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THE DOG LISTENER 4 October 2006 OK. I'm no Cesar Millan, but when you spend as much time with dogs as I do, you start to be able to hear what they're saying. Sort of.
We're beginning to talk about Rosie (formerly "Happy") becoming a permanent part of the family. It's easier to imagine it now that Mini is gone and we are down to only two dogs again. I was so glad that it worked out for Mini to leave today. I was afraid that being around these two bigger dogs was going to turn her mean. I didn't like how much she growled whenever anybody (with 2 or 4 feet) came near her, except me. I went off to get my teeth cleaned and to go shopping and decided not to cage anybody, since I would only be gone a short time. I was gone about an hour and a half. I don't know what went on in my absence. Nothing seemed out of place, nobody pooped, nothing was knocked over, but Sheila wouldn't come downstairs. Not to greet me, not when I called her to get a treat, nothing. She kept peeking around the corner of the stairs, as if she knew she was in trouble, but I couldn't figure out what she was in trouble for. Eventually she joined us again and the melee started. Those two dogs are better than television. I just sit and laugh at them all day long. They have their manic morning period, then sleep all afternoon and then around 4 they start the afternoon manic period which lasts a couple of hours (it's followed by the barking period, until I call them in and lock them in for the night). When Rosie first got here, Sheila decided to teach her now to use the dog door. She'd run in crouch down, inviting Rosie to play, then run outside and watch the dog door. When nothing happened, she'd run in again, crouch down again in the inviting pose, run outside, whirl around and watch the door. It took four in-and-outs and a push from me to get Rosie to go out the door, but now she runs in and out all the time. When the two of them decide to race around the yard, they leap over anything in their way, looking like a herd of deer leaping over logs in a meadow. They make big circles -- patio to lawn back to patio again, then at some point they reverse direction and slide across the patio, just barely stopping in time to avoid hitting the wall where the dog door is. Someone will stop racing around, leap through the dog door, lap water furiously while the other one stands outside watching the door, then the one who is drinking will leap out the door and the race is one again for another couple of circles, after which the other one will come in for a drink. It's no wonder they sleep most of the day. Tonight Rosie got hold of a squeak toy and was in the family room. Sheila was standing in the food part of the family room, hidden by the recliners. Rosie picked up the squeak toy ran around behind the recliners and tossed it up in front of Sheila, caught it, and raced back into the family room again. It took her three tries before Sheila finally chased her and the session of "mouth fighting" took over for awhile. During the height of the chase, I become a trampoline. Sheila has never tried to get into my lap, but Rosie takes big leaps and lands full force on my stomach, bounces off and over the side of the chair, down onto the floor, down the hall, back into the family room, onto my stomach again. Wash, rinse, repeat until I stop her from jumping on me. Sheila hasn't been this happy since Latte left. As for Rosie, she's better at the front door. Now before I go out, I turn around and tell her to stay. And she does. So she hasn't slipped out again in the last couple of days. (I wondered how I was going to get a whole load of groceries in the house if I had to worry about her getting out.) Tonight I hadn't cleared the dishes off the kitchen table and she did her leap up and see if there is anything worth eating trick. A quick "NO!" from me seemed to stop the leaps. I don't know how responsive she's going to be to training, but so far she seems quite ready to learn the rules of the house. Yeah — who am I kidding by saying we haven't decided yet. Of course we've decided. Rosie is home. |
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
Rosie certainly seems to think she's "home."
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This is Journal entry #2365
9/16/06
