On getting old by Auntie Penny

Hello!
Today is my birthday! I am 14 years old today. I am told that is a lot of years for one little spaniel type girl and so Ludo was forced by Mum 2 to let me talk about being old.

I got a  cake and a cookie. I am really too old for toys now and only sometimes will I pick one up now and Ludo usually pinches it from me, so cakes and treats were just fine for me. Of course I had to share my special dog bakery cookie with Ludo and my cake, but I still have cake left for the next few days!!

Really, being old is not so bad! Sure, I do have to go to the vets more, and I don't get to run around off lead any more but I can get away with so many things that would have gotten me told off in my younger days. Like begging for food, or getting on the sofa when I'm all wet or picking up dead seagulls. Now if I ask for pudding after my dinner people say 'oh, let her have it.' I get to sleep for as long as I want and I have lots of comfy cozy beds and when I decide it's bedtime I get the bedroom door opened for me. Ludo is not even allowed in my bedroom. Ludo gets told 'be nice to Penny.' all the time!

Although lots of things have gotten a lot less noisy (sometimes peoples mouths move but the sound doesn't come out any more, it is very strange!) I can still hear when people come to visit ME at the door and I can still jump up and down up and down until they stroke me and then roll over for them to stroke my tummy. I even learnt a new trick this year. I learnt to woowoo for treats. Now I can do about 6 tricks! I am not sure if  I have really gotten wiser, but I sure have learnt how to use my big brown eyes and soft velvety ears to good effect.

I may be getting lumps and bumps and grey hairs but I am still beautiful. Everybody tells me I am and calls me Pretty Penny.

I still have a bounce in my body and a spring in my step and I love everybody and everybody loves me. They even love me when I bark when they are not there, or sometimes when I think they are not there but it turns out they were just sitting behind me and I forgot to turn around. I still love to go on my walks and I get just as excited to go as Ludo, only mine are shorter now. I still greet Mum 2 just like I haven't seen her in years and she is my most favourite person in the world even though I see her everyday when she comes to get Ludo. She says it doesn't matter that I greet everyone that way, even if I have just seen them.

My heart is so big and full of love for everyone and everything that the vet people say it is getting very tired. I have been taking tablets for about a year now and I am usually very good about eating them. Sometimes I find it hard to breath and then I go back to the vets and get more tablets and it gets better for a while. They say I should take it easy but you can't take the springer out of the spaniel!

The vets say it may be time for me to go soon. I think that is silly. Where else would I want to go? I have always just been HERE.

Yours, forever,
Not-Auntie Penny,
oops, I mean Auntie Penny. Us old ladies are always gracious.