Balancing Act

The weather is warming up, at least for a few days. My pups love it when it is the 50's and that was yesterday. I opened the door to let them out to potty and Thor just started to bounce around. This where the balancing act comes in. I love to watch Thor jump and play! He is a senior boy, who suffers from arthritis, so the "bouncy days" are fewer than they used to be. Now we basically have a "time bomb" sitting in my boy's belly. How much bouncing can it take? How much fun do I let him have? I can't expect him to just lay around all day everyday. That just wouldn't be fair.
We also have rabbits visit our yard nightly. My dogs assume they are there to play chase. So as soon as I open the door at night, the chase is on! I have learned to make them sit, then I step outside, and then I let them out. This seems to slow the dogs down somewhat, at least to a point I am more comfortable. I really wish I could just let them run.  A boxer on a full out run is a one happy pup! I don't want to take Thor's joy away. I want him to enjoy whatever time he has left.

Keeping Thor calm is also effecting Arabella. She isn't allowed to box and play keep away with her brother. She is a very active pup! Trying to keep her amused while keeping Thor calm is another balancing act. We play fetch with her tennis ball several times a day. We even play inside from one floor to another so she has to run up and down the stairs to wear her out faster. I would love to take her for long walks, as we both need the exercise, but Thor can't do that. Even before we knew about the tumor, he couldn't do that because of his arthritis. Now I don't want to take just Arabella, because I don't want to leave Thor home alone. So our walks are on hold for now.

The bright side of all this balancing is that I have a boy who feels well enough to play. For that I am very thankful!