New dogs, old dogs

I don't know if spring is coming early but there seem to be a lot of puppies around at the moment. If I wasn't a bit deaf already (pardon, what did you say?) I'd have been deafened by the chorus of 'oooh's and 'ahhhh's, interspersed with 'soooo cuuute' that I get from 'Her Indoors' every time she sees a junior canine. It's quite frankly, embarrassing, at her age, although it has to be said that 'Junior Her' is not much better.

On Twitter, there has been a plethora of puppy photos and videos and even over the playing field I'm not safe. I have a friend, an ageing Labrador called Trigger, whose owner is seriously considering getting a youngster to keep Trigger company in her old age. She was discussing with 'Her Indoors' whether or not this would be a good thing for Trigger, enlivening her twilight years with a youthful presence, helping her find her inner puppy, or a bad thing with the new pup being the focus of everyone's attention and the young upstart plaguing the life out of a senior who just wants to snooze in peace. The final outcome is, as yet, undecided.

If it was down to 'Her Indoors' I would probably have had a little apprentice some time ago, but she has 'Him Indoors' to contend with. He finds it difficult to tolerate one elderly dog let alone an energetic, incontinent pup. Also, 'Her Indoors' feels that I'm now too old to happily tolerate a new addition and I think she might be right. I find very young dogs a bit much even when I'm out on my walks. All that youthful energy jumping up and wanting to play when I just want to sniff the grass, at some length, and read the peemail.

Although I'm pretty lively for a senior, I suspect 'Her Indoors' misses me being young and going for long, bracing, country walks. However, I think she may have found a solution to that. On Twitter, she saw a charity called the Cinnamon Trust who help dog owners who are elderly or ill and cannot walk their dogs.  Apparently there is just such a person near to us, so she's filled in an application form. She had to give more references than she did for a recent DBS check, but if she's approved, she's going to take a couple of dogs out on a regular basis. I've given the plan my blessing, provided she doesn't bring them home with her, which is always a risk. After all, I was young once, and I  take my duties to the next generation very seriously, which is why I offer my services as a senior mentor to the Border Terrier pups on Twitter. I wouldn't want them growing up to be all meek and well-behaved, after all, there's a proud tradition to be maintained.....!

Ooooh soooo cuuuute!

Chosing my family!

Love at first sight!