If you are at our house and desire to use our downstairs guest bathroom, chances are you will have some company. Our young golden retriever Bobbi has recently reverted to some strange behavior which we saw from her a few months ago – in which she spends most of her waking hours lying in our bathroom with her snout pointed towards the back corner and her neck resting on the base of the stool. When she first did this, the vet surmised that she was doing it because she had an inflamed throat and lying on the cool porcelain made it feel better. This time around, we think it’s because she has a spot of painful inflammation just below her right ear – Kathy calls it a “hot spot” – and again is doing something which seems to make it feel better. (And it will have to suffice until we can get her into the vet’s office for a better solution.)
In the meantime, when you step into the bathroom to do your thing, it’s very likely that Bobbi will be there, looking up at you with those soulful eyes of hers as if to say “may I help you?” And truth be told, there’s not a whole lot of help she can give but there’s something sort of sweet about her seeming to offer it.