In the last year of Shadows life she had finally started to accept Kathryn’s attentions. Maybe it was because Kathryn always insisted on filling her food dish and giving her treats. Or, it could be that Kathryn was getting bigger and more like a little person than an unpredictable toddler. I hoped Shadow would live long enough to fill the role of Kathryn’s dog.

By mid 2009 Shadow was very inactive other than search the yard for a place to do her business or following us around the house when there was something to eat. Early in the New Year she would occasionally sprint across the yard barking at anyone who passed by our house. We still took her to the park. She didn’t do the walk but there was a new playground Kathryn enjoyed and Shadow seemed to like the change of scenery. By the end of summer she had stopped following us upstairs for popcorn. She took no notice of frogs crossing her path outside. We assumed it was the arthritis that had gotten the better of her.

              About a week into 2010, I took Shadow out for her afternoon relief. She sniffed a lot of lawn as if looking for just the right spot. She walked off our property from the left side of the lawn separated by the drive. She didn’t stop there. She started toward our neighbor’s house and the street corner. Heather and Kathryn were out with us. Heather shouted, “Shadow stop! Jerry she’s headed for the street.” “No” I thought out loud, “She’s staying on the side walk. Let’s she what she wants to do.” We followed her to the street corner then up the hill past four homes and to the top of the association where a stand of manila palms form a small park. This was once a frequent rest stop when she did the neighborhood walk. She didn’t do her business there but on the way. We had to pick it up later, being unprepared.  The thing was, that she did it at all. Heather and I talked about stepping up her arthritis medicine as we walked. We had stopped giving it because it seemed to bother her stomach. Kathryn picked plumeria flowers and Shadow plodded along back to the house stopping along the way to check some interesting p-mail. Shadow begged food vigorously that night and the next day Heather brought a fresh Rimadyl prescription. We felt optimistic that the ole girl could come around.

This was the last photo I could find with Shadow in it. She needed a comb and got one soon after but no photo follow-up.

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