Toby

My wonderful Toby has been a therapy dog all his life. He has a great gift for working with kids with disabilities.  He and I have volunteered for a wonderful group called Paws'itive Teams . The program is not just a meet and greet, 'Would you like to pet my dog?". It is a program where the dog helps the child or adult meet its therapeutic goals. Toby does this by fetching a ball, (the goal is range of motion as the child throws the ball), walking with the child, (goal is to walk when walking is difficult), balance a treat on his nose, then toss it up and catch it when the child gives the ok. (Child used fine motor to place the treat on Toby's nose, and uses speech to give him the ok)

Notice th e treat on Toby' nose.

We have had to stop volunteering while I have my cancer treatment. In the mean time, Toby, who is almost 8 years old has been having some trouble getting up off the floor when he has been sleeping for a while. We had him x-rayed. He has some narrowing between his lumbar vertebrae. I was planning to start volunteering again. Toby and I went to a tricks class. He did great until we were asked to demo a trick. He had been lying down for a while. When I asked him to get up he had to struggle. Then he limped badly for a few paces. After that he walked normally.  After giving it a lot of thought, I decided it was time for Toby to retire. It just wouldn't do for him to be limping during a therapy visit.  Im sad to see his illustrious career end.
But nothing stays the same in this life. Fortunately Toby is able to do most of the things that give him joy. We are just taking it at a slower pace,  and not asking him to do things that twist and jar his spine. We used to take the dogs to the side yard once or twice a day and throw a ball for them. But Toby is just so enthusiastic that he dashes full out down the yard, catches the ball, then screeches to a halt and runs back with it.  He has done it every day of his life.  It is repetitive motion at its worst. Now what we do is give him his precious ball and walk around the yard with him. He is very happy to trot around with his ball in his mouth.  

It's not the same as it was. But we make the best of what we have.