Husky Owners - The Siberian Husky Forum: Aging isn't linear ... - Husky Owners - The Siberian Husky Forum

The morning after we put up the Christmas tree, I got up at 5 a.m. and found Nik sacked out beside it, in a spot in the living room where I've never seen him sleep before. He did this two nights in a row. It took me a few tries to get the picture, because it was actually very dark in the room, it's the camera flash that lit things up.

We were a little apprehensive about putting up a real tree. This is our first Christmas with Dakota, and we thought for sure he'd pee on it (he didn't / hasn't yet, thank goodness). While we were decorating the tree, Tim had commented that Nik had seen plenty of Christmas trees before, and I had to stop and think a bit but, yes, this was the 17th tree in his life. Seventeenth!

In recent years, the arrival of cooler winter weather has always transformed Nikita into a completely diffrent dog; the cold just seems to charge his batteries somehow and bring out the best in him. I really hadn't counted on that this year, given his age, but lo and behold ... I have a geriatric husky who will bounce around the house (even though we have to make sure he does it in the middle of the room so he doesn't spin into anything), pounce into bowing, butt-up play position when I go to clip his leash (even though he has to wriggle his way up and out of that position), and insists on crossing through the kitchen to chase me or be chased when we play his favorite game (in which I make "monster noises" and make "monster hands" up over my head) even though he has no traction in the kitchen and slides every time.

I guess I was mistaken when I assumed that, due to his age, whatever ground we lose with him would be permanently lost. Lately he has been noticeably more playful, noticeably more social, and noticeably more mischievious. A friend of mine in nursing school explained to me that she just learned in class that age degeneration isn't linear. There are ups and downs. I'm just going to count my blessings that's Nik's been on a weeks-long "up" lately. I'll be counting my blessings, that is, when I'm not busy making monster noises and monster hands, being chased through the house by a geriatric dog!