Porter Enjoying A Beautiful Winter Day

Porter loves nothing more than to lay on the cold cement soaking in the rays of the sun. Winter has just started, but on this day it was like a late Autumn afternoon. The sun was so low on the horizon that it cuts a sharp angle glancing off the earth surface like a close shave. Shining through the trees, even in the early afternoon, the sun appears to be halfway down to dusk already.

Porter squints his eyes as he wakes up from a brief nap while basking in the sun. He gives a big yawn that rolls his tongue around his snout.

He is 15 years old. His snout used to be pitch-black, but now it is almost completely white. His age is surely slowing him down these last few years, and he has become deaf too. He cannot hear us calling for him anymore. So now we must get his attention by getting into his line of sight, and use hand signals and gestures to communicate with him. However, he still barks at us to let us know when he wants a treat. He knows we can still hear him though!

Porter can no longer jump up from laying down like he used to when he was a puppy. Instead, he uses his front legs to slowly push himself up, like tiny little steps, they lift his body off the ground until he finally gets his hind legs under him and scoots himself up to stand.