Letter of Gratitude from an Old Dog

Dear Important Human:

Before I tell you why I am writing this letter, please allow me to tell you about myself.  I am a 15 year old Black Lab/Dalmatian mix and probably one of the happiest and friendliest you will ever meet. My name is Mercedez and my former owner abandoned me and my siblings when we were only two weeks old.  This awful person took me away from my dog mommy but it wasn't long before I found out I had a new human mommy.  No one could love me more.

During my life, I have lived with a few other breeds as my mom and dad rescue dogs who have been abused or abandoned.  I was very close to my adopted German Shepherd/Doberman mom and we ran together every day through the woods and made many discoveries together.  I loved her more than any other dog I met.  But she was run over by a car and I watched it happen.  I cried and would not eat for six weeks.  I stayed in my bed and dreamed about her and missed her so much.

Then last Christmas, another very close friend and brother was ripped out of my life.  He was 18 years old and we had been together for many years.  I cried a couple weeks that time.

There have been others in my life as well and I miss them all.  I realize my time to say good-bye might be sooner than later but I am so thankful for the wonderful life I have had.  I have parents who adore me and have provided a warm, safe loving home.

When my parents smartened up about eight years ago and started to feed me genuine raw food I sincerely thought I had died and gone to heaven.  No more plastic, synthetic kibble -- I get the real deal -- raw meat and veggies.  Since that day my health and quality of life have improved so much and although I am 15 now, no one guesses my age.  You can read about that here.

My coat is as shiny as it could be.  I have no health issues or concerns.  I never have to go to the doctor except to get a manicure and pedicure.

I love going to the spa at the vet's house.  There is this one lady there who gets so excited when she sees me.  She has been doing my pedicures for years.  But in the last several months she has expressed concern.

You see, when dogs get old and they aren't running their marathons anymore, their nails grow longer and get thick - really thick and hard. This presents a problem for us when we walk on slippery surfaces. The other problem is that the quick of the nail grows out as well, so the nice lady at the vet's house can't trim them very short or they would bleed - and it really HURTS.

Does Your Dog Have This Problem?

Another problem I have, and PLEASE bear in mind that I love my parents more than life itself, is that they have hardwood floors in their house.  With my long nails I have a really hard time walking on the floor and not sliding and slipping.

A few months ago, I had to go to the bathroom really bad so I ran down the hall and turned toward the outside door.  As I turned, I slipped and fell.  I wrenched my front shoulder.  The pain was terrible and although my parents helped me up onto the sofa in the evenings and helped me down the stairs, I almost cried but I stayed strong.  They gave me an aspirin once in a while but it mostly made me sleepy.  I was glad it didn't take long to heal and in a couple weeks I was back to normal.

It's a Miracle

Then my whole world changed.  My mommy made a discovery on that machine she sits at all day.  I don't know what it is called but sometimes pictures of other cute chicks and handsome dudes show up and they bark at me.  Some of the stuff they say should not be said out loud and I have barked back at them but they ignore me - totally!

Mom told me that my life was going to improve in a big way.  I didn't have a clue what she was talking about but went with her to the vet's house to see my friend and get my pedicure.  After Jessica gave me the pedicure, she put these funny little rubber cylinders on each of my toenails.

If she had asked me I would have told her "They are too tight! They are going to come right off."

They did manage to stay on my nails for about two weeks before they started to fall off.  But LET ME TELL YOU - those two weeks were heaven on earth.  I no longer slipped around the house.  I could walk quickly down the hall and not be nervous.

I was sad when they came off but when mom said we were going to get a mani/pedi I couldn't wait. Maybe the nice lady will put them back on.  The first set I had were purple so I was surprised to see that these were different.  She put orange ones on my front feet and blue ones on my back.  They make me look like a hot chick once again.

WOW - I mean like - WOW.  I can walk again.  I can even strut like I used to.  No more slipping.  No more sliding.  No more hurting myself.  These are the RIGHT size and they are so pretty.

Thank you mom.  I will be eternally grateful for you -- always finding a way to love me more and make my life better.  Although I am 15, I may still have more time than I thought.  I am so healthy and now I have nothing to be stressed about.

Love you to the moon and beyond,

Mercecdez

P. S.  My mom wants to talk to you.

HI:

You get the picture and I cannot add much more than what Mercedez already told you.  These little rubber cylinders WORK.  When I bought them the first time from Toe Grips they shipped them by Express Post so Mercedez could have them as soon as possible.

Once we realized they were not the right size, Toe Grips sent me four more pair AT NO CHARGE to be sure Mercedez got the right fit.  As it turned out, her front and back nails are different sizes so we used two different colors.

Toe Grips gave me incredible customer service and their love for dogs is extremely obvious.  I asked them if I could write this post about their product.  If you have an aging or special needs dog with this problem, PLEASE, PLEASE contact Toe Grips and order these life-savers.

Here is a short video to show you what a difference it can make to your best friend.  No, I am not getting any kind of compensation for posting this -- I only want to get the word out and make our old guys and gals happier.

Mercedez' mom