I was writing on my computer when Elsa shoved her head into my leg. It’s a common thing for her to do when she thinks that I’ve been on my laptop for too long. I reached down and ran my hand along her back. It’s a bumpy road now with all of the growths that have popped up all over her. Petting her often causes me to pause and ponder. Elsa is now 14 years and 3 months of age. Not only is she very senior but she is a senior doing great. To be honest we were thrilled when she reached her 13th birthday, and never thought that we’d celebrate her 14th. We have and she is proving to be pretty spectacular.
Elsa’s hearing is very bad; she has a slight tilt left from Vestibular, she has neurological issues from her spinal stroke, she has laryngeal paralysis, high blood pressure and a tendancy for uti’s due to incorrect anatomy. With all of that, she amazes me daily.
What I’d like to talk about is all the physcial stuff that she requires now and the fact that it’s not always easy. You see I am only 5’ 1”, Elsa is a big girl at over 50lbs and 26” at the shoulders. So when she suffered a spinal stroke over 5 years ago now; lifting her around was tough. I clearly remember carrying Tilley (my blue Standard Poodle, gone now over 13 years) up and down the stairs for years when she was hit with Vestibular disease. She was smaller than Elsa and I was 16 years younger. That makes a big difference.
I am now 63 years old and I want to stay as strong as I can so that I can lift. I want to be able to lift my dogs when they need me to. When Elsa was most recently stricken with Vestibular disease, like Tilley, I worried. I worried about hauling her up and down the stairs. It was not easy, her size was the most difficult thing. She only weighs a bit more than Tilley did but she is much taller.
It only took a few times up and down the stairs to figure out that I needed to do something different. Picking her up like I typical do was not going to work going down the stairs. I couldn’t see well enough to get down safely; and going slow for safety meant it took longer to get her down. So I opted for a full body harness to support her and simply through her over my shoulder. This freed up my right hand to hold the railing and down we’d go. This harness turned out to be the answer I needed and it is something I recommend.
I lift weights, I have been lifting weights since I was about 16 years of age. There were years when I wasn’t so much into lifting but as I age I am a dedicated lifter. I talk about lifting alot and try to spread the word about how important it is to maintain muscle mass as you age. If I didn’t lift like I do; there is no way that I could do the things that I do now. I also eat a lot of protein which is something that I am pretty obsessed about.
Protein consumption is very important for our dogs muscle maintenance and our muscle maintenance. Making sure that we eat enough protein while lifting is essential to grow and maintain muscle. Muscle protects joints, tendons and ligaments. If you don’t have enough muscle you risk injury by leaving your joints, tendons and ligaments to fend on their own. The same is true for our dogs.
So as Elsa and I age together; she needs more and I work hard to make sure that I can offer her what she needs. I truly cannot imagine trying to help her around if I didn’t workout like I do. Lifting and fueling for muscle growth and retention is a passion of mine both in humans and dogs. The older I get the more I realize how seriously important lifting is; especially if you want to be able to…
LIFT HEAVY SHIT
I do not want to be a feable woman who has to say “I can’t.” I am a very “can do” type of person, even though there are times when I do say “I shouldn’t.” You have to be smart, but, you also should be strong enough to do the things that you want to do. The only thing stopping you might just be muscle.