So…as seems to be the thing lately, I’m late with marking some important Trixie dates. A week ago Wednesday, she turned 9, and this Tuesday that just passed was the day she came home with me…while I wore that big ol’ knee brace. That was 7 years ago. Woe. So, I’m going to do my best to keep this post pretty trix-centric.
At least this year I could send her some birthday presents. They got there a day late, but oh well. It’s not like she has any shortage of things to do and play with and chew on.
But I’m finding as she ages that I’m less likely to be able to buy her a toy she would like. It’s a far safer bet to buy her something she can eat and destroy. I learned this when I bought her a squeaky duck. I bought her said duck because I know how much she enjoyed ripping squeakers out of things when I had her. And once, the shoe thief bought her a squeaky duck which we called Honkie the Christmas goose. Poor Honkie was not meant to endure the jaws of Trix…but boy did she enjoy herself. So I thought she’d be down with a new duck. No…she doesn’t care for it at all. Damn, Trix, I don’t even know what your favourite thing is anymore.
I’ve said that Trix has found her voice since retirement. She has used it to tell Brad people are at the door…and she has used it to tell Tans she’s had enough of her crazy young dog antics. They’ll play for a while, but when Trix has had enough, she makes it clear. If she could talk, she would say “Get the hell off my lawn, ya young punk!” Tans seems to speak her language, because the play will stop, or dramatically slow down.
I have to laugh about something I have been meaning to write down for nearly 9 months. I do believe that Trix taught Tans to be a sloppy drinker. Before Trixie and Tansy spent some quality time together, Tansy was a dainty drinker. She would drink what she needed and walk away. I don’t know if I ever wrote down that Trix was a sloppy drinker, but she was. She was so sloppy that her raisers sent me home with a bowl stand and mat in the attempt to catch her slobbery drinking aftermath. She would always save it up and drop it elsewhere, but it was a good thought.
After Tans saw Trix drop a few loads of drink slobber, she became a big slopper too. I always thought the old dog was supposed to teach the new one *good* habbits!
She also taught Tans to try a little harder to go in the kitchen. Before Trix came to visit, Tansy just knew it as the place she wasn’t allowed to go. When we had Trix, our kitchen was kind of another way to get into the hallway, so it was hard to teach Trix the place was forbidden. So she just decided this kitchen was good too…plus all the food’s in there, and Trix would not be kept from food, and now that she’s a retired beast, she doesn’t have so many rules.
After Tansy saw Trix going in the kitchen, she became much more interested in it and would try harder. She knew the rules, but she still thought she could bend them.
I haven’t seen Trix since Christmas, but she’s seen our apartment. She came here with Brad while I was at work, and Steve and Brad went out to do some stuff, leaving Trix to camp out in our place. She thought Tans’s poofy bed was just perfect, and we think she had a pretty good sleep there.
Then Tansy and I came home from work. By this time, Trix and Brad were long gone, but my good god, she was going to find Trix if she had to ransack the place to do it! She said hi to Steve, then froze, and started sniffing everywhere. She searched, and searched, and searched…finally up-ending her bed, nearly folding it, and sleeping under it. Yes, *under* her great big poofy bed. Well…you did find her scent, too bad she’s already gone.
I did something I’d been meaning to do since we moved. I kept all of Trix’s city tags for each year as a little momento of that year. I thought, when she retired, I could put them together and they’d all be in one place. Then we moved, and everything was chaotic, and I think at the time, I wasn’t ready to do it. Hell, when she got her last bath at the bathing place, I had to ask the groomers to take off her city tag and working tag and give them to me because I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
A few weeks ago, I finally rounded up all the tags and put them in an envelope, sealed it and labeled it. It felt good to think about it, but kind of weird. It truly felt like that act spelled the end of an era. She had been gone, and she was definitely Brad’s dog, but putting all her tags together, each for a year with me and putting her work tag in there, was that extra bit more final. It really felt like the chapter of my life where Trix was mine was being closed.
Another scary thing to see is lots of dogs that are Trix’s age are retiring now. sure, she was a bit early, but now tons of them are saying they’re done. I have seen several dogs’ whole careers go by. That’s just mind-blowing for me. But Trix is enjoying life, and hopefully she has lots of years in her. She’s certainly showing no sign of stopping, and is one happy poocho. That makes me a happy human!