Happy Birthday, Cruiser

Our dog, Cruiser, turned 15 today--that's 105 in dog years so worth celebrating.  Everyone is too busy for us to have a party, though.  I don't remember how we got talked into getting him, but I do remember that J paid for half and M paid for half.  I also remember the trip to Wolf Point to pick him out.  He was already named by then, and the name fit.  We had only been in our new house a few months and had a new rose bush by the side of the house.  The puppy pulled it out nearly every day.  Needless to say, I still don't have a rose bush.  He's been the best dog, such a sweetheart and very well behaved.  I always say that he's ruined us for all other dogs.  He liked to run the two miles to visit M's parents on occasion, and he would follow any piece of machinery around and around a field for hours.  Occasionally, he would follow a tractor all the way to the neighbor's.  He once made the trip to the neighbor's and impregnated the neighbor's dog.  When the puppies were born, the boys brought one home and Cruiser HATED it!  It was like he realized what he had done and never went to the neighbor's again.

He is bred to be a bird hunter, and we took him out a few times, but not enough for him to be well trained.  He was always way too far ahead so flushed the birds out too soon.  M came home pretty hoarse a few times from yelling at him.  He tried a whistle a few times but that didn't work well either.  Some of our friends have hilarious hunting stories about M and his dog.

For the past few years he's been living with us in the winter and with Marty's parents during the summer.  He gets very spoiled there--and very fat.  We get him slimmed down during the winter and they fatten him back up again.  This summer they didn't want to deal with his health issues so he's still at home with us.  He's deaf, wheezy, has an enlarged prostate, arthritis and anal tumors which cause him to bleed.  But, he's in pretty good shape for the shape he's in.  He still likes to go for walks, usually a couple of miles at a time, although some days he has to lie down and rest in the middle.  He loves to go for rides but can't jump into a vehicle anymore and is a big boy so is hard to lift up.  He doesn't get to go much anymore.

Sadly, this will probably be his last birthday unless someone wants to take him in for the winter.  He causes too much mess to be inside alone all day while we are working but can't take the cold so we can't leave him outside.  There should be a nursing home for aged dogs.  Happy Birthday, Cruiser.  We love you!!