Doggie Daycare

dancingwithalsandlife.blogspot

Frankie & Phoebe 

As far back as I can remember, I have always been a dog lover. Throughout my childhood, my family always had a dog at home to play with and snuggle. I can only remember a brief time in my life when there wasn't the sound of clicking nails on the floor and jingles of a collar prancing around me at home. Today, my wiggle butt Aussies, two sibling companions, Franklin and Phoebe, have been by my side and have provided comfort especially when I started having health issues. When I would rest on the couch, most likely one, or both of them, would be on the couch curled up and resting next to me. I must say there's something very therapeutic about petting a dog when you're not well or having a bad day.

When I lived at home with my parents, my mother had her own dog grooming business. I frequently helped her bathe, blow dry, or hold the dogs while she clipped their fur. But most of all, I enjoyed seeing the four legged customers that arrived at the back door. Some arrive with her tails wagging while others had their ears pinned back or came in whining because they didn't like getting groomed. For the customers who didn't like coming, I always enjoy talking to them in a soothing voice, so they could feel a little more at ease while they were there with us. When I worked alongside my mom grooming dogs, I was surprised how itchy I was by the end of the day due to the dog hair flying around the room. For some reason it just wound up everywhere including in my nose. Those were the days when dog groomers didn't have a device that suck the hair while being clipped into a canister.

Our family never own cats, but we did get some cat customers. I never heard the shrill of screaming at such a high decibel until trying to put a cat in water to give him/her a flea bath. I'm sure people could hear the screaming half a block down the street! If they had claws, they were definitely out and furiously scratching. We had to wear welding gloves for protection when handling cats. When my mother decided to close her business, which was around my senior year of high school, she wanted me to take over the business for her. Although I loved and cared for animals, I felt it wasn't a career choice for me for the rest of my life. I wanted to further my education. I knew I wanted to have a career in which I was helping people, hence my social work degree.

Now getting back to my Aussie (Australian Shepherd) buddies. As my disease started to progress, I was no longer able to independently get up off the couch due to poor leg and/or hip strength, which meant most of my days were spent in a lift recliner. It's really difficult to have two dogs pushing 60 pounds sitting on my lap on a recliner. Phoebe, who we also call squishy squishy, has attempted to do this a few times; she doesn't have enough room to get comfortable so she always would jump back down. At this time in my disease progression, it would be better if I had a small dog. Mine are definitely sturdy, working breed type dogs.

Most people don't understand the depth of this disease unless they are on the journey themselves. ALS isn't just impacting my muscles. It now has impacted my relationship with my dogs. I love them, and I know they love me, but now I am no longer able to lie on the floor and play with them, throw a ball or a toy, put my hand on their head or back to pet them, rub their bellies, feed them or let them out, hook up their leash on their collar, take them for a walk, or get in a car to take them for a car ride. At this time, I still can talk to them, but there's a high probability that at one point I may lose my voice. I won't even be able to talk to them unless I use a computerized device.

There have been many times I needed to put them downstairs because trying to navigate a walker or a wheelchair and letting visitors in the house becomes chaotic and a huge fall risk for me. Because I can no longer do the things I mentioned and I need to sequester them downstairs alone, they probably think I'm ignoring them. It truly does break my heart especially because they are animals and they don't understand why. So even though these dogs have been my dogs, they no longer follow me around the house. They follow my husband which he would much rather do without. The dogs are now two more living beings that are my husband's responsibility and becomes a source of frustration and contention.

My one daughter and her significant other now have become their doggie, Mom and Dad. We currently have joint custody but those days will soon come to an end. When their new mommy and daddy come to pick them up for when I call doggy daycare/slumber parties, they go crazy with whining and fast tail wagging because they know that they will be fussed over, spoiled and their quality of life will have a huge uptick. I'm finding now when they come back home, they whine and look at the window because there's a part of them now that does not feel settled. They want to live where they get the attention they deserve. Not only has ALS taken away my independence, my career yada yada yada, it is also taking away my pets. This is the depth of this disease! Another huge loss to process! If ALS affects my relationship with my pets, I'm sure you can only imagine what ALS can do to human relationships!

6/2025

   Frankie & Phoebe