A popular topic of conversation here in the Blue House is our pets. Not only do we talk about them, we blog about them. You’ve seen Conor’s and Mandy’s new puppies on this site, and Brittany’s dog, Buddy, taking over her new patio.
I have a dog, too, but she’s not very playful. At the age of 15, my beloved Cocker Spaniel mix Penny, rescued from the humane society as a puppy, spends her days eating and sleeping (that’s her picture, taken 13 years ago). The arthritis in her back legs prevents her from bounding up the deck steps these days, so she needs assistance when she goes out to do her business. She generally moves very slowly, but there’s still a strong wag in her tail and a shine in her eyes.
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I now know an old dog remembers old tricks. As I said, Penny moves at her own, slow pace. However, last week during a cookout, one of the guests absentmindedly tossed her a piece of a hot dog. In a flash, the old girl spun around and caught the meat in her mouth before it hit the ground!
And that reminded me: As Penny grew up, my children and I used to toss her pieces of popcorn and she never missed. It had been so long since we did this that I forgot about her incredible ability to catch food in mid-air. She moves so slowly now that it never occurred to me the spirit of the black and tan puppy was still inside of the old, black and gray dog. We laughed as my dinner guests continued to toss hot dogs her way. Again, she didn’t miss a single chunk. The old dog was feeling quite spry.
I know there will come a time in the near future when I may have to decide Penny’s fate. I don’t want her to suffer in her old age. But as long as the food is flying, I think she’ll be just fine.
I’m sure whomever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks was flat-out wrong. At 8 years old and ever-graying, two of my dogs just went through training and learned more than I thought they would (most surprisingly, they learned how to be patient).
I’m glad to hear Penny has plenty of vitality left. It sounds like you could probably teach her just about anything if you use hot dogs as motivation!