The past few days have been warm enough that I’ve been out in the pool with my wife doing our water therapy. That’s been ongoing since last Friday afternoon when I came home from work. It’s warm enough that even the girls come out and lounge by the pool.
Ruby turned 10 back in August. She still has that big, beautiful Lab head, and her ears are still in perfect form. But Labs begin to turn white around their muzzle and head. If you look carefully, you can see white shading into the standard light ginger color of a Yellow lab, and especially under her eyes, down the muzzle, and to her mouth. We’ve owned both Chocolate and Black Labs, and when they went white it stood out against their dark coats. But Yellows don’t have that “issue” and you can’t tell they’re turning white due to age unless you look very carefully…
Annie’s a Doodle with a Standard Poodle’s coat. She’s nearly four (her birthday is Valentine’s day) so she should be really coming into her own. Unfortunately, Annie’s coat already has all sorts of color scattered across her black coat, from silver to ginger. You can see the ginger color on her muzzle in the photo above. Having never cared for a Doodle before I have no idea how she will age or how long she’ll live. But I hope she has a good long life like every other Lab we’ve ever had, which is on average between 15 and 16 years.
Category: Labs
end of the day, and end of a personal era
I’m still dealing with Ellipses’ final exit, but as I was sitting and talking with my wife, she noticed the beautiful sunset just outside our back door. In a metaphorical sense it is a fitting reminder that ends are not all dark, but like a beautiful sunset, herald the end of one day and the start of the next. It seems fitting that this is a fine way to think of Ellipse leaving us. She has left us a rich history of mutual memories, and plenty of photos I’ve taken over the years of her and all the other creatures who’ve lived with us. Those that are still with us are moving around the house as they are wont to do. The girls still come up to ask for rubs and to remind me when it’s time to be fed or to go out for their walks. The boys come up for their rubs and to remind me when they need to be fed.
Ruby just turned 10, and with a lifespan in our house of around 15 years, that means five more years of spending my life with Ruby. When it’s her time to leave I’ll deal with it accordingly. Now’s the time to make sure I gather enough photos and memories of her while she’s still with us, still hale and hearty. Annie, her constant companion, turned 3 this past St. Valentine’s Day. If the Lab lifespan is any indication she’s here for quite a long time. And the boys will turn three in early October. Again, if Ellipses’ life span is any indication, they’ll be around for quite a long time as well.
It has taken me at least a decade to be taught by Ellipse, Lulu, and Lucy how to live with cats. They’ve all taught me well, and the Gingersnaps and I benefit from the training. I look forward to many more good times with the four footers.
Radarwitch
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