Today started the same as any other with my alarm going off at 7.20. I roll out of bed scramble out to the dressing room making sure not to disturb my partner who has the luxury of an extra hours sleep more than me. whilst also carefully stepping over the dogs sprawled out on their beds on the bedroom floor, which is where they seem to frequent most nights in the Winter. Bella usually tries her luck and comes to sleep at the end of the bed in the early hours though.
Its dark and cold outside, and it will be the same when i finish work at 5 so i quickly dress myself in my gym clothes as i will be going later i work in a small non customer facing office so the dress code is pretty relaxed.
Definitely jumper weather here!
Today is a clear winters day - my favourite, so its a perfect opportunity for me to take the dogs for a little run on my lunch.
We received a letter from the vet inviting Meg for a free health check now she has reached the mature age of 8, it makes me feel sad that she's classed as mature considering we've had her since since she was a tiny baby and the time seems to have gone so quickly.
Throw back
Meg is a dog that doesn't show when she is in pain, even when she ripped one of her pads almost clean off when she was 2 and had to have it stapled back on she didn't bat an eyelid. This is worrying as we obviously don't want her to be in any discomfort and it also affects her mood which is not good considering how much of a grump she already is!
She was diagnosed with mild hip dysplasia a couple of years back when we took her to a specialist Vet and she was prescribed Metacam, an anti-inflammatory pain killer which did effectively ease her condition but we were reluctant to keep her on it long term as one of the possible side effects of this is Kidney damage, albeit this may never happen and the benefits may well outweigh the risks but we saw it as one we were not willing to take on a dog who was only 5. We later discovered Yumove by way of a friends recommendation, who swore by it and how much it had made a difference to their dog. Yumove is a supplement to soothe stiffness and helps joint mobility, this can be bought online and from pet stores so no prescription is required. Since our dogs are a working breed they love to run and have endless energy so keeping their joints functional is essential not only for their health but for their happiness. We saw Megs mobility improve significantly while taking this and find that in the cold winter months we need to make sure that her aches and pains are kept as minimal as possible especially when it gets too cold to take her swimming in the lake which in the summer is something of a free hydrotherapy session.
While we can ease her discomfort with the medication mentioned above we want to make sure her condition has not worsened , the problem we face is the psychological effects vet visits have on Meg. The first time we went to the specialist, we had to leave her for the day while they put her under anaesthetic for tests, she did not like being lead away by the vet who was absolutely lovely but of course Meg hated, and was apparently trying to snap at her right up to the point where she was put under, she must have been very afraid and the thought of that breaks my heart. When she came round she was dazed for days and for a good few months would snap at us frequently if we stroked her too close to her legs where the fluid was taken. Eventually she realised that every car journey didn't mean we were taking her back and we regained her trust, soon she went back to her usual big baby demeanour, she is an extremely clingy and loving dog to us but also very easily scared if someone new comes into her space and we always tell guests at the house to leave her be and people out and about that she is scared easily so not to try and stroke her (which is an extremely irresponsible thing to just do to a dog you don't know anyway!). She is generally very disinterested in people and other dogs when out of the house and only cares about where the Frisbee is.
Clinger!
She did recently snap at a close and familiar family member to her which is why the question of her condition has been raised again and i will post another update on this after her next vet visit. For now though, in the spirit of Christmas, here a picture of Meg, taken by the very talented 
Thanks for reading any comments and upvotes are much appreciated!