A good day

Zed is a very sick dog.  He has renal failure.   The future is day by day. At this stage there are some things we can do to make him more comfortable, to extend the number of days that he is here with us.   Today was a good day.  Zed popped up by himself at 8 and wanted to go out.  He is still drinking lots of water and ate some each time we made him a small meal.  He came down to meet us when we came in and actually perked up and barked at a noise in the backyard.  

But I am counting our time together with good and bad days.  Bad days I have to wake him up at 9 and carry him down for the morning walk.  He usually has a drink of water and a sniff of breakfast before going over to the family room sofa, moving next to the den and finally retreating to our room.  We have "his" blankets everywhere but his favorite is an old baby blanket that I keep on my bed.  On a good day he is gently tucked sleeping, on bad days he is curled like a little bug.  

The challenge with proud little dogs is they don't show pain, and they can't tell you how they feel.  I know the end is near, but on good days I see every sign as hopeful.  Nothing will change or reverse the disease.  The treatments are bandaids that temporarily lessen the symptoms and make him more comfortable but they don't reverse the inevitable, they just delay the end.  

He was always the last best dog for us.  Zed. He exceeded all of our expectations and rewarded us daily with his love.  My prayer is that I will have the courage to do what is best for him when the time comes and not what is best for me.