Say hello to Scout. This is what I call Scout’s ‘Hyper Look.’ Her eyes narrow a bit and her tongue gets very pink. Ditto for her ears and the skin around her eyes. She’s a border collie, therefore she’s very, very smart and very, very high energy. At the grand old age of 13 1/2, she still has more energy than most puppies do. She’s slowed down a bit, but given the right circumstances, she will cavort as if she’s 6 months old rather than the matronly 13 that she is.
An interesting change has occurred in the last couple of years. Well, there are a couple of them. First of all, Scout has become that elderly lady who nags and speaks her mind and doesn’t give a hoot what you think. Where she used to quietly wait by the door to be let back into the house, now she starts barking immediately and doesn’t stop until I let her in. If she wants something, she is relentless in her nagging, She’s always been sassy, but now? Oh my. She’s become an elderly brat.
She’s my role model. That’s how I’m going to be when I get older. I will say what I want to say when I want to say it. I will demand my due, knowing I’ve earned it, for heaven’s sake. I’ll speak my mind.
Here’s the other thing about Scout nowadays. She wants to eat. All the time. I’m feeding her the same amount of food as I always have. She used to have to be coaxed to eat. Not any more. That girl can put it away. She knows exactly when we are within an hour of her time to eat and bugs me non-stop until I make the move toward her food.
Remember when she was so sick recently and we couldn’t get her to eat? We talked to the doctor about it and he said he would write a prescription for something to stimulate her appetite. After giving it to her for a day or two, she became ravenous. She wolfed down all her food and then proceeded to stand over Riley as he ate, waiting to swoop in there and grab anything left in his bowl. I once came out of the bathroom to find her with her head in his bowl as he was calming eating his food. She had a maniacal look on her face as she gobbled up every morsel she could. The nerve!
She got in trouble for that.
What had come over her? Suspicious, I looked at the label on the prescription bottle. “Dex.” Uh…would that be Dexadrine? A stimulant?
My girl was ‘hopped up’ on drugs.
Her already healthy appetite tripled….quadrupled. As we weaned her off the Dex (according to the directions on the label) she became a bit more sane. A wee bit more lady-like.
She still waits for Riley to finish his meal, so she can eat anything he’s left or, at the very least, lick his bowl. She still gives me that unblinking border collie stare until I get her dinner. And the other day? Don had a tuna sandwich and left the paper napkin he had been using wadded up on the coffee table. In the meantime, both of us were out of the room for a short period of time. We came back to find shredded paper everywhere. What?? Scout never does that! This girl has never been the kind of dog who gets into things. And it certainly wasn’t Riley, who can’t even get up on his own.
It wasn’t until I sniffed the paper that I detected the scent of tuna and put two and two together.
She got in trouble for that, too.
Oh, that girl! She has never, not for a single second, been boring. She is so fascinating and interesting and funny and smart and obsessive and nuts. She’s high maintenance but oh, so worth it.
Love you, my girl. And no, it’s not time to eat yet.
My Yorkie is like that with food. She would never stop eating if it was up to her. Our Springer could care less. The Springer was on a home cooked diet this week and loved it.
Your comment about being a sassy old lady reminded me of something funny that happened this week, trust me most events were not of the happy nature. I went to visit my MIL in the nursing home. I sat down and she said, “I don’t know who you are but you are OLD.” Out of the mouths of Babes….no sassy old ladies.
Just found your wonderful blog and read the story about Scout with great interest… she looks like a lovely dog!
Cute description of Scout…High on Dex!! Too funny..Hope he’s doing OK…
Appetite. Funny you mentioned that. The pain pills I’m still taking have dulled my appetite and when I do have an appetite it tends more to “comfort” food and not the fiber I should be eating. Funny that!
So I’m truly understanding her. I’m also an old lady who speaks her mind but I’m also gracious and not too obnoxious. Uuuuuh, well, at the ER the other day with a friend taking me, the episode could be called “Thelma & Louise Do St. Alphonsus’ ER.” I doubt they’ve recovered and may never be the same. :-)
But I truly believe, sugar, that older women can be given a bit more license since we’ve pretty much seen it all and done more than we should have!
xoxo to Scout,
Connie
LOL…what a character!!!
XO Kris
What a fun post! LOL! Dogs and cats can be so much fun and have so much character! xo Jennifer
LOL… KIDS! you gotta love em!…
:-)
Well, I know what time it is here. So I imagine she’s starting to really bug you to eat. The dogs here are getting bored because I’m prone so much. Abi has taken to shredding bits of paper that fall her way too. Gonna be 110. Oh boy…
Brenda
Hi Claudia. What a lovely introduction and implied invitation to allow us to brag a bit. We had our K.C., a Shih Tzu, for seventeen years. Like most that have gone through the heartbreak of burying a pet, I said nevermore. Until a lab mix wandered into my life. The neighbor called him a thief, justified. They called him a hooligan, justified. They sternly asked me what I was going to do with that dog. I squared my sassy old shoulders, looked them straight in the eye and said I was going to keep him. After a hidden buried dog fence and a collar, a trip to the vet was the next step. You can imagine my dismay to find out this big dog was only a puppy. Two years latter I’m still totally besotted with my seventy-eight pound lap dog.
Claudia, When you said she nags, speaks her mind, and doesn’t care…well call me Scout:):)But I laughed about her being “hopped up”. Gosh even our poor dogs have to watch out for addition. Hope she’s settle down now. Smiles, Susie
You are describing activities at our house as well, Claudia. Only it is my male dog that has gone from being a slow, picky eater to hovering over other “folks” bowls.
When you said the other day that you and Don have to repeatedly tell them to move as you are trying to walk, I related completely to that too! Sending good thoughts to Riley and you.
Claudia, I really enjoyed this post. Scout is my kind of girl!
Sue
xo
My cocker started acting like this when she was 13 yrs. old. She was ravenous. When we were at the vet’s he checked her over and found that she had Cushing’s disease.
It’s probably nothing, but you might have Scout tested.
Balisha
Claudia ~ Scout is an old matron. She may be a little…hmmmmm…losing it a little. All dogs do it. Like alzheimers but not quite. Just love her. She is your buddy. Take it a day at a time. I know it’s frustrating but, she can’t speak for herself to tell you what she is feeling. Give her a hug ;-)
Hi Claudia, we have three dogs, a 10 year old lab mix named India, a 9 year old dalmatian named Gracie and a 10 year old dachshund named Halo..Feeding time here is a zoo. they all absolutely KNOW when it is time..It takes an act of gymnastics (not easy for this old broad) to get to the bowls, fill the bowls, add a bit of warm water to the bowls, stir the bowls..India eats in one place, Gracie in another, and Halo, poor little guy, has to eat in the bedroom..Then begins the dance. Each one goes to the others bowls, sniffs, licks it..heaven forbid one of them leave a morsel..we enjoy them each day as they are getting older, we don’t get as upset at little things they do, so whats a little shredded trash! Enjoy Scout and Riley!!
Barb
What a lady, well at least she waits now until Riley is finished.
My sister’s dog is on a steroid, it makes them ravenous also…poor baby.
Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams
I am quite familiar with that unrelenting Aussi stare!