The Yorkshire Vet: Plenty of life in old dogs yet on a wet and gloomy walk

As we chatted, it turned out that all three dogs were exactly the same age- septuagenarians in dog years. Rufus was showing his age most, mainly because of his advanced and bilateral cataracts, which shone like pearlescent pickled onions, even on a grey and rainy day. Rufus constantly amazes me because, by the way he way he trots along, usually slowly wagging his tail as he goes, it is impossible to tell that the Labrador has no vision at all. He knows the fields like the back of his paw and can navigate with accuracy and skill. Apart from on one occasion, his owner recalled, when he got disorientated or distracted on the small bridge over Cod Beck and fell under the railings into the river, landing in the water several metres below. Poor Rufus, it must have been a very big surprise. He did well to retain his composure and extricate himself from the water.

“Emmy isn’t showing her age, is she?” he commented. “She still has that unending enthusiasm for her ball! She never stops, does she?”

The unswerving enthusiasm part of the statement was true, but in other ways Emmy is starting to age. Ten is not really old for a tough and wiry terrier, but the parts of her that were once black or brown have slowly morphed into a whiter shade of pale grey. I’ve seen old border terriers turn from sandy brown to ghostly white as the teens set in. Emmy is heading the same way, though I hope she isn’t going to become a ghost just yet.

“She’s getting a bit slower,” I mused, though the pace at which she chased and caught her latest rubber ball suggested I was not telling the truth. “The worst thing is that her teeth are so worn away by chewing balls, that they are almost flat.” This was certainly true and has left her a bit like and old man who hasn’t put in his false teeth. Anne had noticed that her face (Emmy’s, I mean) was getting narrower because the canine teeth had got so short that they were almost flush with her gums. Her face has become more pointy than ever! And it’s surely only a matter of time before those short, bent legs of hers start to give way and become arthritic. Moderate exercise and the occasional dose of anti-inflammatories are keeping her right at the moment. Long may it continue.