Saturday, April 23, 2011

New Tricks

Toby has developed new ways of communicating in his old age. He can't really bark any more and he's not willing to wait for someone to let him back inside, especially when it's cold out. He has discovered that putting his front paws on the screen door gets our attention, particularly if the inside door has been left open. We find it annoying, but it is rather difficult to reason with a dog who can't hear.

Toby has also discovered the snow is high enough so he can look into the living room window in the evenings when we're watching television. The first time he did that gave us quite a start, I can tell you!

One snowy morning before we had gotten out of bed, there was this terrible racket going on at our bedroom window, waking us. Toby, soaking wet, was attacking the screen on the window - having found the snow level with the window sill - and making it perfectly clear that he wanted in, NOW. He'd had enough of the snow and rain and wanted his morning treats, pronto.

If all that weren't bizarre enough, Cupcake has also learned the screen door trick.

Years ago, when we slept upstairs, the snow in winter would get high enough to reach the porch roof and Toby and the cats would appear at the bedroom window early in the morning to make sure we were up and moving.

After living with pets for a time, one wonders who owns whom.

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