Happy Bonfire night Dora D.

Dora D? Dora being her given name, D being the initial of the family surname. Ever since picking her up from The Dogs Trust, Shoreham nearly thirteen years ago, Dora would only ever bark at suddenly being spooked or by loud bangs such as fireworks. She has never been a dog to bark for the sake of it. If the intercom to the flat was to go she will sit at the front door expectantly, tail wagging and waiting to pounce on the person who was visiting. Dora has ( like most pets ) an enormous dislike of fireworks and this time of year stresses her out unbelievably. Well over the last couple of months we have noticed a change in her behaviour in regards to her hearing, where once she would jump off of our bed when we returned home, she will remain there and we can now go into our bedroom and she will not be aware of our presence until she can see us. Also whenever a packet ( be it snacks or perhaps a cleaning product ) was opened, you could count on her being by your side in nanno seconds, hence her nickname, Rustle. I checked with our dog sitter if she had noticed any change in Dora's behaviour when she had her a couple of weeks ago. She replied that she had noticed that her recall wasn't what it used to be and that perhaps she could be going a bit mutton!!

Tonight I decided to take her for her evening walk when the fireworks would be going off most often, to see if indeed that her hearing is going. I have not done this on bonfire night before as I know how stressed she would get. Well she had her nose down as usual and did not batter an eyelid at the bangs and lights that were going off in the distance. Suddenly a wave of happiness, followed by melancholy came over me as it confirmed my suspicions were indeed correct. Happiness that she could go about her business without getting stressed out but sadness at the fact that it made me realise just how far she was into her life and that old age was creeping up on her. Just as I was feeling sad about the situation a large fizz, bang firework went off over or heads sending Dora scatty and for me to release what I can only describe as a girly scream. For a brief moment I was glad that it seemed she was back to normal and that I was proved wrong, then after walking a little further on, just behind us another fizz, bang firework went off and this time not so much as a flinch. Here's hoping that there's plenty of life in the old dog yet.


Time for a relaxing belly rub...

The Andy Naylor Fan Club said:

Dora D? Dora being her given name, D being the initial of the family surname. Ever since picking her up from The Dogs Trust, Shoreham nearly thirteen years ago, Dora would only ever bark at suddenly being spooked or by loud bangs such as fireworks. She has never been a dog to bark for the sake of it. If the intercom to the flat was to go she will sit at the front door expectantly, tail wagging and waiting to pounce on the person who was visiting. Dora has ( like most pets ) an enormous dislike of fireworks and this time of year stresses her out unbelievably. Well over the last couple of months we have noticed a change in her behaviour in regards to her hearing, where once she would jump off of our bed when we returned home, she will remain there and we can now go into our bedroom and she will not be aware of our presence until she can see us. Also whenever a packet ( be it snacks or perhaps a cleaning product ) was opened, you could count on her being by your side in nanno seconds, hence her nickname, Rustle. I checked with our dog sitter if she had noticed any change in Dora's behaviour when she had her a couple of weeks ago. She replied that she had noticed that her recall wasn't what it used to be and that perhaps she could be going a bit mutton!!

Tonight I decided to take her for her evening walk when the fireworks would be going off most often, to see if indeed that her hearing is going. I have not done this on bonfire night before as I know how stressed she would get. Well she had her nose down as usual and did not batter an eyelid at the bangs and lights that were going off in the distance. Suddenly a wave of happiness, followed by melancholy came over me as it confirmed my suspicions were indeed correct. Happiness that she could go about her business without getting stressed out but sadness at the fact that it made me realise just how far she was into her life and that old age was creeping up on her. Just as I was feeling sad about the situation a large fizz, bang firework went off over or heads sending Dora scatty and for me to release what I can only describe as a girly scream. For a brief moment I was glad that it seemed she was back to normal and that I was proved wrong, then after walking a little further on, just behind us another fizz, bang firework went off and this time not so much as a flinch. Here's hoping that there's plenty of life in the old dog yet.


Time for a relaxing belly rub...
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Sweet and sour. It gets very sad at the prospect of losing a beloved pet.

Our cat was a street cat here and runs from all sorts of things. Especially scared of workmen. But fireworks (Here in Malta there is a festa virtually every week from May -September and there are loud fireworks most wekends) he doesn't bother at all.