(This is the first of a three-part series about living with a now deaf dog. The second and third parts will run tomorrow and the next day.)
Readers who follow me personally on Facebook have specifically asked me to write about my adventures in the show ring with Buzz, my young dog and Chelsea Update furry staff member.
However, I don’t want to leave Ryan out of the story because I’m hoping that a new chapter in our collective lives will also be of interest to readers.
The first installment in this new series focuses on Ryan, the older dog. (And, yes, Buzz and I as well – because the three of us are now on this new life adventure together.)
Last week, I discovered that Ryan, who will turn 9 at the end of April, is now completely deaf.
I’m sure he knew it was happening for quite a while and has adjusted to it, but somehow he hid it from me.
Until last week.
Ryan has lived through numerous health problems since I picked him up in Minnesota almost nine years ago. He was exposed to kennel cough before I brought him home and came down with it. He developed wheat allergies and had numerous ear infections throughout the years. More recently, he had to have his anal glands removed following painful impaction after painful impaction.
And then there was a tainted supplement pill I feed him that almost killed him and he spent a week on IV’s in the animal hospital. I was sure he was headed over the Rainbow Bridge but he rallied.
So, perhaps, I can be forgiven for failing to see the little indications that he was losing his hearing.
Thinking back over the last few months, there had been warning signs like him not racing up the stairs for treats when I shook the bag or sleeping like a rock even after I got up.
I just didn’t add them up.
Perhaps this makes me a bad dog owner, perhaps not, but, now that I do know he’s deaf – the three of us are adjusting to a new normal around here.
And since this is a whole new experience for me, I thought perhaps that readers who have either lived with a deaf dog or those who may experience it with their older dogs one day in the future – could benefit from living through this adventure with us.
(Part Two of these series will run tomorrow.)
