The Grand Old Malamute (of York)

The sign used to say 'Absolutely...' but a dog owner insisted on having that word blotted out

To paraphrase a familiar nursery rhyme:

When she was up she was up

And when she was down she was down.

But when she was stuck in the middle

She was neither up nor down.

Hapi got stuck on the basement stairs. She was headed up, but her right rear leg gave out and she couldn't move. I stood on the stairs with her for a very long time, petting her and encouraging her until she finally made the last great effort to get up to the top. Later I realized I might have helped her with a towel-lift around her middle, but I didn't think of it at the time.

It's worst late at night and early in the morning, she seems to manage well enough during the rest of the day and even in the middle of the night when I am asleep.

I am thinking about the alternatives, as far as access to the basement goes. Her second choice would be to sleep outside, which I don't mind except on rainy nights. She doesn't notice the rain until she is sopping wet, then she goes into her doghouse and gets her bedding sopping wet. And if the rain is pounding on the deck roof over her doghouse, she'll just stay out in the rain because she doesn't like the noise.

And I of course will sleep right through it all and not address the situation until I awaken in the morning.

There's always something...