It's a Dog's Life: A month of change

Teddy experiences the trials and tribulations of spring from clock changes to grooming sessions, as his human interpreter, Helen Stockton, tells us

March is a month of change. As the old saying goes, ‘it comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb’. Well, I’m not surewe have many lions roaming around the Sussex countryside, at least I hope not, but I reckon there will be quite a few lambs about by the end of the month, which, like the appearance of primroses and daffodils, area welcome harbinger of the move into spring.

I’m generally not a dog who likes change. I prefer to know what’s what in my life, and the older I get, the more set in my waysI become. And March isn’t just about a seasonal transition; it also has one of those annoying clock adjustments. You can tell ‘Her Indoors’ has owned her car for too long, as she can actually change the clock without getting the instruction booklet out. Just one step away from the scrap heap...the car, I mean, not ‘Her Indoors’, although having said that, they’ve both got a bit of mileage on the clock!

And talking of clocks, I have a finally tunedbody clock which doesn’t recognise moving timings around by an hour. The spring change is more welcome than the autumn as it means I get my meals an hour early. However, it also varies the timing of my walk, so I don’t know when to make myself scarce in order to try and avoid being dragged out on an improving bout of exercise.

Whilst most of us are naturally a bit resistant to change, there are some welcome ones, like going on holiday. There’s nothing like invigorating, fresh scenery with new scents to sniff. We have a motorhome, and one of the advantages of that is that you can alter the outside environment whilst keeping the inside one familiar. I expect that’s one of the reasons why ‘Them Indoors’ like motorhoming too. However, I don’t like all the preparations that precede a break, as they interrupt my routine and make me unsettled.

‘Them Indoors’ try to arrange for ‘Him Indoors’ to pack whilst I’m out on my walks with ‘Her Indoors’, but they can’t deceive me for long. I then wander around following close on the heels of ‘Her Indoors’, looking anxious, until I am finally escorted to my bed in the motorhome, where I can relax, secure in a familiar environment.

The spring change is more welcome than the autumnas it means I get my meals an hour early. And some changes are a mixed blessing. Take the groomers, for example. I don’t much enjoy being doused with water and shampoo, but the warmair dryer afterwards isquite pleasant at this timeof year. And there is allthe fussing I get from my physical transformation; less lion and more lamb, how appropriate!