Bess

Because Bess came to us as an owner surrender, we know her birthday is O8/01/1999. Bess loves to follow me around, bark to tell me how how happy she is to see me when I get up in the morning, when I come home, or bark to announce to the other two dogs that I am preparing their dinner. She always moves with me from room to room and does not let me out of her sight. She loves to swing with me on the porch glider. Her favorite foods include anything she can get into her mouth! Because she is deaf, she will lie, falling asleep, leaning against any door that I use to exit the house so she will know when I return; when I open the door, it awakens her. She's a terrific dog to take for a walk, she is wonderfully well behaved on a leash.

Bess is pretty spritely for an old lady. My vet told me sometime last year that she has arthritis in one of her back legs. I doubt that I would have noticed unless he had pointed it out to me. It does not seem to incapacitate her at all. She is finally up to 21 1/2 pounds (and keeping it on), which is a good weight for her. She is on a grain-free diet and receives joint supplements which do seem to help. She is also on a maintenance dose of Enalapril 5mg, twice a day which I just put it in her food - I get it refilled at Walmart for about $8.00 a month. Vet says it helps with the kidney problems - which do not seem to have changed at all since she was first diagnosed.

She's not too fond of strangers approaching her, me petting the dachshund, or trips to the dog park. She loves to lord her small size over the even smaller dachshund and runs over him when she gets excited. She is most serious little dog I have ever known. I'm not sure that she is not a tiny bit senile, but the same can probably said for me, so who am I to judge. :D big grin

To sum up, I'd have to say that if carefully managed, her over-all health is pretty darned good! But proper management (which is quite easy) is really important. I never think of her as being in "poor" health and I don't think she does either... :)

~Sharon, foster mom