That's right, I spy on Riley. Don't judge me. I've accepted the fact that he will always be guarded around me, and when I am in the room he is not himself. But sometimes I want to see what he does when he's not so busy watching and worrying about me.
We have a very set morning routine, because he loves his routines. He gets up at sunrise and barks a little so we know he's ready to get started. We let him out the back door where he awkwardly goes down those five steps. If you have four legs and you learn to navigate stairs at the end of your life it just never gets graceful. He hops out the doggy door and then does his business. He has very specific paths and loops he takes around the yard, touching various things with his nose, stopping to smell the air, barking a little at the backfield. All very dog.
After 15-20 minutes I tap on the window of the back door with my ring. For some reason he can hear that as clear as a bell. I can shout and call his name and he won't look up, but if I tap that glass with metal he trots right over to the house. Clearly his hearing loss is in very specific frequencies.
I watch him come in the doggy door and pause at the bottom of the 5 stairs. He puts his left paw on the bottom step, pauses again, swings his head back and forth one, two, three, four times and then charges up the stairs. Sometimes he gets stuck and can't get up the stairs and has to start over. Sometimes if I tap my ring on the glass again he can start over more quickly. He has me trained so well.
He gets a treat for coming inside, then fresh food in his dish. He stands and watches from the back door's foyer as I measure his food. He takes a keen interest in the fresh water I add to his dish. But he won't go near his dishes until I leave the kitchen. So we do our routine and I leave the room.
Today I hung out in the stairwell and spied on him, which I do more often than I will admit. As soon as I leave the room Riley will circle the kitchen table a few times, always pausing at the food and water and touching those dishes with his nose. Then he touches all of his toys, almost like he's counting. He has to circle and touch things a few times before he will eat any food. Then he's quickly into his bed with a few toys that he's nosed over. Later in the morning he'll get up and empty his food dish. For now he seems happy that it is there and full.
This is a horrible picture because I'm actually standing in another room with my arm through the door haphazardly hoping it's aimed at Riley. But if I didn't spy and sneak like this I would never get a chance to see him holding court with his stuffed animals. I've become far more weird than he will ever be. I'm OK with that.
We have a very set morning routine, because he loves his routines. He gets up at sunrise and barks a little so we know he's ready to get started. We let him out the back door where he awkwardly goes down those five steps. If you have four legs and you learn to navigate stairs at the end of your life it just never gets graceful. He hops out the doggy door and then does his business. He has very specific paths and loops he takes around the yard, touching various things with his nose, stopping to smell the air, barking a little at the backfield. All very dog.
After 15-20 minutes I tap on the window of the back door with my ring. For some reason he can hear that as clear as a bell. I can shout and call his name and he won't look up, but if I tap that glass with metal he trots right over to the house. Clearly his hearing loss is in very specific frequencies.
I watch him come in the doggy door and pause at the bottom of the 5 stairs. He puts his left paw on the bottom step, pauses again, swings his head back and forth one, two, three, four times and then charges up the stairs. Sometimes he gets stuck and can't get up the stairs and has to start over. Sometimes if I tap my ring on the glass again he can start over more quickly. He has me trained so well.
He gets a treat for coming inside, then fresh food in his dish. He stands and watches from the back door's foyer as I measure his food. He takes a keen interest in the fresh water I add to his dish. But he won't go near his dishes until I leave the kitchen. So we do our routine and I leave the room.
Today I hung out in the stairwell and spied on him, which I do more often than I will admit. As soon as I leave the room Riley will circle the kitchen table a few times, always pausing at the food and water and touching those dishes with his nose. Then he touches all of his toys, almost like he's counting. He has to circle and touch things a few times before he will eat any food. Then he's quickly into his bed with a few toys that he's nosed over. Later in the morning he'll get up and empty his food dish. For now he seems happy that it is there and full.
This is a horrible picture because I'm actually standing in another room with my arm through the door haphazardly hoping it's aimed at Riley. But if I didn't spy and sneak like this I would never get a chance to see him holding court with his stuffed animals. I've become far more weird than he will ever be. I'm OK with that.