Nicky, the Dunaway Manor Dog
Nicky, the Dunaway Manor dog is now almost 9 years old. For the past three and a half years, he has lived with his mistress, Ethel Clifton, at the manor. Nicky is a quiet dog, a small Rat Terrier, friendly, but not overly so. You can almost count the number of times he has put his voice to work. One night when someone passed away unexpectedly, Nicky did bark. And one night within one minute of someone’s seizure, Nicky barked. If you have a dog at home, Nicky will be sure to smell your feet and be friendly. If you don’t like dogs, Nicky will not bother you. He always likes to greet Hannah, the companion dog, who makes a call every Thursday. He loves to meet the children who come to visit and he loves to perform his small repertoire of tricks.
Ethel would be lost without Nicky although she can’t tell you how long she has had him, (she suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease), she does have this one thing to "worry" about.
He comes and goes by himself waiting at the door for someone to let him out or in. Sometimes going to the patio. He doesn’t go in the dining room or the feeding room. He doesn’t get into the waste paper basket. He will pick up the tidbit on the floor and his favorite treat is Beggin’ Strips - any flavor!
At nine years of age, Nicky is 63 human years old, but Ethel is 88. In another year, Nicky will be 72 and Ethel 89, so their ages are getting closer all the time.
We don’t know the record for how long a dog has lived at a nursing home, but three and a half years is quite a trophy. Most everyone likes Nicky and he likes everybody. When Ethel broke her hip 2 years ago, the nurses named him "a therapeutic dog", for he could calm Ethel down in just a moment, indeed, his very presence seemed to do that. Nicky is not the only dog at Dunaway manor, for one other dog, Niko, a toy poodle, the pet of Margaret Johnson, lives there too. We are thankful for this small pleasure in the latter, and trying time of life.©Joan Clifton Costner