Quantum aging
Kobe’s 10 years old today. It is interesting to note that in dog years he is younger than me this year and will be older than me next year by his birthday. That is what we call quantum aging. A dynamic leap in aging. A term suggested to me by my daughter. And it feels like that when we look at how a dog’s age is compared to human aging cycles.
It has been a great ten years with us for Kobe. It is often said, if the dog is not disciplined enough it is their masters who are at fault. And we have been at fault for several of his behaviors. When we see dog training shows on TV, the trainer is often training the behavior of the people at home 90% of the time. Not the dog itself. The dog itself is often the easier part - except for some animals that have gone through the trauma of some sort.
Kobe is a survivor and a fighter. In these ten years, he had IVDD when he was two - a condition that affected his spine and he lost the use of his rear legs for more than 6 months. Expensive surgery on his back followed by extensive physiotherapy clinically and at home led him to recover most of his walking capabilities. He also had two episodes of skin cancer since then that went to surgery and a consistently delicate bowel that requires a special diet and care.
Small dogs often live longer lives, so we are hoping he would be with us for several more years. In these years with us, he has managed to program us, train us and customize us to his needs. Along with his disabilities, he has still managed to learn to communicate his needs to us in several distinct ways and it shows an enormous amount of adaptability and guile for what we call an animal with only five senses.
He has made our lives better in a variety of ways - get some of us out of the house to walk him twice a day, rain or shine, snow or windchill. Nothing has stopped us.
We often believe that he has written to us a dog manifesto with what he deserves - like food, walks, pee breaks, and access to fresh clean water - sleeps on the window seat basking in the sun to cuddles with each of the family members and nights in our bed. He has even turned around my in-laws who live with us with his charm.
So, thank you, Kobe. We love you for who you are and what you have done to us. You are indeed family. And as worthwhile (or worthless) as any one of us.
