I’ve written many times about my dog, Thor, who was hit by a car many months ago now. Thor has made an excellent recovery. Today, I wanted to write about Freya, my Lab/Akita mix.
Freya was born in the Spring of 1996. She lived with friend, Jeff, until time to deliver her first and only litter of puppies. She gave birth to seven puppies in the middle of the night in my bathroom. I was there with her through it all. The smallest puppy would fit in the average adult’s hand with room to spare. He was black and did not live long. The other six puppies were born big enough to take up most of a shoe box! They were huge! It amazed me that she had that many that size in her, especially since she is a true runt. That is to say that she is closer to the size of a smallish German Shepherd than to either Lab or Akita.
The funny thing about the six surviving puppies is that there were two each of brown, blond, and black & white. In each pair, one was a female. In each pair, one was long haired and one short. Not all females had long hair. We found good home for the puppies once they were of age. I even saw one about two years later playing in the park near Radford University. The owner recognized me, and she brought the puppy-now-dog over to say hello.
Shortly after finding homes for the puppies, Freya had surgery to see to it that no more puppies made an appearance. I was very concerned that she might have scar tissue because of the size of the puppies and the difficulty of the delivery.
Now, Freya is fifteen years old. She has cataracts in both eyes. She still loves to play in the snow. She goes out to greet visitors, and still gets in the way of cars coming up the driveway. She has a girlish figure with a very nicely defined waist. Oh, she carries a couple extra pounds, but hey, who doesn’t?
This morning, I went to the door to let critters out/in whichever was wanted. Freya was lying in front of the door. When she stood up, her back right leg would not straighten all the way. She lifted it and shook it several times before walking on it. It finally did straighten, and she walked without difficulty. The thing is, this is the first time she has ever had a problem like that one.
I knew old age would catch up to her one day. I mean, she already does the old lady shake that involves only the shoulders and head rather than whole body. Still, I was, well, surprised and a bit hurt. She’s been a part of the family for all but about a year of her life. I know that soon enough she will exit this life, but I’m hoping she’ll be around for many more years yet. BUT, only if those years are good ones!
Leave a Reply