Just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2016 I brought Danny, our corgi to the vet. It was time for his annual check up and I noticed his eye was red. I took this opportunity to talk to the doctor about Danny drinking a lot of water, more than usual for the last few months. First she addressed his eye which after a few days healed. Her biggest concern was his over consumption of water. He was tested for several things. We found out that he has cushing’s disease.
Danny is ten years old and belonged to Madison. Before one of her surgeries she willed him to Derric should anything happen to her, so now technically he is Derric’s. Cushing's disease is treatable, thank goodness, but before we knew this we were pretty concerned/upset. You see while we still have Danny it’s like we still have a little bit of Madison with us here on earth. She loved her dog so much. This new development in his health has made us realize that he won’t be with us a whole lot longer. The average lifespan of a Pembroke Welsh Corgi is twelve-fourteen years, and as I said he is ten years old.
Sometimes I think we love him as much as we do because of how much Madison loved him. He is completely cute, however sometimes he can be quite the...butt! He nips our heels if we run, he has knocked little kids over just to lick their ears. We have all tripped over Danny numerous times because he is almost constantly under foot. Also he used to relentlessly picked on our old poodle before we lost Boudreaux when he was eighteen years old. He does have some endearing qualities too that make him lovable. Danny looks like he is always smiling, and he is very goofy when he rolls all over the ground. I have often found him sleeping on his back with his mouth opened. Also, I swear sometimes he answers when we talk to him with a grunt, a growl or a groan. Madison always talked about his expressive eyes and it’s true they are. But his most endearing quality is like I said before, she loved him intensely and he was devoted to her.
When she was at school he used to sit by the door and wait for her a good part of the day. He rarely left her side unless food was involved. After we lost Madison he did still wait for her and look for her, especially after Dallas got home from school. He would go to her room and sit by the door or the front door like usual. Eventually, he realized she was not coming home. It was sad to watch him look and wait for her but just as sad when he stopped. There are still times even over seven years later when he goes into her bedroom just to lay down. I believe he remembers her.
We just had our eighth Christmas without our girl and are about to start a new year too. I hope and pray Danny will be with us a few years more, after all cushing’s is treatable so I think he will. He is goofy, silly, irritating, cute and very loud but we love him. The importance of Danny being Danny is his link to our beloved Madison.
