I’ve read that one great way to deal with the loneliness some people feel as an empty nester is to adopt a pet. My husband John and I already have that covered – we’ve had all kinds of pets ever since we first got together over 25 years ago.
My past columns have described these critters, who have ranged from cats and dogs to a fish, lizard, rat, and guinea pig. We’re now down to “just” three dogs and one cat.
Believe me, I didn’t originally want that many animals in our house. We inherited my mom’s dog, a Cairn Terrier named Rex, five years ago when he got kicked out of her facility. With my sons in college now, all four animals have truly become my babies.
Two of the dogs, Rex and our Cockapoo Terrier Loki, fall into the elderly (or, as I teasingly call them, geriatric) category. Rex has a heart issue and battles arthritis in his back legs.
Loki has suffered from what I call “doggy dementia” over the past year. She’s 15 ½, while Rex is supposedly 12, but we’re not 100 percent certain about that. Our cat is the young one at age 8.
Loki now exhibits some odd behavior, such as pacing, crying and whining excessively at mealtime, and sitting in her dog bed staring at the wall. In fact, we call the last action “Loki time out” because it looks like we sent her there as some sort of punishment.
Loki in her “time out” spot. (Photo provided by Amy Shankland)
I used to be able to walk all three dogs together but started to notice that our still-lively dog, Elli (who really IS 12) was kind of dragging the others along. Now I have to walk Elli separately from Rex and Loki. So, I go from speed walking her solo to practically crawling around the block with the other two.
Last week I left Elli in the backyard and asked my son Jacob to let her back in once I had walked out the front door with Rex and Loki. I didn’t want Elli to see me walking the others, because she gets upset and wonders why she’s left out. Jacob, who was home from Ball State on spring break, thought it was cute that I was protecting Elli’s feelings.
These are the crazy things you have to do with geriatric dogs in the house … or the things I feel like I have to do. What can I say, all our animals make John and me happy and we love them to pieces.
I think they’ve helped keep us occupied since they boys went off to college, especially in the evenings when things quiet down and we’re done working. If you’re battling loneliness as an empty nester, I highly recommend a pet … or two … or four if you’re crazy like us.