Holding and Carrying Lina

How long ago was it that she tore her first ACL (more properly her cruciate)? Four years? Three years? Then a year or so later she tore her second one. Both in her back legs, both partial tares.

Lina had a pretty good recovery from the first tare, but the second one was pronounced and from that point we had to really limit her activity. Not that she couldn’t go on yard patrol, but it was better for her not to go on yard patrol in early afternoon when the “mail Lady” delivered mail, for the mail Lady is very much a dog person and she comes bearing treats and kind words for puppies – no puppy can walk to the mail Lady, for the mail Lady deserves a run and happy barks.

The second tare was pretty bad, and after agonizing over surgery we opted for laser treatments and acupuncture and were quite pleased and thankful for the results.

Up until the second tare, which happened when Lina was going down the stairs from our first floor to the basement to be with Vickie, Lina could go up and down stairs, but from that point on I carried her. (We also had a ramp built from our deck to the yard).

This meant that every morning and every night I carried her down and up the stairs to and from the second floor which is where Lily and Lina slept on their dog beds in our room. It also meant that if the ramp was icy that I carried Lina down and up our front porch steps; or if we had a tornado warning I carried her down into the basement and back up. Because Lina was a “long dog” (a Basset and Beagle mix – favoring the Basset side of her lineage) and also a chunky monkey, she was a bit unwieldy to carry – making it a challenge for Vickie to do the porch and impossible for her to carry Lina from floor to floor.

I never got tired of carrying Lina, I never wearied of holding her. When Lina was a puppy and we picked her up from friends in Louisa county to bring her home, Vickie drove the car and I held Lina on my lap.

When it was time for Lina’s last car ride, I carried her to the car and placed her on her bed in the back of our SUV. I carried her into the vet’s office and held her on my lap in the waiting room. I carried her into the examining room and got down on the floor with her. When the vet’s assistant asked me if I wanted a chair I said, “No”.

I needed to be on the floor with her, holding her as best I could…along with Vickie…until….

I miss holding her close to me…