Three Things I Learned From My Dog About Getting Older

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“The little things are infinitely the most important.” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

When I was a brand new mom almost nine years ago, my 12 year old golden retriever, Biscuit, was my constant companion. He was such a comforting presence, especially with his ability to track where everyone was.

Lesson One

But one of the things that irritated me, especially in the early-on sleep deprived days, was when we all walked together. Biscuit had to go back and forth and back and forth over an area to pick a place to poop.

So it surprises me when I walk with Cooper who is now almost a one-year-old dog and he just poops. We’ll be walking along and then BAM, he stops and does his business.

My conclusion is that one privilege that comes with age is willingness to be choosy.

Lesson Two

It was the same with lying down. Biscuit would get a dog blanket and move it around with his front paws.  Then circling and circling, he’d settle in and lay down.

Cooper, on the other hand, just collapses anywhere.

This leads me to the conclusion that another sign of aging is the increase of the number of things we have to do before sleep. And again as we rise.

Lesson Three

On the morning of the day that he died, Biscuit walked up the stairs to the second floor. It was something he didn’t do as often after arthritis had set in. Then he lay down on the threshold to Miss O’s room as I was getting her out of the crib and ready for the day. Miss O was about 18 months old.

Biscuit lay with his head on his paws and watched every move we made. It was like he was touching each moment with intention.

Then we went for a walk. He collapsed going up the hill. Five hours later, after we discovered he had tumors bleeding in his stomach, I had to say “goodbye” to my beloved dog. Something I think he knew all along.

Which leads me to the third lesson I learned from my beautiful dog. If we’re lucky, we gain the ability to appreciate how all the little things in life add up to one good life.

45 thoughts on “Three Things I Learned From My Dog About Getting Older”

  1. Oh Wynne, you captured such beauty in such a short and insightful post. What a gift Biscuit was and I agree that our pets teach us so much about life itself. I bet Cooper will be a bit fussier in a few years. Enjoy his non-chalant years!

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  2. My family didn’t learn many little things from our dog, Precious, but did learn two big things: how to be endlessly loving and the importance of protecting us. She was a peach.

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  3. I like Dr. Stein’s lessons from his dog. I’m pretty sure you experience love and protection from your young dog that just grows and grows, as I’m sure you experienced in spades with your former wonderful dog. ❤️😊

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  5. Oh, Wynne. I love reading about Biscuit and this, “It was like he was touching each moment with intention” describing how he watched you and Miss O, surely knowing he needed to remember for all time. Such gifts our animals are. xo! 💕

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  6. There’s so much we learn from our beloved pets. You describe Biscuits final moments so well. So poignant and heart breaking, yet full of lessons. I’ve learned so much from all the dogs I’ve mothered and now continue to learn as a grandma to two.
    And yes they all did the back and forth thing and the going in circles thing.

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  9. Animals are so unencumbered by real human life aren’t they. Living in the moment, anxious for a few simple rewards and life is good- even great. Humans need that lesson imprinted into our DNA 🙂

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  10. The way you described this painted a vivid image in my mind and now I want to cry 😢. Animals truly are angels on earth. They teach us so much about unconditional love. My heart breaks for you. To lose an animal and companion is like losing a part of your heart. I am so sorry for your loss 🥺🙏🙏🙏

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  13. What’s beautiful tribute to your companion. We’ve got a fourteen year old dog who’s going through some very similar things… you made me get all weepie. Thank you for this…

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    1. Oh, Clay. On the one hand, 14 years is great. On the other hand, that’s a lot of love you have invested in each other. Makes those tears come easy! Sending you all and your beautiful pup a lot of love!

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  14. These are great lessons, Wynne. I had to stop and think whether Laverne and Shirley have taught me anything similar.

    Maybe with age you sleep closer to 22 hours a day than 21?

    I got nothin’…

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    1. Thank you, Jan! You are so right – our pets teach us so much!

      I’m sorry this has taken me so long to reply to. Oddly, it got stuck in Spam. The mysterious ways of WordPress… 🙂

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  16. As two of our dogs reached their final days (not together, years apart), each of them used extra effort to do something ‘one last time.’ Something they had not been able to do very well for a while. It really amazed me & comforted me that both of them wanted to make the most of that one last experience with the family.

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  19. This is a beautiful post, Wynne. Your third point though, about Biscuit being present in the moment, really hit me. Sometimes we get so caught up in the day to day that we forget to cherish the little things.

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  22. absolutely beautiful! I would be thrilled if you’d write a guest blog post about your writing for my site! If you think it might be fun or helpful to have my followers meet you, here’s the link for general guidelines: https://wp.me/p6OZAy-1SOc – da-AL

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