Old Dogs and New Tricks 

by Lorilynn Bowles

Late one afternoon I was having a glass of wine at the far end of our back garden. It was one of those perfect pre-summer days and I had the doors and windows wide open. My neighbor had just arrived home from work and I called out to her to join me. She came through the gate; my pack greeted her warmly then dispersed. Having been neighbors for years, she is used to us having 3 or 4 retrievers at any given time. We humans sipped and chatted.

"Awww-oooo," a mournful howl came from the house.

"Who's that?" asked my neighbor.

"It's Quinn."

"Is he trapped in there?"

"No, no" I said, "the doors are all open. Another glass?"

Once again "Awww-ooo" emanated from the house sounding like the track of an old black and white horror movie. "Rhu-uuuu", a second canine voice" joined in.

"Yes, I'd love another glass," my neighbor responded casually."So what's going on in there?"

"Well, the first howl was Quinn", I explained as I reached for the bottle. "That's what he does when the phone rings. We just didn't hear it out here. Then Annie-dog joined in because somebody left a message. She only starts if she hears a voice."

"I guess you never miss a call." My neighbor picked up her glass. "This wine is good, what is it?"

One of the benefits to living on the same street for a long time is that you don't need to explain yourself.   People around you accept that you are eccentric, or they move. But I digress.....Our youngest Retriever, Annie, has only recently joined in the telephone chorus - it's something our older male, Quinn, has taught her. Like any little sister she adores her older brother and does not want to be left out of the fun. We have chosen to find this charming. While it occasionally can be a distraction, like when you don't want to answer the phone, it has proven to be beneficial in ways you just could not imagine.

Recently I was upstairs in our home office desperately trying to get up to speed on a new software program. Cell phone to my ear I was patiently waiting for a help desk person to pick up the line.

"This is Justin, how can I assist you today?"

"Hi Justin, I'm trying to get a link from this email to our website, can you help me?"

"Sure, no problem." His breezy response made me feel vaguely confident. "All you do is click on blang, blang, and install the wazzy flinger, then blang, blang, blang."

I knew I was lost; he may have well been speaking Greek. "Back up a little Justin, you'll have to slow down for me." I decided to play the 'nice older-lady card.' "I'm in my fifties and really new to this."

"Oh"

Poor Justin, you could almost hear the aguish in his voice. Yet another pathetic member of the AARP was on his line. My charming grandmother act was clearly not going to work. Then the house phone rang and I knew those dogs would start howling. I was not going to give up my place in the help line. Justin was just going to have to tough it out. "Awww-oooo" and "Rhu-uuu" rang out in the background. "Sounds like you have some dogs" said Justin. I detected a little thawing in his manner.

"Yes, I have four. All Golden Retrievers."

"Golden Retrievers! I had a Golden Retriever growing-up!"

Bingo! Justin was a Retriever person! I listen to his stories about "Buddy" who was obviously the best dog that ever walked the planet. I told him a little about The Rescue. We were now officially simpatico. Justin held my hand, metaphorically speaking, for the next half an hour. He had the patience of a saint and was as helpful as anyone could be. Reading the newsletter in its new format you are bearing witness to the fruit of his kindness. Goes to show that with a little patience, and very rudimentary explanation, an old dog can learn a new trick!