Tater Dog :)

Oh how thrilled I am to still have this boy around!  He will be 12 years old on April the 11th!  I have noticed things that sadden me in the last few months though.   His hearing is really going fast! Tonight he was in the livingroom & I was in the kitchen, I called him....now any dog that hears properly would have looked immediately to their left where I was standing, but he perked up, stared forward and went straight, didn't even glance to the left :( 
He sleeps sooo soundly due to the deafness.  I am very careful to try and alert him that I am there as to not frighten him into jumping up suddenly.  His back left leg is getting quite weak, I can hear the difference as he going down a set of stairs.  I can hear the uneven stepping/slipping.  He needs to come up the stairs in one continual movement or he gets stuck & stops, if he is too close to the stairs he has to do 3 or 4 spins before he can figure out how to move his legs to come up. 
He has arthritis in his left elbow, I can feel the swelling. 
He still loves to eat which I find comforting. 
He is ok with Lync being here, actually tried once to play with him, but only once.  Tate has always been an old soul, never really into puppy games .
He still enjoys going for short walks and he still sniffs and sniffs and sniffs every corner!! I let him too! Tate can do what ever he wants :)

I really hope he feels up to competing at our Collie Club of Canada National which is in 3 weeks!!! I have him entered in both the Sweeps and the National.  The Sweeps I will do for sure, it's an unofficial class so no pressure, and I can just walk him if needed.  The National I will have to wait and see, he would have to actually gait around the ring with all the young dogs and he just can't, of course he would need to win his age class first!!
I will have no trouble pulling him and just watching the show.  I am thrilled to be going! I am meeting up with Dianne, who owns Kort's litter brother, we both need a vacation & we are going to have so much fun !!!!!  Kort & Lync will be coming along, Kort will just hang out & Lync is entered in the all breed, his first official show!!! I won't be able to show him however, he is still too strong for me and getting up and down to show a sporting breed is too much right now. 

My sister Debra lives in Sherwood Park so she is going to drive down on the Saturday to hang out and visit, did I say how excited I am about going!!!!

I hope the weather warms up soon, Tate finds it very hard on his old bones, I find it hard on my old bones too !!!

So there is my little Tater updater, lol! 

Love him sooooo much !! ♥