Bill says that Kiwi is currently enjoying assisted living.
He made that statement yesterday after I announced that I would be giving our old gal a bath once it warmed up.
We chuckled about how that assertion truly seems to be the case with our beloved first-ever Border Collie.
She's frail. She would prefer to sleep a lot on her beds in the garage. Sadly, at times, she deals with incontinence.
She also can't hear sounds more than two or three feet away.
Because of all the above, she does receive extra care.
But, by golly, all this said, I'm pleased to say that Kiwi is making the most of old age.
She'll turn 16 in June, and, in spite of her need to have help getting up occasionally and the fact that her get-along has a hitch or two, Kiwi still goes to work every day with Bill.
Her job involves accompanying him to the wood pile. Even though we haven't needed to use too much wood in the stove this week, Bill still collects wood so Kiwi can enjoy her purpose as a senior dog.
She also always knows when it's "biscuit time," which reminds this old mind that she exhibits yet another symptom of old age: short-term memory loss.
Short-term memory loss for people means that they get to tell the same story as often as they wish.
Never mind the fact that the ideal audience for their repetitive story telling would be listeners with a severe hearing loss or, better yet, their own case of short-term memory loss.
For dogs, this old-age mental problem really isn't much of a problem when there's a good supply of biscuits.
After all, she figures "If I eat my biscuit fast enough while Mom is still in the garage tending to another project, when she turns around, I can beg for another biscuit."
Sometimes, between Bill and my trips through the garage, Kiwi munches on biscuits at least a couple of dozen times a day.
Don't tell Kiwi, but we have caught on cuz we're not THAT old yet ourselves.
So we purposely often take other routes into the house, which allow us to avoid the biscuit supply on top of the garage freezer.
You see Kiwi loves her treats enough that on sight of a human passing the biscuit jar she can leap out of the same bed during the day where in the morning, Mom and Dad had to help her get up.
Old dogs do learn new tricks when there's food involved.
Kiwi did earn a biscuit yesterday afternoon following her bath. Taking great care to make her experience as comfortable as possible, I carried several buckets of warm water to a grassy area near the barn.
Shampoo with conditioner, a brush, some scissors for thinning out the long hair in her behind, and the doggie dryer also went to the bathing site.
I waited until after high noon and the warmth of the March sun and then led Kiwi to the spot. Our old gal loves her baths, even if she's a bit wobbly.
After snipping hair tags and thick hair from around her derriere, I soaked her with warm water and shampoo and gently massaged her body.
Kiwi loved every minute of this attention, as did the three horses who stood on the opposite side of the fence, intently watching the whole bathing process.
Too bad I didn't get a picture, cuz it was quite a lovely scene.
The only difficult part of this bathing process is seeing just how much of a difference those beautiful coats make in the appearance of these dogs cuz when they're wet, they're pretty skinny underneath, especially the older pups.
After some careful rinsing with more warm water, Kiwi and I walked around a bit in the sun. Then, came the towels and finally the dryer.
This old human body sat on our mounting block, directing the hose while Kiwi stood perfectly still, obviously loving the warm air blowing her coat dry.
Later, I did some additional snipping to give Kiwi more of a groomed look. Once again, she stood quietly and seemed to enjoy this stage.
And, yes, she may have gotten a few extra biscuits yesterday, but her wonderful behavior earns the extra treats.
We truly are running an assisted care program for Kiwi, but we also believe she deserves every bit of extra attention because of the joy and awe she has given us over the years.
I feel better about Kiwi this morning because I know she feels better about herself, being all clean and pretty and maybe even feeling a bit like a new woman.
There's only one animal on our Lovestead older than Kiwi, and that's Festus. He is or will be 18 this year, and for some reason cats are different from dogs.
As long as he gets his Purina Beyond twice daily and all the water he needs, Festus seems perfectly happy. Of course, he's made it through diabetes, so he has reason to be quite pleased with his life.
This beautiful beginning of March has been like a gift, especially where Kiwi is concerned because otherwise, it would have been nearly impossible to give her a proper bath until later in the spring.
So, we are thankful.
In other news today, another of Bill's perennial observations about "there's always a Sandpoint connection" has arisen twice this week.
First, our Cindy Wooden has already touched down in Iraq today where she is covering Pope Francis' visit to the country. It's the first Papal visit ever.
Yesterday, she posted the photo below of her personal papers, allowing her into the country.
Another wonderful experience for a Sandpoint grad and family friend who serves at Vatican bureau chief for the Catholic News Service.
Later yesterday, Bill also brought up the Sandpoint connection.
In this instance, he noted more specifically a Selle Valley connection with the U.S. Capitol insurrection after reading the following story by Zach Hagadone in this week's Sandpoint Reader.
Finally, as we move closer to St. Patrick's day, my sister-in-law Joyce sent me the link below, where I learned that the University of Montana offers Irish Studies.
The link includes video and audio, so you can hear some authentic Irish voices along with some Gaelic music.
I think I need to look into this opportunity to maybe sign up for one of the classes.
Another beautiful early spring day awaits before we return to the reality of March with rain tomorrow.
So, I'll shut up and wish you a Happy Friday.
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