As it turned out the challenges were yet to come for Sparky. Long story, but it turned out that Sparky had a chronic autoimmune disease (masticatory muscle myositis) and we now realize she was showing subtle symptoms at that time…symptoms so subtle that we didn’t chalk it up to anything but the normal aging process. It took another year before her symptoms were acute/classic enough to warrant the blood test, but we think that Opie sensed something was wrong long before the blatant physical symptoms appeared.

Thankfully, they are back to their playful, and endearing relationship. And Opie is so relieved to have The Queen back on the throne!

I still think that Lucy was aware of something not right…but of course I have no way of ever knowing for sure… and whether it was because she was his littermate, she never stopped wanting to be by his side during his last few weeks…she never showed any problem wanting to lie right next to him as they always did…it was Harry that would move away from Lucy which did help us to know the time was very near.

A friend is dealing with her older dog’s mystery illness.

When her young male - who the older dog had never much liked since puppyhood — started nailing him, we considered it to be a status issue between the two.

When her middle-aged bitch, who always goes along to get along, jumped him, it was the slap on the forehead — “Duh, this dog ain’t right.”

Both packmates would to go after the ill one when he’s “too close” to the owner.

It’s hard not to get upset when formerly harmonious dogs do something that seems so mean-spirited. But there are powerful self-protective instincts at work there.

A client’s young GSD bit her. She called me immediately in near-hysterics. I was gobsmacked — this was not something consistent with the dog’s temperament. I told her to crate the dog, cool down, have her husband handle the dog for the rest of the evening, and we’d figure out what was going on in the morning. Minutes after she hung up, she (the owner) had a grand mal seizure so severe that she cracked vertebrae. She’d never seized before in her life. Breeze was “alerting” to the impending seizure — after a fashion.

That your dogs manifested their fear as avoidance is fortunate for all concerned.