She sleeps roughly 18 to 22 hours a day.

She goes out for short walks a couple of times a week, never venturing far off the beaten track.

She doesn't fraternize with her own furry kind on tri-weekly jaunts around the suburb; she conserves her energy for human contact.

She's a bit of an exhibitionist. She only poops when a band of tradies or people pushing prams are within sight.

She takes pills for arthritis but nothing else in the way of drugs. That's not too bad for an 87-year-old, medium-sized dog. (Seemingly, dog age in human years is related to their frame size. I thought she was closer to 100, so I feel like she's gained a good decade since discovering that fun fact online this week!)

Every morning she gets vet formula dry food and just enough fancy dog casserole from the supermarket to swallow her medicine. This COVID-19 pandemic has also provided her with extra "human food" because school kids are simply suckers, by design!

In a former life when friends dropped by, she flapped around like a spring chicken, circling them for what seemed like the whole visit, probably because it was, in fact, the whole visit. (Schoolmate sleepovers were a proper workout for her!)

When we got home from the office or school, it was the same deal.

However, with COVID-19 restrictions in place since mid-March, there has been little in the way of comings and goings for many of us.

We desperately want to have a chat with the posties and couriers but they're busier than ever.

"You sure you don't need me to sign for that parcel?!" you ask to hopefully delay them a mere minute.

"Oh, you're off now, already!

"It feels like you just got here.

"Thanks for dropping by, well, almost."

When my teenage daughter's friend, who was out exercising with one other, knocked at our front door for a quick hello recently, our near 90-year-old dog was just beside herself.

She skated up and down our floating floorboards; her long claws unable to get a grip. Like all of us, she's well overdue for her quarterly groom and toenail trim.

Even with her failing hearing and eyesight, our dog was delighted at the prospect of a visitor - other than a postie or stray cat - on our front porch.

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Now with the Victorian government easing restrictions to allow home visits from Wednesday after NSW got the ball rolling on May 2, many people and their pooches will be well relieved.

Albury residents could already welcome two visitors at a time to their home, but those in Wodonga will this week also be able to visit family and friends. People in either state will be able to have five others in their home - and 10 outside - allowed in Victoria from Wednesday ahead of NSW on Friday.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is drawing the line at sleepovers but NSW has not banned overnight stays (just don't call it a holiday!).

When we visited our NSW family at the weekend for the first time in weeks, our offspring did not let them or their "fur babies" too far out of their sight, not for any device or Zoom class. We ate cake and played UNO and Bananagrams for two hours, proving absence makes the heart grow fonder.

But as we reunite with family and friends in the coming days and weeks, we mustn't get too labradoodle-excited about it.

If our loved ones have compromised health, we will need to think hard about the visit.

We will need to keep washing our hands often.

We will need to stay home if we have even the slightest cold or flu symptoms.

We must give everybody outside our own four walls some personal space ie. no hugging, kissing or licking!!

I'm hoping we'll be able to teach our old dog some new tricks!

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