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I moved with my dog two years ago. I have kept all the routines concerning the dog. Meals, walks, daily routine.

I didn't really realize that the dog didn't have a “proper” “own” place in the new apartment, although he has two, no three (bedroom counts as well) places to lie down with a dog basket made of padded fabric.

He never really accepted these places and often ran after me (shadow) and then lay down where I was sitting.

Today I know that he has never accepted any of these three places as his “home”.

A few days ago we went out for a walk again. It was raining and with a white Golden Retriever the whole “underbody” is black rather than white afterwards. So I took a big towel at home to clean and dry him off. For whatever reason, I took a towel from the pile of dog towels that I had never used in the past two years, but had always used in the old apartment.

I then laid this towel on the floor in the living room and placed the dog on it. Hours later he was still lying on it. Even when he went to the water to drink, he would lie on the towel again. The next night and the next day he was always lying on the towel.

Then he got a cold. He became noticeably slower on our walks.

So I recapitulated everything I wrote here and am convinced that by remembering his old towel, he has found his “home” again and resolved a stinky conflict.

The cold is allowed to heal in peace.