My Dog's Annoying Outbursts

There's something that happens in the morning. My wife is sleeping and the dog is in there with her. Then the cat comes skulking around -- I don't know exactly what he's doing.

This makes the dog annoyed, apparently, and she'll suddenly do an outburst, a short, quick barking noise while jumping off the bed in a threatening way. I can hear it from where I sit typing this.

It's already happened a couple times this morning. Meaning that it's not good for the wife's rest, because of course the closer she is to being naturally awake the more it's going to disturb her.

There's no way I know of, though, to make the dog quit it. I've told her in the past to be quiet, and "no," but I can't be right there to govern the situation all the time.

Why it only happens in the morning ... is because the cat likes to jump up there and be petted, to settle in to a certain extent, and to get attention. He's not really that afraid of the dog, since they've been together for over 10 years now.

Nothing But A Flying Rake

I was outside today and decided to take a shot at some of the big icicles on the corners of the house. I got a garden rake out of the garage, one of the ones with the heavy tines.

I took aim at one good corner, one with no obstructions, and in a couple of throws managed to knock down some good size ones. As thick as your arm.

We have other corners, of course, but the problem with the next corner is that there's cable TV stuff and electrical wires coming from the street to the house. So I was very reluctant to give it a try. Then, in an instance of ignorance, I took one throw -- one throw --- and the rake bounced off the house and hit the electrical wires.

Fortunately nothing broke. They just shook back and forth for 30 seconds or so.

I was definitely happy that I didn't mess up something. Then lose power. Then have to call the power company. Then wait overnight or whatever. I got lucky!

I was thinking, what if the electricity was off. I wouldn't want to admit what happened but I'd probably have no choice. Yes, I'm the muscle behind the flying rake!

UPDATE: Imaginary conversation with my dog: "The electricity went off about as soon as you left." "What do you mean?" "I saw a flying rake and then it went off." Now I'm trying to keep her quiet, so the electric company won't find out: "You saw nothing!" "Yes, master, I saw nothing but a flying rake!"

The electric company actually did show up. And the guy parked about four feet from that corner of the house. I thought, Oh no, someone really did report a flying rake hitting their wires. But it was just a coincidence. He was checking the meters in the area and just happened to park there!

My Dog's Matchless Socks

Because it's so cold out, minus 4 degrees right now, I decided to put some baby socks we have on my dog. We've done it before, past years. In fact these are the same ones. I even used them on her this morning.

She minces about like she can't get used to them. But once outside I think she sees the benefits of having them on. If she doesn't, and it's terribly cold, she gets to the place where her feet are so cold she can barely stand. So I'm busy half the time carrying her. I don't mind, of course, but I also want her to get her business done. And she doesn't exercise common sense when it comes to going to the bathroom, because she does so much sniffing that her feet get too cold and she's incapable of going.

Enter the baby socks! With the little Velcro fasteners. They're tough getting on her, because she doesn't help a bit. She's snarling her teeth. Her feet and legs are limp. She doesn't help a bit.

Once on, though, I know they make a difference. Like tonight. She was able to walk and sniff to her heart's content. Then she still had plenty of warmth left to actually get her business done.

But they're matchless because two are orange and two are green or light blue. But tonight there was one of each color on the front feet and one of each color on the back. Meaning we're darned lucky no other dog saw the fashion mistake!

The professional dog booties you can get, she doesn't like. We have a pair and she won't budge while wearing them. Plus they're harder than heck to get on. Maybe we got a size too small.

Took My Dog To The Pennel

I usually get out of the unpleasant task of taking the dog to the kennel (the pennel, I should say), because I hate the thought of her being there.

But yesterday, with us going away for a couple days, and the roads turning out to be bad because of the snow, I had to join the effort to get the dog out there. It's in the country, where the roads are more treacherous than the normal treacherous roads in town.

So there I was, getting her situated in the building with the other dogs. The other dogs go insane when you open the door. At this point it's not territorial, it's just orneriness, I'm guessing. Or trying to get your attention to say, "Get me out of here away from all these noisy dogs," not realizing that each time they individually pipe up they're making it worse for everyone. But you can't reason with a building full of barking dogs.

I don't care about reasoning with them, but I do care that my dog has to sit there and hear that. But what am I supposed to do? She can't stay home by herself.

The kennel is a bunch of pens in an outbuilding at a farm. In my opinion they could use some sound dampeners to make it more cozy for the dogs. So there isn't the same terrible noise level.

It's interesting that the dogs -- who are always most interested in each other when two meet on the street -- aren't the slightest bit interested in each other when they're in the pennel. They're only interested in any human beings who happen to open the door.

I left behind a blanket someone gave me for Christmas, that I'd been wrapped up in for a couple days. Maybe no one else in the world likes my scent, but the dog seems to.

If I Don't Eat It, No One Will

My dog likes to be with me. I'm in a particular room. But we feed her generally in the kitchen. So, to allow her to be with me and to allow her to eat, I've been going to the trouble of getting her food and bringing it to where I am.

That's fine, but she seems uncomfortable eating (only sometimes) under those circumstances. At least she's not always so picky with her food. Still, she knows it's hers and she knows she might want it later.

So whenever the cats get within 10 feet she gets upset, growling, and making even more threatening noises and moves than that. It's scary enough it keeps the cats at bay. And it scares me too because it's a sudden outburst in the course of a quiet room.

I was in two rooms, so I moved it to the other room as well. She picked at it, otherwise she kept a fairly loose guard over it.

Finally we went to the kitchen, and the bowl was moved again. This time, in the kitchen, where it seems she is more comfortable eating, she finished it off. Once the food is gone, she doesn't care about the empty bowl. If the cats get near it, that's OK.

Why Dogs Hate Each Other

I don't know why dogs hate each other. It's crazy. You always hear it's territorial, but I don't think that's entirely it. Unless they're geared to protect just any territory they happen to be on.

I was at the park with the dog and another guy, a guy I actually know, came by with his dog. I yelled over that I'll go this way, you go that way.

But of course our dogs had seen each other and were going nuts trying to get to each other. I'm calling for my dog to cease and desist but to no avail. Just a waste of breath.

We got to the car and I looked at my dog. "You can't help it, I know. It's just something in you. Why do you hate each other?"

She's so normal and intelligent when there aren't other dogs around. But, if she's at the kennel, and there are plenty of dogs in adjoining cages, yowling and howling, she seems like she's not that interested.

Steak For My Dog

I don't feed my dog off my plate anymore. I used to, years ago, but she gained a lot of weight and the veterinarian told me I shouldn't do it, that I was killing her.

Since then we haven't done it, except once in a while, hardly ever, she gets a little something extra. Like when we have raw hamburger we toss her a few tiny balls of it, which she catches in midair.

Tonight we were out to eat, and we had steaks, big ones. At the end, getting a little full, I decided we could take a few scraps to the dog, who could have them if she wanted them. And that's a big IF ... ha ha.

When we got home she smelled it and knew something was up. I was cutting it into smaller pieces and she was maintaining an anxious vigil at my feet. Then when I put the bowl down, she was crazy with delight, wolfing it down.

What a happy dog! Just don't gain weight!

My Dog Chasing Squirrels

I've probably written about this before. I know I've described it to friends and family before.

I have a dog who loves to go to the park and chase squirrels. You're not technically supposed to let your dog run in the park, so maybe I shouldn't be writing this. I explained it to her, and she said it's not fair, why are the squirrels allowed to run free? I thought, yes, good point.

At least my dog's had her shots and she has me, her owner, right there with her. The squirrels likely have never been to the vet ... and they're simply wild, no one to control them by commands or motions.

So she runs free ... sometimes. Like if there's a lot of squirrels.

That's what she loves to do, chase squirrels. Fortunately she doesn't catch them. But she gets a lot of exercise chasing them. I love to see the look of recognition, when you know she's seen one. She moves closer to the ground in a flash, and is running with all her might. She's pretty fast, too. Just not quite fast enough.

Darn, missed another one!

Animals That Wouldn't Eat

My dog and cat freaked me out last night. I gave them their food and they both turned their nose up at it. Very weird. They usually dive in.

It made me think maybe there was something in the air, a strange air pressure or something, or some biorhythm thing only they can sense.

Eventually the dog worked on it and ate hers. The cats' food was still there in the evening. It was still there this morning.

But then tonight, Saturday, they all ate their food like normal. (The cats get wet food in the morning too, and they ate theirs this morning like normal.)

The Intelligence of Dogs

I saw an article earlier this morning about the intelligence of dogs.

They did some experiments with dogs as to their ability to figure out basic arithmetic problems, and, according to what it said, they can handle number up to around 5. Like if you have five pieces of meat, maybe, they can keep track of how many they have left.

Maybe that's not the best example. Since my dog could keep track of a whole truck of meat.

As to the linguistic abilities of dogs, they can learn the meaning of somewhere under 200 words. And of course they can pick up your tone of voice, anger, all that.

An interesting detail is they don't seem to understand equity, I think the word is, like equal or lesser or greater values of things. Like say you gave one dog a steak and your dog a biscuit. The fact that each got something makes it OK, but if the one dog got a steak and your dog got nothing, that would not be good.

I like to think my dog is very very smart. But it sounds like, from the article, that if they have the level of a two or three year old child, you're getting about the best they can be.

Disappointing The Dog

I was in a big hurry. I've had a busy day. I exercised faster. I ate faster. I was in and out, taking a quickie shower, etc.

Then when 8:30 got here I was going to be the nicest guy in town and take my dog to the park. She's used to going but today's been so oppressively busy that I didn't have a spare minute to do it. But at 8:30 we were going to go.

So I said the usual, "Do you want to go to the park?", which she understands by conditioning. She jumps in the air about 2 feet (she's a small dog, about 16 lbs.)

Then I discovered that my key was lost. That shot the whole thing, and after a while, of course, she could tell something was wrong, since I was acting frantic, and didn't bug me about it. Somehow she knew the whole thing was off. Which made me feel almost as badly as losing the keys.

Tomorrow will be looser and freer. I'll make it up to her.

Dogs Recognize Each Other

There's so many variations in dogs that I can't figure out how dogs seem to recognize each other as dogs.

Maybe they're not recognizing each other, just reacting to any four legged creature that happens to go by and most of them that happen to go by happen to be dogs. My dog goes nuts -- virtually -- when there's another dog in the area.

We were down at the park and a lady came walking by with a little white dog. My dog noticed it right away and wanted to get to know it better. Or at least do some significant sniffing, then probably some significant growling.

As it was, I cinched up the leash because I've seen enough of these encounters to know they're without much benefit to any of the parties. There was a duck in the area and I let her have a close encounter with the duck. Of course when we got close the duck flew, so that's the kind of close encounter between dogs and other creatures I like to see.

My Dog Catching Hamburger

Hey, I meant to mention this the other day. My dog is a terrific catch.

I noticed this years ago, but for a couple years I wasn't feeding her any human food. Lately I've been a little more merciful (maybe foolish), in accidentally dropping a piece of hamburger now and then while cooking.

I remembered though that she is a terrific catch when it comes to this stuff. Just like tossing up M & Ms and catching them in your mouth, a dog can see the hamburger coming, catch it in midair like it's nothing. It's an amazing thing.

Just goes to show that a dog knows how to use its equipment like every other creature. It's definitely a good test to see if your dog still has it or if it's mental. If I toss the hamburger and it sticks to her forehead, then I'll know it's time to put her down.

As for right now, though, she's as quick as lightning, and about as accurate as pro. Once in a while she misses, which might be the thrower's fault just as much, but not too often. When she misses she doesn't care. She just eats the hamburger anyway.

Sniffing Dogs

Here's a good picture of President Obama shaking paws with the first dog of Mexico, President Felipe Calderon's golden retriever.

You have to wonder what kind of security they have when he's jetting around the world, meeting every species of human and animal. I hope it's good.

We know they have bomb sniffing dogs. But if he sees very many more dogs he'll probably see a lot of dog sniffing dogs. I know I see a lot of that when dogs are together.

My Dog Sinned Today

My dog is as faithful a dog as any I've ever seen. If I'm asleep she's right there sleeping, if not at my side, at my back, then at least in the same room, over on the futon or on the floor. Somewhere!

Today I woke up from a nap, looked on the bed and she wasn't there. On the futon, on the floor, no dog. I called a few times. No dog. My first thought is she's locked in a room by accident, or, worse, she's dead. Maybe sick and dying. Maybe actually dead.

Again, this is a constant companion. She's nowhere except nearby. Like right now, as I type this, she's less than five feet away.

I went downstairs, fearing the worst, and there was a mess. The garbage was strewn all over the kitchen. I'm sure the cat knocked it over, since this is what he's known for. But the dog had been busy picking through it. I cook microwave bacon with lots of paper towels, and these were chewed up, in smaller pieces, strewn about. She had doubtless been enjoying the bacon grease taste of all this garbage.

I wasn't mad, since I'm never mad at her. I want her to have the best life every second. But she looked like she knew there was something wrong with the whole scene. She went in the other room and was on the couch, not right there at my side.

Actual ... sinning.

My Pets Live

Everyday I suspect my pets are going to die. But somehow they keep living.

The cats are going to be 14 this summer. The dog will be 10. The dog's in better shape than the cats, but the cats don't seem terrible. Sometimes I have to help one of the cats get up on a particular thing, where he eats. And he doesn't seem to go upstairs as much as he used to. They're moving slower and acting like their young days are past.

The dog is closer to me, like a constant physical presence. So it's easy to see she's always alive. The cats have their own privacy issues -- I suppose I could say it that way -- so there's pronounced gaps between the times I saw them last and the times I see them next.

If they lie still too long, I'm thinking they're dead.

One of these days it's got to happen. It'll be sad when they die -- which will likely be one only and not together -- but it's not going to be unexpected.

Dogs Don't Enjoy Food

I watch our dog all the time, her ways, her expressions of instinct.

There are things I can do that set her off, making her think someone's at the door, in the yard, that an animal or some unknown visitor is out there. She's constantly watching me at these times, alert to any signal for attacking. Ever vigilant.

One of the things that becomes clear upon attention is that she doesn't enjoy food. She likes to have it, of course, and wants it desperately. But all she wants to do with it is consume it, the faster the better. We give her a jerky treat or something like that and she dashes off to the other room with it -- lest anyone get it -- and swallows it barely without chewing.

I'm thinking the instinct comes from competition for food, where they want to fill their belly as fast as they can before some other dog takes their portion. But it's a heck of a way to be. Gulp!

Peeing On Poop

This is another dog post. I'm fascinated by the behavior of dogs. I don't understand it. But I suppose dogs have their own wiki page, if I'm ever curious enough to look it up. I like to observe it, though.

The whole thing of dogs going out and being interested in one another's butts, one another's poop and pee, is something that must be endless in its implications. We know dogs are territorial, and that territory has something to do with boundaries. So their bowel and eliminatory functions carry at least a double duty. What precisely, I don't know.

It's aggravating in many ways for me, being less removed (apparently) from the instincts. When it's cold out I just want the dog to pee or poop, not to make it a scavenger hunt for the biggest, boldest, brightest dog who's been in the neighborhood before. I believe in the doctrine of 'any old port in a storm,' but if I left it to the dog, usually, we'd be searching for just the perfect spot till we froze into statues and broke in half from the strong wind.

Yesterday, she was nosing around in the snow. So here we are, nosing, nosing, nosing. I'm glancing around trying to be patient. Nosing, nosing. Finally I yelled, "Come on!" Ooops, that slipped out, since any kind of impatience on my part threatens her ability to go at all. "Good girl."

Something I do, and I know this is socially the right thing to do, is to pick up the poop and take it home for proper disposal. Not everyone does, including neighbors who go by on Rascals, or others who don't have any excuse except that they're clods. So there's a lot of poop in the neighborhood, ranging from fresh and vital all the way to dessicated and rotting. In my walks, several times a day, I see it all.

These little piles aren't all bad news, though, because it gives my dog something to study in her never ending search for a decent place to go to the bathroom. Now, remember, I always clean up after my dog. But today she took a royal pee right on top of some other dog's royal poop, leaving a yellow circle on top of that nastiness. I'm thinking, if someone looks out their window right now, it will look like my dog did the poop and that I didn't clean it up. But they won't say anything to me, allowing me the chance for a realistic defense; they will simply share it among themselves and perhaps to friends.

The Voice of My Dog

I am the voice of my dog, all except the barking, growling, and yipping in my sleep. Which I don't think I do. But I speak for her in other ways -- not power of attorney ways, but in reality I would have that power -- in ways expressive of her apparent (obvious) feelings, and also expressive of the larger truth that living beings no doubt have. (It's like birds flying in flocks without thought; something's speaking in them.)

The dog, being domesticated, doesn't say much on her own. So I do the speaking, speaking to her, then speaking for her.

"Everyone's laughing at you behind your back."

Then her response. "I'm not concerned about that. The problem is with them, or, if it's not true, with you for saying such a thing. I won't lose any sleep or my happiness, because I know that in a bullying situation, the bully is the one who is sad, conflicted, and troubled. I can maintain my calm, my respose, and let him worry about himself."

"So the bully seeks to hurt the bullee, but the bullee wins over the bully."

My Dog's Feet - Part 2

When we last met, my dog didn't do her business outside last night. So this morning of course there was some pee on the floor. She's self-trained in this and does the right thing, meaning when she has to go she does it on the kitchen or dining room floor, which are linoleum and not carpet. That's a big favor.

Today when it was 20 below zero I was thinking she wouldn't need to go out. Just do it on the floor. But she's so used to going out that she kept that thought going. After quite a bit of that, I took her out on the sidewalk, no booties, but it was way too cold and she came right back in without doing anything.

After a while I went for the baby socks we have, which have a bit of Velcro on them, got them on and took her out. She did her thing very well and we came hustling back to the warmth.

Then at 1 p.m., the same successful story. Then close to 5 p.m., I thought, how about put some plastic wrap around her feet, then the baby socks would go on better. And that turned out to be so (but not as easy as I was hoping). We were out a sufficient amount of time for her to do her thing well and not get too cold. So that's all the counts.

I hate to see her out there suffering, prancing around in pain. So the baby socks are fine.