MOMMY MONDAY

~~~Reflections~~

Last night we went to a desert celebration, which was a "Who Done-It" theme. We were invited to dress as our favorite detectives. Naturally, I thought of Scooby-Doo's mates, Shaggy and Daphne. It was fun and VERY easy to dress the part (even with a "ho-hum" hubby dragging his feet). Since we couldnt really bring our own Scooby-Doo, I printed a few pictures to pin to us, as a hint of who we were.

As I perused The Princess's library of photo's, I was struck at the progression of her aging. Although she still has the energy of a puppy when she sees a squirrel or cat, her face and sleeping habits reflect her true age.

When we first adopted her Christmas of 2005, she was very skinny. She had previously been taken by another family, but after chasing a visitors cat, she was returned within 2 weeks. The home jumping stressed her enough, to cause her to loose a lot of weight.

This picture was taken shortly after we brought her home, she was just starting to get the white around her muzzle. She was 5 1/2 years old. The rescue said she still had the energy of a pup, and she quickly proved that. It took her almost a year to quit being so interested in my 15 year old cat, who did not want ANYTHING to do with her. You can see her spine and rib cage very clearly in this photo, reflecting how skinny she was.

The below picture was taken within the last year. She has almost lost all the color on her face and muzzle. I just called her to me and looked closely, and all color is gone from her eye's down. She has the infamous old lady neck, with quite a bit of sag. You can definatly NOT see her spine or ribs anymore. She has filled out so much, that she has a body style of a Mastiff (Yes, mango, she is your girl!) than the thinner frame of a GD.

After recently seeing the new movie Marley & Me, it was a reminder that a day WILL come that I may have to make that same tough decision. Oh, how I dread that day. My sweet pretty baby girl is getting older. She is now almost 9 years old, which I know is up there for a Dane. However, we continue to pray that her active lifestyle (daily walks or runs), food choice and being an indoor dog, is prolonging her retirement from this world.

Well, after wiping a tear from my eye, I now have to go love on my sweet pretty baby girl!

My Sasha, the Princess!