Sparky was pulling at his harness, all four claws digging into the moss covered rock. He scrambled up to the top and with barely a hesitation, leapt off with front paws supermanned forward. Raven wasn’t ready for his hiking companion to get so far ahead. So after Sparky reached the far arc of his rope, Raven swung Sparky back to the rock he’d just jumped from. Unfazed, Sparky waited a moment and then did it again.
“You’d never know he was 15 with arthritis,” I mentioned to Raven as Nemo and I did our best to keep up.
Raven smiled, though he looked a little frazzled. “Tell him that.”
I grinned. “He certainly looks like he has adapted to his new harness.” Raven agreed.
It was Sparky’s 15th spring. It hadn’t started out well for our beloved Cairn terrier, who refused to acknowledge his age. That is until one humid day when for the first time in his life, his arthritis was too much for him. Our independent and brash little monster refused to move. He whined, a sound completely alien to him. So a little more than a month later, it was amazing to find us on a two day hike of the Appalachian Trail with enthusiastic “puppies” in hand.
Raven and I panicked that spring day when our Elder Cairn converted from the rough and tumble pooch he usually was to become a very sore and tired dog. At first we tried anything to make him comfortable, cool baths, rest, stretching. It didn’t help. Raven tried the vet, but any free appointment was days away. Instead on the Monday when Sparks whined, a sound that broke our hearts, when picked up, Raven staked out the vet’s office hoping to sneak in between appointments. He managed to get Sparky seen and a prescription to anti-inflamatories.
Still, we had to face that Spark was 15 and maybe our grand adventure days were winding down. It was a fact hard to swallow. So we didn’t. And neither did Sparky.
Instead of giving in, we bought harnesses from Ruff Wear If Sparky was going to tire easily, we needed a way to help him by taking some of the strain off his legs. The harness was well padded and secured at the chest and at two points under the belly. It also had two back attachment points plus a carry handle (convenient for dogs weighing in at 16 pounds). Raven ran a leash from the front hook to the back loop at a length comfortable for him to hold while walking. Viola, Sparky could trot along with Raven actually providing some lift. The aged joints on our Adventure Cairn now only carried about half the weight. Sparky LOVED it.
Ears up and tail wagging, once Sparky realized he was basically no longer controlled by gravity, he decided he could fly. It was a side effect we hadn’t anticipated. Sparks would scramble up rocks and then leap into the air. The first experiment had Raven off balance and there were definitely a few light scrapes until they perfected the technique, but eventually they got it worked out.
If Raven was stationed in the right place, he could let Sparks boulder hop from point to point down the very rocky path. Sometimes though, Sparks got too far ahead and found himself swinging back to Point A instead of progressing to Point B. By the end of day 1, Raven’s arm was sore and Sparks was curled up on his air mattress and sleeping bag, napping off a rough run through a rain storm. But Raven had found a bandana caught in the branches along the trail left by a hiker most likely trying to escape the same storm on the mountain top. I showed him how to fashion it into a papoose pouch, and the tired pup had ridden the last mile snuggled against his favorite person.
We thought for sure he’d be sore and tired the next day. Instead, we could barely keep up. The only struggle we had was when we stumbled upon the 10 pound moose antler. If a moose antler appears in front of you on the last day, you just have to take it home. But that is another story. Managing two happy Cairns, one needing encouragement and the other needing to be reigned in, and a 10 pound moose antler was a bit exhausting for the humans in the group.
We gave Sparks plenty of breaks, letting him frog in every stream and puddle he desired. We let him fly from every boulder he endeavored to climb. We hiked at his pace and loved every second of those pointed ears on alert and wagging tail. It may just have been the best hike ever. I think Sparks would have agreed. It isn’t every day you realize you are magical and can actually fly, after all.
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