A post should appear every Sunday

Sunday July 23rd 2023

From Sunday to Thursday, I continue to take Isis to walk in Kings Heath Park. She is still not keen to linger, but, as usual, is more amenable when it’s dull and drizzly, much less co-operative when it’s bright, and very discomfited when it’s one of those off and on days which have been all too frequent this July.

From time to time, she continues the stopping and standing behaviour, looking confused and not moving until I go to her.

She consistently stops after a yard or so, and waits for me to catch up with her. Before, she would happily bomb off down to the bottom bowling green without a backward sniff.

Not now.

She is increasingly clingy at home, barking if I stay upstairs too long, uneasy if she’s not sure where I am. She is desperate not to be left behind if I leave the house, although she is always perfectly calm and relaxed when I return.

I think that something is amiss physiologically, that she has suffered some sensory loss or change, or is displaying signs of early doggy dementia.

Bev, who has also observed her carefully, disagrees. She is convinced that Isis has just lost her confidence, and that the frequent and, latterly, long separations from me when I’ve needed to spend time in Yorkshire, are at the root of her problems.

So still no answers.

On Friday, we walk in Highbury with Bev and Nancy. This is the first time for at least two weeks that Isis and I have ventured anywhere other than Kings Heath Park, so I am not optimistic about her behaviour. I expect her either to balk at stepping through the gate, or to have a sniff around and then refuse to go any further.

I’m wrong.

We wait for Nancy to enter the park, as Isis won’t get out of the car if a curly face blocks the doorway, even if the curly face belongs to her best friend. Nancy, whose motto must be good will to all men, women and dogs, waits patiently for the treat she is certain she will be given when I greet her.

To my surprise (to put it mildly) Isis immediately finds the scents which have accumulated since her last visit and is fully occupied with sniffing them. She is inquisitive,  alert, and unafraid. Sometimes, her muzzle must be tickling Nancy’s as they both investigate the same alluring spot.

Isis’s tail stays aloft throughout the entire walk, even when she decides that she won’t complete the ascent to the Highbury Hall terrace, and has to be put on her lead.

Since Highbury Hall is undergoing serious refurbishment, Lee, who has a coffee franchise, has been asked to set up at the end of the terrace. Tony, Bev’s husband, has already sampled the coffee and declared it excellent. We walk up to order a flat white and a  cappuccino, then enjoy a chat with Lee. Bev goes back a few yards to sit on a bench – don’t be silly, Isis, it really was only a few yards – while I continue my conversation with Lee. He has a collection box for Birmingham Dogs’ Home, and takes his stall to any special events animal centres hold.

When I attempt, coffee in hand, Isis on lead, to join Bev on the bench, Isis segues into absolute refusal mode. To her way of thinking, if there is one totally unacceptable move Human can make, it’s to require a dog to retrace its pawsteps. It’s a battle if I drop a used dog bag on the pavement and have to go back a few feet to retrieve it. It’s a declaration of war to try to persuade a dog who knows she’s on the homeward stretch, to walk back to the bench we’ve just passed.

Isis sits down very firmly. No way is she giving way. I huff and puff and mutter. All to no avail. No way is the coffee going to survive the altercation: If I let go of the hairy pest’s lead, she’ll march off past Lee and his coffee, and make her way towards Oaktree Road where the car is parked.

Fortunately, Bev comes to the rescue, grabs hold of Isis’s lead and shunts her reluctant bottom step by step to the bench. Here dear Nancy is sitting, obediently waiting for the resumption of normality. (Perhaps she’ll receive a treat in recognition of the excellent example she’s setting.)

Once she reaches the bench, Isis lies down calmly on the grass as though nothing untoward has happened.

Amazingly, my coffee is still hot, and it’s first class. We agree that Highbury Hall’s proposed new café will have a long way to go to equal Lee’s delicious brew.

Can’t wait for the next one.

And Isis? Wherever we walk, somehow she always knows when we’re on our way back, even if there’s a long way to go. Today is no exception: she trots happily along the tracks and onto the drive which leads down to the lodge.

She even receives a fond face lick from Nancy.

Does she deserve it? No she does not.

But as the wise Bruno Bettelheim* once commented, everyone needs love, especially those who do not deserve it!

Isis came from Aeza cat and dog rescue in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@azea.org or go to http://www.dogwatch.co.uk.

* Bertholt Bettelheim, psychologist.