Wednesday 22 December 2010

Old dog, new trick

Well ok, not quite a trick, but after almost 12 years with us our dog, Nell, has acquired a totally new habit and we don't know why.

Nell has always had the strongest of bladders. So much so that it has been a talking point whenever she goes to stay with folk. She has a walk anywhere from 4 - 6 pm and then she has her food and settles down for the evening. Prior to bed around 10 pm she wants her biscuits and then she goes to bed.

Nell was a rescued dog and although 6 months old when she first came to us, we had to house train her, which actually didn't take very long. And for a while we used to open the back door for her to go out last thing. She would take a look out, turn round and come back in as if to say, 'Very nice out there, not sure why you want me to look, but never mind I've done it now, so please can I go to bed.' (Yes, alright I know, lots of anthropomorphising going on!) and never actually go out. So we stopped doing it.

Anyway, last week when I was staying overnight in Edinburgh, my Beloved phoned me to tell me Nell had been staring at the back door after she'd had her biscuits, so he opened it and she went out and had a wee. She then stopped, but has started again this week and has demanded the same every night.

I'm wondering if it's her age, or if it's the cold. No matter, we shall now have to alter our well trodden night time routine and remember to let her out. This might well prove quite hard for us, creatures of habit that we are.

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