To be clear, my dog’s still alive. But he’s 15 years old, has been more than double the weight of an average Chihuahua his whole life and is experiencing waning bladder control. So it’s fair to say he’s past the curve. My family talks about the impending loss openly now. He doesn’t even know we’re talking — he’s been deaf for years now — while my mother solicits us for opinions on what kind of tree to plant over his grave. The tricky part about childhood pets getting old is that it coincides with us leaving for college. You have to deal with their aging in piecemeal, checking in and saying goodbye every couple of months. Here are the five things we do to work around not being there during their golden years.
1. Just give it the food
Well-balanced diets are for puppies who don’t know any better. Older dogs have been around the block. They know what a hamburger from McDonald’s tastes like and have licked enough human plates clean to know that dog food is for fools. If he’s made it this far in life, reward him or her with processed meats.
2. Double check that he’s breathing while he sleeps
The life of an older dog can be broken down into two parts: waking up in the morning and moving to different locations in the house to sleep. All this sleeping can look suspicious. It’s always fair game to hover over your dog, muttering “not on my watch” as you stare at it intently for a minute to be absolutely positive that he is in fact breathing. You’re only going to be in town for a few days, so if you have to take it a step further and interrupt the nap by poking it so you can see it move a little bit, do it.
3. Make him or her feel special in front of the other pets
Being the favorite’s always the best. Let your pup go out with a bang in front of the other pets. Call its name first when it’s dinnertime, give it extra belly rubs, knit him or her a sweater out of organic fibers you’ve grown and harvested with your own bare hands, and do all the other things he loves. The other pets will have their day.
4. Decide whether or not you’d go home
Being away at school means that if something happens, you’d have to weigh the options of getting on a bus to go home or letting your parents deal with whatever needs to be done with the family dog. Deciding whether you’d actually want to be there when the decision gets made is one of the harder part of realizing your dog’s gotten older, and you might change your mind when something finally does happen.
5. Communicate telepathically before you leave
Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn’t, but every time I leave for college I lock eyes with my dog and make a “no one’s allowed to die before Thanksgiving/Winter Break/Spring Break” deal with him. Do this with your pet to ensure everyone’s on the same page until you can make it home for summer.
Dogs probably don’t know they’re getting older or understand the concept of time in general, but you and your sad human emotions do. I’m not going to get mushy and say I have the greatest dog who ever lived, but he’s pretty chill. Go enjoy the time you have with your dog, or if you can’t, write it a letter to him or her and enclose a poem about your friendship and make your mother read it aloud when it arrives. They’ll know.