Spry Senior Ruby

This is Ruby. She came to live with me in New Jersey from Alabama through Crossing Paths in 2014. Ruby is now 15 or 16 years old. She will be with me 12 years in June, and that will make her 16 or 17. She got a Lyme's disease diagnosis and went through treatment over the Winter. It was cold and snowy here, and the Lyme's disease really stiffened up her joints. She spends a lot of time napping in my lap, but she still loves the feeling of grass, moss, and sand under her toes. She really comes alive when she comes into contact with the grounding energy of the Earth. She has no teeth left, and her favorite foods are sweet potatoes, bananas, eggs, and krill. She is a spry senior. She gets daily infrared heating pad treatments and spends most of her day on my lap under a blanket, with her head out while I work on the computer. Sometimes she sticks her nose into a corner outside, like behind a bush or against the porch, and just stares. I always think, "Is she losing it?" But no, she waits, and always a chipmunk, a mouse, or a cricket springs out, and she barks at it. She doesn't eat them thankfully; just likes to flush them out of their hiding places, to keep her skills sharp, I suppose. Along with walking the woodland trails by the river near our house, sleeping, eating, and pooping, flushing creatures out from under leaves, or occasionally inside the house, is one of the best parts of her day. One of the wins she feels proud about. She is very sweet and very brave. There are no dangerous snakes here, otherwise I would not bring her by the river, but there are little snakes. Sometimes though they are to be found basking in the sun on the open gravel trails. Ruby just runs over them like they were sticks, without any regard for them at all. She is all business and all about getting her run in, and she just keeps going. They always look so surprised and so mad that Ruby has trotted over them and disturbed their sunbath, but she doesn't care at all. She was so fast when she was a little younger, and people would always say, "She looks fast." I would say, "She is." She is slower now, and less muscular, but she is still light and lean. She is not very food motivated, rather exercise is what motivates her. It is her lifelong drive to run that I think has helped her to age gracefully. It is what brought her in to Crossing Paths, and eventually to me. She takes Dasuquin joint supplements, a senior's multivitamin, a gray muzzles senior cognitive support supplement, and Denamarin herbal tablets from the vet for her liver, but otherwise she is in good health. We do everything together and she is my best friend. Photos: Main: Ruby now, her face has become all white now. 1) Ruby and me by the river when she was younger. 2) Ruby and me on the couch when she was younger. 3) Ruby now resting after her exercise. 4) Ruby exploring her favorite woodland environment this past Autumn.