State of the Boxer

That time of year has come again. Blue's yearly physical was this week. Along with that - I found a lump on his abdomen that had me concerned.

In the last year or so, we have lost many of our canine friends. With the exception of Harlow, all have been close in age to what Blue is now. Harlow, China, Max...all his buddies, age and sickness have gotten the best of them. Oh - and he misses them, and we know it. Even just this past weekend, he kept whining at our friends..."where is Maxie-boy?"....so sad.

So we are not foolish enough to think that we will escape such heartbreak with him. It's just more of a question of when. So, the yearly exam...with "the lump"...well...of course we were worried.

However, I am excited and happy to report...the state of the boxer is....HEALTHY!

She said the lump was nothing more than "ol' man lumps", his knees, heart, gums, eyes...all things we have worried about in the past - are good form. She even said "oh, what nice muscle tone for a boxer his age!" [I am pretty certain that Blue made a hpmf sound to this remark]. Muscle tone? For a dog how practically hibernates all winter? He who has almost worn a dent in our couch? Yessiree...muscle tone, folks.

So, we can ring in Blue's 10th year (Feb 14th) with a note of happiness. Let's hope he defies the odds, and his unfortunate 3 "branched" ancestry and continues this trend for several more years to come.