Happy 14th Birthday, Rhody!
Rhody turns 14 years old today. I’ve had him ever since he was about 12 weeks old, so he’s been pretty much a constant companion during those 14 years—which adds up to almost one-third of my whole life! I couldn’t have asked for a smarter, kinder, more loving dog.
We had a little scare over the weekend. We went to see Rhody’s vet on Saturday to see about some arthritis medication. (Rhody’s been reluctant to go up the stairs to my apartment lately, which is probably a sign of osteoarthritis and is completely normal for a dog his age.) On examination, the vet thought she felt some abnormalities in Rhody’s spleen/liver area. She did some X-rays, which suggested there might be a mass. We rushed over to a specialty clinic, where they checked out Rhody’s whole abdomen via ultrasound. He’s totally clean — no tumors!
But I spent most of Saturday worrying about all those awful decisions dog owners have to make toward the end of their friends’ lives. That time will come soon enough for Rhody (hopefully not for a couple more years!) but the episode reminded me how much I’m going to miss him when he’s gone.
To celebrate Rhody’s birthday — here’s a link to the Rhody Gallery on Flickr (1,300 photos and counting). And here’s a picture of Rhody at 14 weeks old, back in 2007:
