Emma has forgotten to mention the farting! 
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Morning All
We adopted two labs about 4 years ago.
Tess, the mum, is now 13. Pretty old for a lab.
Her hips are a bit dodgy. I have to lift her into the boot when we go out., but she can get out on her own.
Due to cataracts she has virtually no vision, and two weeks ago she had to have an eye removed due to glaucoma. She now does a pretty good impression of a pirate.
Despite all that she has a great life, charges around the garden, can hear a crisp packet being opened at 100 metres, and would eat us out of house and home if we let her.
Love her to bits, except when they want breakfast at 5:45am
Andy
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We lost our big boy Dylan in March last year leaving us with our wonderful little chap Alfie who will be 12 next month.
The Guardian article is so true and now as I look at the pile of fur in his basket I too know that Alfie is getting old.
He still thinks heâs a young lad when he sets off around the garden with me but sleep quickly beckons on our return.
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My partner thought this topic was about me 
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Wonder Dog left us a year ago, at aged 16.
Singularly, the worst day of my life.
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I have always had old dogs, that is 6 to 8 year olds and all, except one who was killed on the road, have lived well into human teenage years. I love their maturity, accept their foibles and love the fact that old dogs can be taught new tricks.
The only puppy I had was a Christmas present when very young so most of the training was down to Dad, who doted on him. My Mum used to say that only twice did she see Dad show tearful emotion. The first was at the station as a young newly wed leaving for war, and the second was when he returned from the vet without âhisâ Cocker Spaniel, Copper.
That is the only downside of my habit. The final trips to the vet are far more frequent, but there is no way I canât be without a dog. 
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We have our Border collie Cross Leah and we are not sure how old she is, 13 or 14 we think.
She has problems with her left hind leg but chased a hare this morning.
She doesnât go on long walks any more, three times a day on shorter ones.
She had her head in the hedge this morning, as usual, but is now shaking it a lot. We brushed her and looked into her ears but cannot see anything ourselves. We cannot get a vet appointment until 9am tomorrow.
She was badly treated before she came to us.but has such a wonderful temperament. She is a star.
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My old girl is 13 and has lived life at 100mph ever since she was a puppyâŚinto everythingâŚdoesnât know the meaning of the word noâŚfeisty and headstrong and bossy and knows exactly what Iâm thinking before Iâve even thought it and has been my best friend through thick and thinâŚmaking me laugh through tearsâŚalways there with a gentle nudge of her nose on my thigh when I get lost in thoughtâŚ
She has no silver hairs on her muzzle giving away her age and her eyes are still bright and all knowingâŚbut I know the day is comingâŚ
She has taught my pup all her âbad habitsâ but then tells him off for itâŚ
One good thing she has taught him although she has rarely had one herself is how to have an âoff switchââŚthat after walks and play and mealtimes that itâs quite ok to sleep during the day when itâs hot and how to enjoy just pottering round the garden when walks are out of the questionâŚ
I rather think her leaving this world will be sudden but if itâs not to be then I hope through the connection we share that she is able to communicate her wishes and that I in turn am able to heed themâŚ
Dreading itâŚ
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Enjoy each day 
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Itâs a must isnât itâŚ??? 
The last months have made me question everythingâŚsometimes I go to bed and can hardly sleepâŚ
I wake up in the morning with renewed hope that this is all temporary and that the unsurpressible (I donât know why spell check isnât correcting my spelling of that 
) human consciousness will prevailâŚ
I go out with my collies and breathe the fresh air and watch the bees and the wildlife and the birds and all is perfectly balanced until I come in and grab a coffee and scan the headlinesâŚ
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Yes do that 
Ignore the headlines!
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Today she is at the vets as yesterday something appeared to get into her ears. She was shaking her head a lot, but we couldnât see what was wrong.
She is being examined under aenaesthetic and having an X ray of her back taken and her teeth cleaned at the same time.
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Jane, really hope she is OK.
Old dogs are a bit of a worry but you would not be without them for a minute, would you.
Tess carries on with her totally content life. She just crashes around a bit more.
Can be a bit of a bugger when she goes for a drink in the middle of the night and tries to rearrange the dining room furniture.
Let us know how you get on
Andy
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Me too. Good to get everything else done at the same time.
I so agree Andy.
Leah is fine. She has had two large sharp grass seeds removed from one of her ears and the x ray showed arthritis and a spur on her spine and one on her ankle. Her heart is fine and she now has a pearly white smile!
We have ear drops and a large bill.
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@Jane_Williamson Glad your dog is doing better now. I am sorry to highjack the old dog thread but life is not easier with my young dogs.
Excuse the horrible picture 
. I have now seen three different vets and seeing a specialist on Monday but does anyone have any idea what this could be? Lexiâs eye keeps swelling up (the top and the third eyelid). It had gone down a bit during the night but now after getting drops and an antihistamine is huge again. She also went into the garden, not for long but stuck her head in some bushes.
I wonder if it could be a plant. Weird it is only one eye? Has anyone had anything similar?
To top it all off, on Saturday, not to be outdone, Aston my Podenco slipped his collar outside the vet, chased after a car and was hit. Fortunately nothing broken, and at least he did not head for the express road on the other side of the vet. He is covered in cuts and grazes. Will only take him out on a harness from now on.
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Oh Marijkeh, sorry to hear about your woes.
Thoughts re Lexi - grass seeds are dire at this time of the year -anything got trapped?
Slightly strange time of year, but do you have any pine processionary caterpillar nests in the garden?
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Thank you for your reply. The vets have looked under local anesthetic but donât think it is anything trapped
I havenât seen any nests in our garden although we have two big pine trees. I have seen nests on a walk I now donât go on anymore 
.
I will try and keep her confined to our small top garden.
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It could well be a plantâŚdo you know what species of plant are in the bushesâŚ??? But yes odd that it is just the one eyeâŚ
If you were trying to âfeelâ this from the dogâs perspective itâs almost like she has a styeâŚ
(Iâve had several and itâs pretty amazing how much eyelids can swellâŚI took loads of unflattering photos once of one of my own styes plotting its course as euphrasia took the swelling back down)
If penetrative objects such as grass seeds have been ruled out then maybe homeopathic euphrasia might help�??
https://www.materiamedica.info/en/materia-medica/james-tyler-kent/euphrasia
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