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Sunday 30 September 2012

Your Crotch or Mine?

I happen to think that dogs are brilliant.  They are totally in tune with themselves and their environment.  They pick up on silent cues and clues, and they seldom get themselves into dangerous situations..(with other dogs, I mean).  Oh yes, they get into all kinds of dangerous situations like trying desperately to run onto an oncoming car while I'm holding him back with all my might...but they seldom get themselves into trouble with other dogs.

As soon as I take my little 18 month old PWD to the park, he'll run to the other dogs and proceed to sniff them before playing with them.  When a new dog is introduced to the pack, the dogs will surround the newbie, sniff him from all angles..oh and of course, especially the crotch..and then decide how to play with him.

I really think this is brilliant.  By sniffing, they get a good sense of the type of dog they are dealing with.  They know when to be rough or submissive, they know if the other dog is too young to understand them, and, most importantly, they know when to STAY AWAY!!

I think that people have a lot to learn from doggies.  We spend our lives trying to impress people with our words, our athletic skills, our dance moves, and our money.  But, no matter what we do, there will always be that one person that you will never win over.  We'll try and try to do everything in our power..what a colossal waste of time!!! 

To illustrate my point, I've detailed below a typical first date scenario.  The first with people, the second with dogs..You decide which one makes the most sense:

Scenario #1:
Two humans getting ready for their first date.  Both shower excessively.  Woman frets over what to wear.  Man gets his car cleaned inside and out.  They meet.  Words ensue.  Man tries to make woman laugh.  Woman tries to act flirty.  Both order two completely different meals.  They try to pick up on each others cues.  "Hmm", the guy wonders.."does she really think my jokes are funny or is it just a nervous laugh"?  "Hmm.", the woman wonders.."should I really have worn these heels?  Now I'm 2 inches taller than him"  And so it goes.  They make plans for a second date..they want to keep learning about each other...is this THE ONE?

Scenario #2:
Two dogs meet in the park.  They've been out all day so they are definitely emitting a few fumes.   The smellier the better!  They meet..nose to nose.  One goes over to the others crotch...They sniff, sniff, sniff.."Hey.. you're my type of dog..let's play!!"  A match made in heaven.  These dogs will play together well into their senior years.

How easy would it be for humans to do this.  Think of all the time and energy we'd save.  We'd go to a friend's party..sniff out men and women alike and then decide on the spot who would be our BFF and who we'd like to spend the rest of our lives with.

Ah..so much to learn from our doggies..


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

Sunday 16 September 2012

So...whatch guys doin?

 All my life, from the time I was about 3 years old, we always had a cat in the house.  These cats were always curious and always stared at us.  I use to feel that they could read my mind.  When I got a little older and first heard the saying, "curiosity killed the cat", I could totally relate and knew exactly what that meant.

Also, all my life, I had heard that cats were completely different from dogs.  In some aspects, I agreed (dogs eating everything, dogs needing to be walked, dogs wanting to please), but, I also disagreed on certain things. Not all dogs want to be pet 24/7, and like cats, when dogs have had enough, they will either walk away or nip at you...that's just the way it is.

But, in the year since becoming a Portuguese Water Dog owner, I've also learned that dogs can be just as curious as cats.  No matter what I'm doing, my little PWD will peak in just to see what's going on.  He wants to be a PART OF EVERYTHING!!  If my hubby and I walk from one room to the next, our little Portie will get up from his deep sleep, just so he can be in the same room with us and check out what's happening. If we decide to go into the home office and work on the computer, doggy is right there behind us..following our every move.  He'll be quite curious..and when we're doing something he can't quite understand, he'll tilt his head to the side and stare.  I did read once, that PWD's are notorious "starers"  They'll look at you almost human-like, trying to understand and take in your every move. 

The other day, I had laid down his food and I walked into the living room to read the paper.  I could hear him munching happily away.  My 15 year old son then joined me and we began to talk.  I guess our little doggy could hear us through his crunching, because he didn't seem to mind that we were in a different room.  Well, let me tell you, as soon as son and I decided to move to the kitchen, doggy stopped everything he was doing and came by to watch us.  He just HAD to know where we were and what we were doing.

Sometimes in the evening, while hubby and son are watching football and I'm reading, my little doggy will come up and just plop down in the middle of the floor so he can see all 3 of us at the same time.  "Whatcha guys doin'?"  He'll ask.  "Mind if I tag along?"   

And so it goes.  My little PWD is the most curious of them all.  Curiosity may have killed the cat, but my little doggy won't rest until he knows every minute detail of our lives.




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

Sunday 9 September 2012

Usain Bolt


My little 17 month old Portuguese Water Dog is the fastest dog on earth.  well, actually, that's not entirely true.  What I mean, is that he's the fastest sprinter on earth.

Just like Usain Bolt, our doggy is built for speed in short bursts..he's not a long distance kinda dog.  When we take him out for his morning walk, he walks dutifully by our side for about 40 minutes.  Lunch time is a bit shorter as my time is limited.  However, he's good with the distance and the pace.  At about 330pm or so, he goes out for about an hour.  The pace is always a brisk walk..and once again, he's dutifully by our side.

....but...

In the evening, well, that's a whole different story.  Every evening, every dog in my neighbourhood gathers at our local soccer field.  This is the only place where our town allows us to run our doggies off-leash.  Let me get off track for a bit..  I live in an area where there are more dogs than people.  There are parks and green spaces every few blocks.  But, we are the only neighbourhood in the city that DOES NOT  have a dog park!!!  So, every night, a few of us would gather at the parks closest to our homes, and let our little guys run free and interact with other dogs.  We always cleaned up after our doggies and we made a few friends in the process.  Well, that came to a screeching halt when the home-owners next to the parks started complaining to the city.  We always found that incredible as most people living near the parks had dogs of their own...but hey, you can't fight city hall..and it was interesting that the Mayor was also one of the dog owners banned from the public parks!!

Anyway, to go on with my story, every evening, we all meet at the soccer field.  My doggy is brilliant by the way.  He knows that the evening walk is like no other.  He starts to get excited right after dinner because he know what's coming up.  So, once the garage door opens, my doggy starts pulling me down the street on the way to the field.  Every now and then, I remind him with a slight snap to the leash, that he's supposed to be walking by my side.  He slows down for about 15 seconds, and then starts to speed up again.  And so it goes...pull, snap, slow-down, speed-up..pull, snap, slow-down, speed-up..pull, snap, slow-down, speed-up..all the way to the soccer field.  Once there, he's like a car revving his engine.  He's ready to GO!!  His foot is on the accelerator, and he's just waiting for me to unhook his leash from his collar.  The minute he hears the click..HE"S OFF!!!  He sprints down the length of the soccer field.  My little Usain Bolt catches up with other dogs that are 50 feet ahead of him.  He runs circles around them..no one can catch him.  He runs, he runs, he runs.  But, because he's not built for long distances, he just plops down on the grass when he's tired, and he DOESN'T MOVE!!!

All the other dogs run up beside him, they nudge him, they try to play..but my little PWD just sits there, panting.  Every now and then he'll get a second wind..but most of the time, he just sits on the coolness of the grass, watching all the other doggies play around him.

One last thing you should know.  The soccer field is about 20 minutes from my home (walking).  In the evenings, with my eager dog, it takes us about 10 minutes to get there because he's so eager to run.  However,  when it's time to leave the field, it can take up to a half hour or more.  Doggy just doesn't want to MOVE.  I have to drag him off the field, and then try to pry him off every lawn in the city as he runs onto other people's propety and just lies down on their grass!! 

Like I said, my little Usain Bolt is quite the sprinter...but when the race is over...it's OVER!!



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

Monday 3 September 2012

You Must Pet Me!!!

My little 17 month old PWD is very demanding.

When he was just a little bitty puppy, he use to jump up on us an bite us.  Nothing we could do or say would ever discourage him from his task at hand.  As he got older, he would run to the end of his leash and pull and pull until he made choking noises.  But, once again, no amount of us snapping the leash or telling him to "sit" would work.  (By the way, for all you harness-loving fans...he "listened" even less to us while wearing his harness...he would still run to the end of the leash, only it was harder for us to stop him as he fought against us with every ounce of his strength).

Now, as he's older and calmer, he is still quite demanding, but in a different way.  He loves to get PET.  This is his favourite pastime.  While I'm reading..he nudges me to pet him.  If the family is watching TV, he goes from person to person all the while demanding attention.  He starts off with hubby.  You see, hubby is the head groomer.  Every night, my little PWD goes to hubby for his nightly brushing of his coat and his teeth.  Once the task is over, he lies down between hubby' s legs (as they are both on the floor) and stays there getting pet until he falls asleep.  Hubby is pretty good at this, but after about 30 minutes, hubby gets real TIRED!  So, he stops.  Once our little PWD gets wind of the fact that he is no longer being pet, he gets up and goes to our 15 year old son.  Son then sits on the floor and continues with the petting.  The PWD, turns this way and that, he needs to make sure that not an inch of him remains unpet.  Son does this for about 10 minutes, but, as with any 15 year old boy..the allure of his cell phone is stronger than the urge to pet the dog for hours on end.  As is the case every night, son makes up some excuse to leave the room so he can concentrate on the ever important texts coming his way.

Well, with hubby back on the couch and son nowhere in site, our little PWD turns his sights to me.  He starts to lick me...sending out a signal that his is not yet done with the petting.  I playfully ignore him to see how far this will go.  He licks my hands and forearms.  I pull them away.  He then starts licking my knees and shins.  The more I move away, the more excited he gets.  It becomes a game of "cat and mouse" to him.  He stands up and starts pawing at me.  I can read his thoughts..."what does a cute little doggy like me have to do to get pet around here??"  As I'm siting on the couch, he puts his head on my lap.  He looks at me with big brown eyes..."hey lady!!  Can't you see how darned cute I am??How can you resist me??"

Then I break down..the petting starts.  I can see the look of relief in my dog's face..."holy smokes..it's been a full 3 minutes since I was last pet"  He plops down.  He rolls on his back.  His arms stretch over his head and his knees open up.  His favourite place for me to pet him is the inside of his knee. He can lie like that for hours.  I scratch his knee until he finally goes to sleep..

Now, as I'm writing this blog, I'm sitting in the office.  My doggy is right next to me..his head on my lap, and he's pawing at me...I see the look in his eyes..."Hey lady...do you see me here???  You MUST PET ME!!!"

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