You CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

I have had Monty for getting on for four years. Unlike my two girls he never really showed any interest in toys whether it was to cuddle or to chase (only puzzle types that you hide food in!) but recently he has had a change of heart and behavior.

Both the girls regularly pick up, toss, fight over and cuddle ‘teddies’ (I refer to all cuddlies as teddies) and when they do I generally tell them how clever and good they are. No, there is nothing particularly clever about playing with toys, but I do love to see them having fun. Monty used to just look on, but over the last few weeks he has seemed to look at me encouraging the girls with a ‘left out’ look on his face and then make half hearted attempts to pick them up or bite them (the toys, not the girls!). Obviously I lavished praise on him for being such a clever, good boy every time he did this so over time he has made the effort to carry them about and toss them quite enthusiastically, he has also begun to regularly take teddies to bed with him and actively cuddle them, rather than them just being in the same place as him.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a packet of plastic balls and, as I always do, I gave each of the dogs one. Ordinarily Monty just drops balls and ignores them, but on that occasion he took it away with him, dropped it and picked it up a few times the followed it and fetched it when I rolled it for him, then took it to bed with him. Quite good progress I felt. Today I went into a charity shop and bought them each a cuddly toy. Again, although I always buy three, Monty tends to ignore his, but today he took one very willingly and tossed it about jumping and leaping at it and then swiped the one Aisha had and threw that about as well, after a while he took both to bed with him.

It’s so lovely watching him play with all the enthusiasm of a puppy, jumping, leaping, play bowing, twisting and turning, dashing out and back in again with excitement simply because he has a new toy even though I am used to this type of behavior from the girls. This new found pleasure really seems to have brought youth back to a dog that is well into his middle age and just goes to show that old(er) dogs can, not only learn new tricks, but grow to really enjoy them as well.

Monty has changed so much from the dog I took in, originally as a foster, who was very needy (and quite naughty!), to a relaxed fun loving and playful dog. Rather than aging over time he seems to get younger and more full of life. With some of the homed dogs it can take more time for them to settle, adjust, thrive and really show their personality, but when they do it is well worth the hard work and the wait.

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