It's almost 2:30am and I can't find sleep for worry over Baron. My heart is breaking over his physical state. He's all skin and bone and, coupled with his inability to walk, even when upright, it's just heartbreaking. I keep checking to see if he's breathing but trying not to wake him. At least tonight he doesn't seem to be hurting since he's not crying in his sleep. Even the Beast has been checking on him every time he gets up to pee. I found myself chewing on a lot of ice that I was letting get *chewable* (it does that after it sits in water for a while) so I stopped doing that since it was just nervousness and not a real need for water.
Is this crazy? I mean, being so worried over our dog? I should let nature take it's course and hope for a good sign but I just don't think we are going to see it. This house will not be the same without Baron. But I don't want another dog if he dies on us.
The Beast will miss him most of all. They have been bonded almost since the beginning. I was almost afraid of him (he was very hyper when he was young and it's how he broke my wrist when I was trying to walk him) and missed out on the best bonding time. I know he thinks of me as part of the pack but I am the second one he goes to when the Beast is not around. There are times he won't listen to me still. But it doesn't mean I don't care for him. He's so good with kids and other animals (mostly). He has a tolerance for some and has disliked some dogs....usually for good reason. There was one that he wouldn't let anywhere near our property and, heaven forbid!, if that little shit tried to get near me or the Beast ! Baron would go nuts and chase him off. He never liked the little rat terriers that one of our neighbors had (but they got rid of them because they caused such a ruckus around the neighborhood). They gave them to other friends of theirs that had a fenced yard.
I still don't understand the thinking of people around here (meaning it's pretty wide spread in Alabama) that dogs don't belong in the house. It gets cold here. We may not get a lot of snow but many don't even provide shelter for them. The poor things have to get underneath the house or a porch or deck when it rains or when we DO get snow. And it's not like they get the kind of dog that can take that kind of weather, either. It's just sad to see.
Thankfully, the neighbors that we do have next to us, have all been more humane. They keep/kept their dogs indoors at night or during bad weather of any kind. Others in our neighborhood don't and they think we have a spoiled dog because we do. We put up with the hair Baron sheds...and, for a short hair dog, he sheds a LOT more than you would believe.
I found out that one of our neighbors (an older woman who had lost her husband a few years ago), finally died shortly after her kids finally took her in because her home was just more than she could manage. She died shortly after her home was sold by her kids. I stopped to talk to them when they were clearing out the garage and talked to them. At that time, she was living with them but was in a wheelchair. Her knees needed replacing but the doctors felt it was too much for her at her age (90). It was just two or three weeks after that when I found out she had died. So sad. She was such a nice woman with a big heart. She often took in some of the dogs that were abandoned in our rural area until she found them homes. The strange thing about the abandoned dogs we've found around here is that they all seem friendly and well-behaved. Plus they were trained to go outside for all their *duty*. It boggles the mind why they were abandoned.
I could never abandon any animal. I've had some that roamed and two that were probably taken by others that might have thought they were strays. Those were cats, however, and they can demand servants, not owners. One, I know, did not like my kids and all the attention they tried to give it. I'll bet she found a family of just two people...both adults....LOL.
We do know of one that selected a neighbor of ours that she preferred and she was loved so it was akay. But when she had kittens, guess where she ended up? Yep. At our house. I was shocked that our house was where she chose to have them. But she didn't object when the other family came and collected her and her kittens and took them home.
Oh well. Animals have feelings, too, and they can have their preferences just like we do.
I know Baron is *just a dog* as some have said but he's been a part of our family since he was 2 months old. We had to tape up his ears as a pup (we got him shortly after that was done to him). We trained him to pee and poop outside (he was smart and *got it* very quickly). He loves to travel in the car and was fantastic when we traveled. He's also well-behaved in a motel and he always loved his training collar, even though a lot of people thought we had to have it on him because he was mean (not so). It just kept him from being distracted when we were hiking. He would get so excited at times that he would pull us if he didn't have it on. His one fault was he couldn't swim. He almost drowned on us one day but the Beast grabbed him by his (regular) collar and brought him up from under the water and onto land. He was never afraid of water, even so, but he became cautious about the depth of the water.
He's not *just a dog* to us, and certainly, not to the Beast. To the Beast, he's his best friend. It's the closest he's ever been to any animal. He WILL be sorely missed.
Well, this is the third post I've done today and I think I must try, again, to get to sleep. The Beast wants to go out with his church group tomorrow, depending on Baron's condition AND if I am totally awake to keep an eye on him. I want for him to get out of the house for a bit so I want to make sure I AM awake and aware. I would like to go visit Cee on Wednesday so I am hoping Baron does something to tell us what is going on with him.
Love you all. Be good. Be kind. ***Hugs***
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