Back in from the morning walk with the boyz to find the newspapers reporting that overnight France has been hit by the worst storm in 20 years. 500,000 houses in the departements of Poitou-Charentes and Charentes Maritime are without power and 50 people have been killed by the hurricane force winds. Thankfully, here in deepest Tarn-et-Garonne the tempest seems to have passed us by. Wilf and Digby spent their day chasing squirrels, dozing in the sunshine and barking at the woodpeckers oblivious to the havoc and destruction being wrought further north .Digby wandered into the bedroom at six and woke me with a gentle scratching of the bed post and the lightest of hand licks. Scratching alone usually means that he wants a tickle and reassurance. Scratching and licking of my hand means he wants out for a widdle - now ! Can dogs suffer from early onset alzheimers ? Last night I let the boyz out at nine, ten and then ten thirty . While Wilf raced around irrigating every bush and shrub in sight Digby sat contentedly staring at the stars , the call of nature the last thing on his mind. You'd think there were certain things like bladder control he wouldn't or couldn't forget. As he gets older a lot of early morning hand licking seems to be on the cards. There are some things about older dogs the books never tell you .
So he wanted to look at the stars!
ReplyDeleteSo he wanted to lick your hand!
Sounds like he has you right around his little paw! :)
(and that's the way it should be)
Will have to go and look at the news NOW! Thx
C
My PON used to do just that - ask to be let out , sit under a tree, resting his side on it and look at the stars...yes, you read right - under a tree...we're talking winter in Poland, 11p.m. temps in the region of minus 15C....he could do it for up to 1/2 hr until someone would get really cold and stroppy ;))))
ReplyDeleteWe have a couple of dogs that do the same thing--I let them out for the "last call" and they'll stand there sniffing the air or something else instead. I had to grin when you used the word "widdle." I've never heard it called that before, but whatever you call it, I'm quite sure it sounds so much better when you say it than when I do! :-) Enjoy your day!
ReplyDeletebefore i enlarged the first picture, it thought the lines on the speed bump were the dogs! dah
ReplyDeletehas he been drinking more water lately? there are many conditions that cause PU/PD...increased urination and drinking....
remember the source, i'm a Tech, so i think of these things...:)
xoxo
I have to say I think they can get a form of dementia - now that Java is a senior citizen there are times he either forgets to eat or forgets he has eaten and wants to eat again - I think they suffer all of the same maladies as humans - it just takes an astute person to notice these changes.
ReplyDeleteHi my name is Remington! I just found your blog! I really like it! I hope we can be great friends! I like walks too!
ReplyDeleteWe're going through something similar with our oldest greyhound. The thing that throws me off is that she's perfectly lucid during the day. It's nights that throw her off!
ReplyDeleteMax - No doubting who really runs this family!
ReplyDeleteOpakowana - That's PONs for you
Kim - Must be a Scottish word
KKS - Have looked for other symptoms - think its just absent mindedness
Rocky - There are certain people in this household who think Digby is taking after me . Hmmph!
Remington - Hi. You've come to the right place
Houndstooth - Me too.
We listened to the news reports about the terrible storms and thought about you -- not having checked the map to see exactly where you are, we feared the worst. Glad you had no ill effects.
ReplyDeleteWe agree with Kim -- "widdle" is a very cool word. With no offense to the British tradition, we call our 4pm walks "pee time." And usually get results. So far no hand-licking in the middle of the night -- if either were to do it it would be our Jakey, always the kind gentleman. JH would let out a piercing bark.
We've grown to love your boyz -- perhaps it's that "z" which we turned to when we named the Barkalot Boyz back in 2007.
Joan
Our most recent elderly dog, S, had the same 'forgetting' to relieve himself at bedtime issue. We instituted a rule that each dog got a treat immediately after they 'did their business' at night. It really sped up the bedtime 'business' walks!
ReplyDeleteBut, we had to start by taking them out separately. Otherwise, S became obsessed with everyone else's treats and totally forgot why he was outside. We had to teach him the routine by himself and then we could take him out with the others again.
Love the photos!
Oh, I don't think it's old age related. Edward has always been a star-gazer.
ReplyDeleteSo happy the storms passed you by. I thought of you last evening when I heard about them and uttered a prayer for your safety.