My Yuhafta Yodel is 18 years old this month. Although she forgets where she has walked to in the house or walks under a chair and forgets how to get out, or even if she no longer remembers to go outside to potty, I wouldn't change a thing about her after living with her this long. To look at her, one would think that we are not feeding her because she looks so emaciated. But, we have to doctor her food with juices from other foods before she will take a bite, and then she eats. She paces in circles or just all over the house. She has had many a stroke, some lasting as long as 8 minutes. Some only 2 minutes. When they pass, she gets up like, Okay, Dad. Im all done now?. But then we have to corral her in a pen for about 4 hours, otherwise she could hurt herself just by bumping into things or stumbling.
Still, with all of these circumstances, she has not failed to greet me when I come home from work. Slow getting there, but she still gets there. She still wants to get in my lap and once she is there, she is as happy as a lark, lays her head down, and goes to sleep. She could still
jump on the sofa up to 6 months ago.
She is in no pain. She is not starving. She is not lacking in anything that would be detrimental to her health, so I see no reason for putting her down. My mother-in-law had all of these signs with Alzheimer and we did not ?put her down?. We tolerated all of the conditions and let her pass from natural causes. Just because 'Hafta has "Dogsheimer" doesn't mean we have to get rid of her. We will tolerate Hafta just like my mother-in-law.
Hafta is the first Basenji to hold the #1 position is ASFA all year in 1996 since Basenji's were admitted into ASFA in 1975, and she is a
dual champion.
Selfish? Maybe. Tolerable? A lot. Love and devotion to this dog? More than you know.
