Miracle on the Street

While Julie and I were in Switzerland, our good friends, Steve and Jill Clark, house sat and took care of our dogs and fish. They have effected what I can only describe as a miracle which even Archbishop Rowan (Atkinson?) would count beatific.

Katie, our Corgi dog, doesn't bark at passing cars on her walks anymore. Apparently Steve effectuated the transformation by taking her on two walks each day -- one in the morning and another at the end of the day. He told me that when a car approached on a walk he would hold Katie and talk in a comforting voice. Well, I did that before I left, but Katie would still snarl and spin when a vehicle got close. But I only walked her once a day, and honestly, sometimes not that frequently. But with two walks, she looks away when the cars come and sometimes she just lies down and waits for the car to pass before resuming her little short-legged gait.

Ollie seems to be slowing down a bit. I take her on one walk in the morning. She can barely struggle along sometimes. Her legs are becoming weaker and she seems startled while walking and nearly falls over. She still eats well and seems to enjoy life at the ripe ol' age of 16.