Dogs all have their own personalities. Our friend Brandy visited us recently, and our little dog Lucky played coy with her, shy about giving her a kiss. Troy the Giant Dog is a kissing fiend, so maybe he can give Lucky some lessons. Lucky might be able to give Troy some lessons on looking cute. Troy tries, but he's so big that the puppy act just doesn't seem quite right. Neither Troy nor Lucky understand "fetch" as well as Maggie does. Lucky chases a tossed toy, but then hangs onto it. Troy chases a tossed toy, but usually doesn't even try to pick it up. It's sort of like he doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by being possessive. I don't completely understand dog behavior, but there seem to be some breed characteristics in propensities to retrieve, herd, etc. At present, we don't have a dog who scolds us like little Sula did.
David finished the new doghouse for our geriatric dogs, Sparky and Dottie, before the rain. It's by the garage door. The little fluffy puppy next door seems to feel threatened by their proximity. He was left alone this weekend, in the neighbor's garage, with the side door open. He's been barking constantly. I tried "group dog biscuit" therapy to increase his comfort level - feeding him biscuits at the same time the other dogs got theirs. Seemed to help.
Troy the Giant Dog and Maggie the Warrior Queen have been chewing on the wooden gate south of the house in an apparent slow escape attempt. Troy's nose is frequently seen under the gate from the other side, checking out the action in the front yard. Time for reinforcement.
A couple of days ago little Lucky found a bottle of cooking oil which I had left on the kitchen floor in a grocery bag (temporarily, I thought). He dragged it under the dining table, chewed off the cap, punctured the seal and began licking the oil. It didn't show in the carpet, but it was there, spreading deep through the fibers. He then dragged the bottle into the bedroom and started licking again. The bottle was missing about three cups of oil, and we weren't sure how much went into Lucky. So we watched him carefully and took him outside often overnight. He's O.K.
Resolved: don't put grocery bags on the floor even for a few minutes when there's a dog around.
In celebrity dog news: I'm shocked at this fraud. She's not a pitbull, and she's not even wearing lipstick. Thank goodness.
THE LAST POST
11 years ago
1 comment:
Your dogs sound really lovely! We only have the one - Max, a roan Cocker Spaniel (the English sort). After our lovely little mongrel Ben died (from sheer old age) we vowed never to have another dog, but family problems arose - and we got the dog! Before Ben we had Waggs, a wonderful Springer Spaniel/Border Collie cross bitch. Oh, how I cried and cried when she died, I still feel bereft, aven after 20 years!!!
However, Max is with us, and is a single-minded dog - FOOD! He is the greediest dog I have ever known!
Apart from the dogs I have a husband, a married daughter and two huge teenage grandsons. The oldest lives in New York with his father. I live in a rather wet and windy north of England. Could do with a bit fo Californian sunshine right now!
By the way, I found your link on Ken Writez blog - I know him from the Ship of Fools website.
Post a Comment