Old Lady is Fourteen!

Pepper, our fur child, is fourteen! 

She has been working through various health problems (severe skin allergies requiring prednisone, and resulting cataracts/corneal ulcers) in the last couple of years. More recently, she has struggled with "old lady" afflictions including constipation, arthritis (sliding around on our floor and having difficulty navigating steps), and needing to go out more often, but is still hanging in there.  She still is eager to snack and snuggle.

This weekend, our friend and trusty dog-sitter Kelly helped me out with Pepper as K and the kids are in OC and I was on call, and Pep reminded us that she is beloved by many!

The average life expectancy for shih tzus is approximately 13 years (10-16), so she's exceeded that! Here's to another year under her (and our) belt! 

(Kelvin asked me to amend this post with a post-haircut, handsomer photo!)