To Dog It May Concern X-posting

I have for the last couple of years written about my dogs on another blog. It's called "To Dog It May Concern" and it began as me writing letters to my dogs (and never naming names) about their strange, rude, comical and outrageous behavior. It has since evolved to be a sort of platform in which I talk about my dogs, share stories about them and even talk about dog culture as a whole from time to time.

The other day I happened to write a piece for the blog inspired by my real life events dealing with an ancient 15 year old dog, Nutsy. I've had Nutsy since he was 8 months old when I adopted him from the shelter. I am now 30 years old. You can do the math on how big a part of my life this dog has been. Literally, half of my life has been spent with him. But now that he's old I find myself in a whole new position as his caretaker. And it occurred to me one morning at 4am as I stood outside in the freezing cold and snow just how far people go for their beloved pets as they age. In my life as a dog trainer I've seen it dozens of times, the owner who makes absurd monetary, time and life sacrifices to care for their old friend. Sometimes to the point of unhealthy extremes, but always with the best of intentions and the most heartfelt desire to make old age easier on both human and dog.

And that sometimes those sacrifices and those sleep deprived nights can feel awfully lonely. Because you think in the back of your mind; "There's no way any sane person would do this..." But the truth is; we all do it. We've all done it. And you and I will probably do it again. So with out further interruption a link to the post, so you too can feel not so alone in the universe when you're standing in the bitter cold at 4am making sure your old dog goes potty.

To Dog It May Concern: When I'm a thousand years old I hope I get to Eat a lot of Red Jello

I know a lot of you who follow my twitter account  (@Dean_Ocean) have already read this. But in case you don't have twitter or facebook (which seems like a really weird thing...) here is the link again. Feel free to spread it around to your friends, family and loved ones struggling with an older pet.