Ella versus the Kong

My dog, Ella, is an old dog. I got her from the humane society four years ago at which point we estimated her to be five years old. Shortly thereafter we discovered that both hips were in extremely bad condition - arthritis, trauma, something had happened in her past. My vet told me we should add on five to seven years on whatever age we thought she was, making her anywhere from ten to twelve at that point. Four years ago, remember. So I expect Ella is anywhere above the age of twelve, although if I'm being honest I think that's a kind estimate. She's gone almost entirely deaf since I got her, though her health is otherwise pretty good (knock on wood!) It took her a bit longer to recover from her dental a couple of weeks ago and we discovered a grade I heart murmur just after she went down under the gas.

Anyway. Ella is not only old, she's an interesting character. She has an aloofness to her around most other people, a sort of old lady, prissy dog dignity that makes her come across as too good for a lot of things. Such as romping with my sister's adorable Boston Terrier pup Trudy, playing with toys, coming immediately when called, overt displays of enthusiasm and the like. She isn't an overly affectionate dog to anyone (myself included) but she has her ways of showing that she does in fact love some people more than others. Although the 'some people' group is very limited!

Being so dignified (or snooty), she doesn't much care for toys. But today we went to Petco and I bought her a treat-dispensing Kong, hoping it'll give her something exciting to do while I'm away at school for hours on end. And to my surprise, she actually worked on it! Not in a crazed, starved, wild dog fashion but far moreso than I expected. I may end up altering the toy to make it a little easier (she's given up now) but overall I'm kind of happy about it all. Ella is not above everything in this life! And because I can, here's a picture of Ella scoping out the toy (obviously I'm no photographer, but you get the idea).