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Sunday, May 2, 2021

Black Dog Sunday

Yesterday, we got word that the bulk of the work for this phase of construction was finished on our new place. There are still some things to do to totally finish it but none of them should be very noisy or disruptive. Through the process, we learned that there are some seemingly silly shortages due to the pandemic - interior doors, exterior doors, sconces, and appliances. So, those things will be dealt with by carpenters and electricians as they arrive.

In light of that news, we packed up a lot of stuff yesterday and moved to Lab Valley, hopefully for the long term (or until we need a break from the next phase of remodeling). In doing so, I found myself having huge pangs about our Black Dog. He lived and died at our old place, and that makes it harder to leave.

As I was packing, I ran across a white board that we used to keep track of his exercises in the months and years after his elbow replacement in 2016. To me, it showed the labor of love that keeping him moving was for us. We used it right up to the day that he died, and the day markers (e.g., "T" was Tuesday) just stopped.

In case you want to understand this crazy chart, one thing to know is that we named all of his exercise equipment. For example, "Penelope" was his inflatable peanut, "Wally" was his wobble board, and "Dunkin" was his inflatable very tippy donut. We did each exercise about every other day. In the months before his death, we reduced what we did each day because we could tell that exercise was getting harder.


You might enjoy watching a video of his routine. When I watched it, tears sprang to my eyes. I loved doing this stuff with him. He was so eager and happy even though some of it probably hurt his reconstructed left elbow.

I took this photo of our Black Dog on the day that I made the video of him doing his exercises. What a handsome and happy dog! We were so lucky to have him in our lives.


Happy Black Dog Sunday!

11 comments:

  1. that video is amazing, that you did it for him and that he did it for you. I can understand the feeling of leaving his memory behind, your home is so lovely and even though the othe one will be too, i know it has to be hard leaving it. R was not only beautiful but so really smart

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  2. Hari OM
    There will be things for a while which trigger... but in this respect, once fully in the Lab Valley, the pangs will hurt less, the memory smiless will increase... YAM xx

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  3. KB what a beautiful Black Dog post. You and R worked very hard and it paid off. I don't think I could do any of those and I have 2 legs neither injured and healing. Amazing what he did for LOVE of you
    I hope your move goes well. I look forward to the photos of Lab Valley
    Hugs Cecilia

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  4. You are such good and loving dog parents.

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  5. It must really be hard to leave the old place but R is in your heart always so he makes the move with you.

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  6. Sending you a virtual hug. The pain may dull over time but the sweet memories will stay forever.

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  7. What dedication you had to help R remain as comfortable as possible after his surgery. He seemed to enjoy all that work...or was it all just for the treats? ;-)

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  8. Please tell me you kept the white board with the chart intact.

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  9. I feel the same. As a military family we move a lot never staying more than 4 years in a place. I have lost dogs and then it is hard when it time to leave because of the great memories. I have the ashes of the dogs that we keep with us and I use their pics as my screen saver so I can enjoy them every day. Hugs out to you as you have a hard time.

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  10. R sure did aim to please and he loved life so much. Love that video♥ Hugs for all of you♥

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  11. I know it is sad leaving his home but his spirit will follow you into the valley.

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