A Paws a Day

You never decided to feel that. A sound simply learnt what usually follows it.

Your doorbell has been learning too. For many dogs, the ring is followed by the same thirty seconds: everyone leaps up, someone shouts “Quiet!”, feet thunder down the hall, a stranger fills the doorway and a hand grabs her collar. No wonder she’s flying before anyone has stood up.

You’d change a ringtone that spoilt your Sundays. You can change what the doorbell means, too. Give her a bed in the kitchen, away from the door, where good things land. When nobody’s there, play the bell on your phone, quietly at first, and scatter treats on her bed. Turn it up only once she’s happy. Before long the ring means “something’s landing on my bed”, and she’s off to check.

Then, when a real visitor comes, she has somewhere to be. The hello can wait until the coats are off and the kettle’s on: calmer for everyone, especially her.

Dogs have them too, and the yawn is one we often misread. Your dog yawns in the vet’s waiting room, though she slept all afternoon. She yawns when your nephew wraps both arms round her neck, and when you lean over her to clip on the lead. It looks like boredom. More often, it’s her clearing her throat.

So when a yawn turns up in a moment that isn’t sleepy, take it as a quiet message. Give her a little room: ask your nephew for a high five instead of a hug, step back a pace, let her have a sniff. Then notice what happened just before, because that’s what she was telling you about.

A yawn at bedtime is just a yawn. A yawn at the vet’s is a sentence.

For many dogs, a lick on the face is the same thing. It often starts as a puppy’s greeting, a lick at a grown-up’s mouth, and it can stay her way of saying hello to the people she loves.

The trouble is what we do next. We squeal, laugh, screw our eyes shut and wriggle, and to a dog that’s the best game in the house. So the hello gets bigger, faster and wetter, and the visiting toddler ends up licked from chin to fringe.

You don’t have to stop her saying hello. Just teach her one you both enjoy. Crouch beside her rather than face to face, and scratch her chest while her paws are on the floor. If the tongue comes out, stand up quietly for a moment, then try again when she’s settled.

After all, you learnt the Paris hello eventually. Well, nearly.