By AMY SHANKLAND
Sandwiched
I heard it yet again Wednesday evening as I was walking my dogs.
“You sure have your hands full!”
I often hear this phrase as well as:
“Are you a dog walker?”
“Wow, that’s a lot of dogs!”
We didn’t plan on having three dogs, although my family loves animals. Just a few years ago we had two dogs and two cats. However, we “inherited” another dog in the spring of 2018 – my mom’s black Cairn Terrier, Rex.
As you all know, Mom is still hanging in there at age 89. My brother and I got Rex for her as a Christmas present in 2017 a couple of months after her beloved dog Reggie had to be put to sleep.
When I picked out Rex from the Humane Society of Johnson County (it’s tough to find a middle-aged, small dog in shelters) he seemed incredibly sweet. When he cuddled up on my lap later on that day, I was thrilled. I gave him to Mom after Thanksgiving and she instantly loved him.
Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that Rex has some quirks. Unless he knows someone well, no one can bend down to pet him, as he’ll snap or bite. Soon, this didn’t work out at Mom’s facility – and I can’t blame them – and the director essentially told me he had to go. This broke Mom’s heart as well as mine.
That’s how Rex came to live with us. I brought him over to visit Mom of course, which was still allowed. But those 45 minutes or so weren’t long enough, so I began to take him over to stay with Mom on Sunday afternoons. At the time, no one came into her room on Sundays, and I figured the saying “ask for forgiveness not permission” applied. It backfired.
While recovering from a back spasm in January of 2020, I got the call that Rex had bit someone when he was staying with Mom one Sunday and he was banned from the facility, even if I were to stay for a supervised visit. I cried, then called Mom with the news and we both cried.
Fast forward to the spring of 2021 and with it Mom’s cancer diagnosis and a new facility director. I decided that the ban no longer applied. Mom needed some joy in her life, and even if it was only an hour a week, I was bringing Rex back for visits – supervised this time, of course. No one has said a word to me, thankfully, and these visits truly light up her week.
Pets can make a world of difference for the elderly. From lowering blood pressure, reducing stress, and just helping with loneliness, our furry friends can make an older person’s day. That’s why so many facilities have therapy dogs that come in to visit.
We’ll keep up these visits and continue to love on Rex. By doing so, we’re expressing our own love to my Mom, and it means so much to her.