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Sunday 19 August 2012

The Licking...Oh the Licking!!!

For most of my life, I have had cats.  I am very well aware of their habits, and the way they express themselves.  Whenever I would pet a cat, their little gritty tongue would come out to lick my hand.  Then, after about 5 minutes, they'd flip over, stop licking, and either bite or scratch me!!  Good times!!

I always knew that dogs licked as a way of "kissing" us humans.  But, it wasn't until I got my very first dog 14 months ago, that I realized the extent of their licking.  Sure, they try to lick your face, but my PWD licks everything!!  He licks our hands and feet, he licks the carpet.  He licks the wall where it forms a corner.  When he's lying on the floor and I'm petting him, he turns his head to the side and starts licking the floor.

Just yesterday, my family and I were sitting in the basement/family room.  Hubby and son were watching a football game, and I was reading.  My doggy was sitting on the carpet between us.  He got up, walked over to hubby, and started licking his hands.  After a few minutes, as hubby saw that doggy wasn't about to stop, he pushed the dog away in the direction of our son.  The dog walked over to our son and started licking his head (son was sitting on the floor).  After fighting off the dog who was licking his head, neck, ear and hair, son got up and sat on the couch.

This left me!

Doggy came over and started staring at me.  I started petting his head and back until he plopped down on the floor and gave me his belly.  While on his back, he turned his head to the side and started licking the carpet.  At one point, he forgot I was petting him as he flipped over, and began to lick the carpet with a fierce intensity.  I kinda poked him to snap him out of his licking frenzy.  He then got up and started licking the seat of the couch that I was sitting on.  I redirected his focus by giving him one of his chew toys.  This listed for about 7 seconds as he dropped the chew toy and began to lick the leg of my pants.

So much licking???  What does he get out of this??  I've observed him in the park with other dogs and absolutely no licking goes on.  When I walk him, he may lick the sidewalk occasionally but really nothing of note.  He does tend to lick the grass in the morning, but that's only to lap up the morning moisture.

So, why the licking of humans, and everything humans own??  Only my little PWD knows the answer to that one!!


For more blogs, please visit http://cluelesspuppyowner.blogspot.com/ and http://thecluelesspuppyowner.blogspot.com/

Sunday 12 August 2012

Too Bad they are Born as Puppies!

I love my little doggy!!. He is sweet, loving, playful, and for the most part, obedient.  Thanks to him, hubby has lost close to 30 lbs, my 15 year old son is out all day with him, and I do look mighty fine in a skirt (if I do say so myself!)

But, sadly, life wasn't always so picturesque.  There was a time, when our little 16 month old PWD was just 8 weeks old.  Yep, he was 2 months old when we brought him home.  He was a absolute terror.  Within the 1st 4 weeks of bringing him home, he had:

  • Eaten every throw pillow we had in the house
  • Gone through 2 leashes
  • Started eating our baseboards one room at a time
  • Ruined our slippers, flip-flops, and sandals (we got him in June and by August we had to replace everything!)
  • Ate our bath towels as well as dish towels
  • Ate our plants (both in the house and in our garden)
  • Peed and pooed on every carpet in the house
  • ...And bit us...very much...bit..bit ..bit...especially ME!
Now of course I know that he was only a puppy and had to be trained not to do these things.  Fast forward 14 months later and he is a dream dog.  But one morning, as hubby and I were having our coffee, we began to talk about the (good!) ole days, when our little doggy was a pup.  We then thought, "How wonderful would it be if dogs were born as adult dogs?  How great would it be to completely by-pass the puppy stage and have a full grown dog?"

Now I know, this can always be a reality if you want to adopt a dog.  Many people I know have adopted, 2, 5, and even 7 year old dogs.   But that's not what we meant.  We thought it would be great if puppies weren't part of the natural progress.  It would be great if an 8 week old dog was full grown.  Just think, no accidents in the house, nothing destroyed, obedient..and we'd still have the luxury of sharing our life with him for the next 15 years.

But, alas, the darned puff-balls are born as puppies.  Something we had to live with, but boy oh boy am I glad that puppy stage is over!!!

For more blogs, please visit http://cluelesspuppyowner.blogspot.com/ and http://thecluelesspuppyowner.blogspot.com/

Sunday 5 August 2012

The Zone!

Many moons ago, before I had ever become a dog-owner, I never thought it possible that a dog could be so focused.  What I mean is that, I knew dogs could perform tricks and jobs (IE-rolling over, sheep herding, aiding the sight-impaired, etc), but I never realized just how much concentration they were capable of.  ( I know I shouldn't end a sentence in a preposition but I feel it makes sense in this case!)

Ever since we got our doggie at the tender age of 8 weeks, we realized that once he set his mind to something, there was very little my family or I could do to distract him.  He would get into "The Zone" and absolutely NOTHING could snap him out of it.

Case in point:

1-Puppy wants to go into my bathroom.  I tell him "no"..He continues towards the door like he doesn't see me or hear me.  I block his path with my body.  Puppy walks around me and tries to get into the bathroom that way.  I physically turn his body around so that his nose faces into the room and away from the door.  This does not distract him.  He continues to go for the door...he has been doing this for 14 months, even though he knows he is not allowed in there.

2-Doggie like to hump the pillow in the guest bedroom.  He has been fixed and technically should have no desire.  However, doggie feels he must profess his love to the pillow.  He pulls the pillow off the bed, wraps his front paws around it and humps it for the next millennium.  I have taken the pillow from him..he finds it.  I have substituted it for another toy..he discards the new toy and looks for his beloved.  I have changed the pillow cases..he doesn't mind the new look.  I have put Tabasco on the pillow...he loves that extra "kick" the Tabasco has.  He has bonded with the pillow and wants to make it his mate for life.  We do not tell our guests when they sleep over.  We just casually change the pillow case and suggest they keep their door closed for privacy reasons.  Our guests feel very welcomed thinking that the only reason that the dog is always in their room is because he likes them...only my hubby and I know the truth!!!

3- Doggie sees a used Kleenex on the street while I am walking him.  He pulls towards the Kleenex, he tries to run to the Kleenex...even after I've walked half a block away he still keeps looking back for the Kleenex!  I am amazed.  I wonder, "If he can remember, 10 minutes later..that a Kleenex was once on the street...if he can keep looking for it, then why oh why can he not remember to heel at my side or sit just before we cross a street?"

I then finally came to the realization that the Zone is selective.  My doggie chooses his OCD.  Bathroom, pillows, Kleenex (only the used variety, of course), are what drive him.  All the other stuff that I've been trying to teach him for over a year is just not that important to him.

Like I said at the beginning, he gets very focused, and NOTHING I can ever do will distract him from his mission.

For more blogs, please visit http://cluelesspuppyowner.blogspot.com/ and http://thecluelesspuppyowner.blogspot.com/