Loki, Lok, Lokinator, Oakley

Over the past few months we noticed that Loki seemed to be slowing down. His barking slowly decreased in volume, duration and frequency to the point where it is now pretty rare to hear that incessant barking that used to drive me batty. His ability to run 10 miles is long gone, in fact, 3 is a stretch these days. He has lost 8 lbs since his check-up in October and he seems just sort of, well, old these days.

There's no question that Lok, once the main focus of our attention, became second in line after Luz was born and then third in line after James was born, but he has to feel the love. First thing in the morning and last thing at night, I spend a few minutes with him reminding him he is loved, scratching the backs of his ears, tempting him with treats and daydreams of running through the sugar cane fields. We have our quality time together. And, yeah, I occasionally forget to fill his water bowl and maybe he misses a meal or two, but I have always been the one to take him for long walks at sunset and interesting runs around NOLA at daybreak.

It is clear to me, though, that our time with Loki is special right now, and so when the sunlight is just right and he seems so perfectly content I smile and try to remember to be thankful that he is why Luz and James will always love dogs.