TIME PASSES

Cooper is still around. He has three legs instead of four and his appetite isn't too hot, but he tries.
I try, too.
One day I know what I should do. I should have them do chemo. I cannot, obviously, until he has quit vomiting and having diarrhea and is eating a bit better. But we are working on all that. He is eating very little right now. Yesterday he ate some actual dog food-- kibble. Today he ate less kibble but wanted green beans which I have never known him to like. Chicken and Turkey make him sick.
He watches me.
I watch him.
We went out back tonight and watched it snow.
I thought, this is probably his last winter. His favorite season. Silly dog.

My heart is torn apart. Some days, most days, I am just fine. Other times, like tonight, I can barely stand it. Every one of these dogs will someday break my heart. Maybe not quite like this, but it will happen.
Why do I have these dogs? I know what will happen. The day I bring them home, all ears and feet, the end begins. We all know this. We do it over and over again. We don't think in those terms. Not until the dog is older and in trouble physically. And then we think: why did I do this...again?

Because we love them. And they love us. Because they make us laugh even when we know we will cry later.
Cooper stands alone among the pygmy Bassets, but the Bassets have made his life infinitely more interesting. Cooper has less of a sense of humor than do the Bassets, but that is just his nature.

Cooper has contributed his knowledge and protection to any number of Bassets. He insists they behave--- except Zelda, his adopted daughter I swear. Maybe all dogs end up in the same place: maybe Cooper will be reunited with Zelda. I don't know. My belief systems are very thin.

Conley.......keep me going.