If anyone could give our Mistress any advice on how to help me to relax and be happy in my old age she would be very grateful. If you know our breed you will know that we need to be close to our human. The American’s have described it as an almost pathological attachment. If I am with our Mistress I relax and sleep as long as no other dog than Wilma is around. I can just about cope with Shadow but it’s a sort of either or thing. If there is more than one other dog around at home I worry and start to bark. If I’m put in the other room I tend to cry. If I’m in the other room and I can hear Aristotle and Wilma playing I get worked up and bark and whine. For reasons no one can explain I was ok in kennels, even though there were other dogs around. When we go for a walk I panic even if I only think there’s going to be another dog and become quite uncontrollable. Our Mistress thinks from some of my behaviours that I may be experiencing some dementia, but I guess that’s not something you really recognise in yourself. I do have some pain from my shoulder / neck area and have a lot of swelling around my shoulders that makes me look fat, even though the rest of me isn’t. I’ve got a fatty lump on one shoulder but it seems to be more than that. I’ve got problems with my thyroid but that is under control. I don’t know what to tell her. I know my behaviour is causing all sorts of problems and that she is struggling with it, but I don’t know what I can do. For the most part I look perfectly ok on the outside. I’m only 10 ½ years old, I could have years ahead of me and the way I’m going our Mistress will have checked herself in for rehab long before that.
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Alfie, I so sympathise, cos I’m getting older too, at 73, and getting older certainly comes with its own set of problems – just appreciate the good things every day, and long sleeps. Lots of hugs xx
My housemates are old too. Dilys is 10 and she is a Daddy`s girl, always cuddling up to him. She does not have any problems luckily and when in the mood can wrestle me to the floor!! She is in charge and quite bossy. Darwin is 15 and like you is feeling his age. He is a true beagle and never has problems eating. He has anti-inflammatory drugs twice a day for his arthritic hip and neck and also painkillers. He follows Mum about a lot and takes ages to settle at night. He gets up early too – 5.30am sometimes.
He always does one walk a day and sometimes goes along for the ride on the second one. He likes it better when the weather is good. His head thinks he is still a young dog but his body has other ideas. He occasionally races me in from the garden and then regrets it!!He loves routine and you can set your watch by him. He knows what we should be doing when and keeps the humans up to speed. He does not like a lot of noise and goes off to his cage to rest and buries his head in the duvet. He does sleep on the old sofa but hates it if the TV is loud. Of course my loud barking is not helpful but I cannot help it, I am a guarding breed after all. I hope this helps you Alfie, we all love you lots. My advice is take things easy, rest as much as you can and let everyone else deal with the worries of the day. Enjoy life!! Lots of love Dickens and my family XXXXXXXX