Learning from Old Dogs

There's some truth in the expression You can't teach an old dog new tricks. The lesser known rest of that is that Old dogs will teach you what they know.

As M&M have settled into their new life with me, I've noticed a few things:

• They know how to behave in a house. No puddles to clean up!
• They are used to being petted and loved.
  
• They don't beg for food, in fact, even if I drop something on the floor, they leave it alone.
• They are very comfortable with being outside. They are happy to plop down in the grass & hang out. I suspect that they were outside during nice weather. Perhaps they had an invisible fence?
  
• They are both leash-trained. No tugging, and they walk along side or slightly behind.
• They don't enter a doorway ahead of me. They wait and then follow. I never knew about this rule until my brother told me that dogs are supposed to enter after humans. Then I saw it on the Dog Whisperer.
• They know not to chew on anything.
• They don't root thru the trash.
• They will, however, drink from the toilet. Eeewww!!!

In addition, they've learned a coupla things from me. I give their vitamins/meds in a glob of cream cheese. I always say, "Oh, boyeeee...." before I give it to them. Now when I say that, they start to drool. Hahaha I also massage them in the evening when I watch TV. Now when I go to the living room and turn the TV on, they go and plop in their beds.

It's interesting to see what patterns of behaviour they have, and what new ones they can adopt. Even if they're old dogs. :-)