Bob Cramer's Blog

Our family’s precious and beautiful dog, Lucky, will celebrate her 14^th birthday this summer, and as dog lovers everywhere know, that is within drooling distance of becoming a centenarian.  Besides some muscle atrophy in her hind legs, she is quite with it, giving squirrels a run, barking at strangers outside and starring inquisitively at just about everything around her.  Yes, she has gotten a bit stubborn, as she will only go on leash-walks with the two family members in tow, only traveling on certain streets of her choosing, but that is natural for an old and distinguished lady who has given so much love and tenderness to the family that adopted her when she was nine weeks old.

Over the past two weeks, though, we have had a bit of a crisis.  Lucky’s legs, her back left paw specifically, have weakened to a point where she has trouble getting to her feet.  If she can’t get up under her own power, lots of bad things start happening.  She struggles to get her footing, especially on the house’s slick hardwoods, and we have perfected the bear-hug assist that manually propels her to all fours.

We know that this is only a temporary, stopgap measure, and with hope that something else could be done, a miracle really, we journeyed to see our trust veterinarian.

We found it.

Steroids.

I now understand why baseball and football players gobbled and begged for them, risking suspensions, perjury, public humiliation and serious long-term medical consequences.  After the first day, Lucky was back up on her feet. Day two, she took on the steps.  Day three, she walked the neighborhood.  Day four, she caught the squirrel.

Her transformation, so dramatic and so fast, has us conjuring up Lucky lifting weights at Lifetime Fitness, becoming a “cougar” in her own right, and starring in TV commercials alongside the AFLAC duck.  Perhaps with time and an increased dosage, she could try out for the Iditarod.  The possibilities are endless.

But really, we are just so thankful to have our Lucky back, lying around the house, getting up to do her business, begging for food and positioning her big, white, furry self in the middle of all the action.   Whatever the future holds, we celebrate our second chance with our beloved senior citizen super doggie hoping to enjoy and treasure all we have had and all that is still to come.