I’ve learned over and over again that with dogs, aging and illness never moves along a straight line. There are ups and downs, and one can follow the other at any time. Red has had a good week, he’s been to the Mansion and the Bishop Maginn School, he is slower than before, but able to get in and out of the car and interact with lots of people. He seemed comfortable, although his eyesight is getting steadily worse.

I have no illusions about when it will end, just not sure how long a process it will be. I’m hoping for a couple of years, but practically, that will not happen.

This morning, wanting to give him some exercise, I asked him to do a partial outrun – the vet says he has to move a bit to stay healthy. Almost from the first, I saw  him struggling. Border collies are notorious stoics, they don’t show pain, and of course, and they don’t talk, so it’s hard to know precisely what is going on with them.

This morning, he started dropping to the ground, then getting up, and then dropping to the ground again. I asked him to lie down. He made it back to the farmhouse, going slowly.

I know he’s in trouble when he starts to lie down every few feet.

If I ask him to come to me, he’ll go about 10 feet, then drop down, almost in a collapse. I see that  his spinal condition is worsening, and that is the most bothersome to me, as if he can no longer walk or stand, I will want to put him down and out of suffering.

Inside the farmhouse, I gave him some pain and anti-inflammatory medication, and he’s  resting quietly now in my study.

When a dog like Red lies down like that, it is never because they want to, it means they are hurting. For the next few days,  he’ll rest, and then I’ll let him come out to the pasture, as he does every morning, and just sit and watch. He is content to do that.

You will notice in the background in this photo, that as Red lay down, Bud, in the background, took off towards the sheep, almost as if he were filling in for Red. I don’t want to put too much into this, but that’s what it looked like to me. I can’t really know, of course, what Bud might be thinking or feeling.

Bud started moving the sheep towards Maria and I. And they want. Red stayed still.