Joiner's Musings

Yes, it is that time of the year. I am writing this on the last day of January. The first month of this year (2015) has been dark and dreary though I have to admit that we did get more than a couple of sunny days in this month. January is never a good month for me, never memorable either. My father, God rest his soul, always dreaded the snowy months and once said that he feared dying during the winter. Well, he never made it that far, dying in December many, many years ago. Backyard in January I have never cared much for the month of January even though it is my birth month. My Psyche is always better once January passes. I always see February as the beginning of spring even though it can be a nasty month weather-wise but the days are longer and the sun is higher in the sky, both of which are good things, in my view. Here is a shot of our backyard taken at 5:00pm on the last day of January 2015. January 2015, you won't be missed!

 First of all, if you are looking for any definitive information concerning the medical condition of your dog, this might not be the right place. I am not an expert and I am only interpreting what I have researched on the net to the condition of our family pet, Mader. Mader in January 2015 Our dog Mader has been a member of our family since 2007 having been adopted by us thorough a local rescue agency. We think that he was between one and two years old when we got him which makes him about nine years old today. Mader in 2009 Throughout his life he has been a pretty active dog and one of his endearing qualities was his ability to love and protect our family and that he did to the utmost, but we did not really trust him much around strangers, he guarded us so well. He was also a great retriever. I say "was" because he cannot retrieve any longer. Mader has what is called degenerative myleopathy which is a degenerative disease found in dogs of his breed. DM is a pr