, when we found weeping tumours around his rear. Took him on what we expected to be a one way trip to the vet, but it turned out the tumours were benign and operable, so one arm and a leg later (ours), he's back as he was again, although looking ridiculous with a bald rear end and tail in contrast to the rest of his scruffy long coat.
All our dogs are 'free running' , coming and going as they please, but they all have hung around the yard without wandering off.
We had one elderly dog about twenty years ago who was failing fast. This was a highly intelligent dog that had never wandered off in her whole life and knew how to behave around vehicles, but on one summer's afternoon a car pulled into our yard, with a dented front wing, and our dog's lifeless body in the boot. She had walked a third of a mile to a main road, and had what only can be explained as committed suicide by walking in front of a car.