When Patience is a Virtue
dogs
Doggone canine for January
Okay I admit that the first time I saw this picture–my first quick glance – I kind of freaked. I thought that, much like George Washington, this dog had wooden teeth.
I’m sure that with those lovely brown eyes this dog is absolutely lovely when he isn’t carrying his tree cone.
WHEN DOGS ATTACK
Fall is on the way and the cold weather is coming. So, every time there’s sun and warmth, I take the opportunity to gather the last of the season and walk around my neighborhood. Last week as I passed a car parked in a driveway, and a dog came running out from behind the car and lunged at me. Luckily, he was tied up. But it reminded me of the time my husband was walking our Sheltie, and a woman opened the front door of her house, and out jumped a big black dog who immediately dashed down the stairs to the sidewalk and attacked my dog. The woman had intended to tie the dog but had lost her grip. She was apologetic and my dog left with just the lost of his fur, but we became alert after that.
And what did the owner of that dog who scared the daylights out of me have to say about his dog lunging out at me. He yelled at him not to do that. Mmm….I doubt the dog will listen. I now walk on the other side of the street. That is the easiest way to avoid a dog with a bad attitude. However, here are some other possible solutions.
- Loud horn such as those used at hockey and baseball games. (Air Horn – available at Uline)
- Citronella spray – available at Pet Stores like Pet Smart.
- Pick up your dog – but if at all possible don’t keep the dog in your arms as you may be attacked also. Toss your dog out of site or in a safe place like over in someone’s fenced yard or even in a dumpster. (Please only do this if you have the time as the attacking dog will likely jump on you to get to your dog.)
- Carry a walking stick and use it.
- Better yet, carry dog food with you and toss it to the dog to distract it.
- Yell at the attacking dog at the top of your lungs. I did this once and half the neighborhood came out to see what the heck was going on…and the dog stopped in his track. My dog didn’t even look at me. You’d think he heard me yell like that every day!
I wouldn’t be afraid of walking by this sleepy head.
The above photo is courtesy of Lauren Kay at Unsplash.
Doggone Canine for September
Photo comes from Instagram and was posted by Animalonplanet
Do dogs enjoy taking photos
When my husband retired he bought his first DSLR Camera. We were all subjected to his “inspiration” but our dogs were especially so. After a while they refused to look at him when he pointed the camera at them. I really think they had got bored with the whole thing.
Forever Home
I read it all the time: This dog is ready for his forever home. “Forever” is simply not going to happen. This past year (2018), I lost both my dogs, one in June and the other, New Year’s Eve. One died from an Epileptic Fit despite all the medicine and the hope and prayers. The other dog died of cancer (and maybe he just couldn’t hang on with his brother gone.) I also had to place my mother in long-term care in October. So I am not putting 2018 down as my best year. It was a difficult one.
However,this beautiful little dog caught my eye and he brought a smile to my lips when I saw him with his mouthful.
Can cats and dogs get along?
The quick answer is absolutely. You simply have to do a search on Google and you’ll get photographs and Youtube videos by the bundle that will be offered as easy proof. Such happy companions, cuddling together on the couch. And I too have had cats and dogs that have got along, played together, slept together, or at the very least said hello with a rollover.
But here I have to be honest. I have had some cats and dogs that hated each other. Often this was caused by an error in judgement either by the cat or the dog.
We had this beautiful black and white cat, one of those tuxedo cats. He was the friendliest cat I had ever had…with people that is. He had a personality flaw that the other animals tolerated but found obnoxious: he was a teaser. Blackie (that was his rather unoriginal name) would find something that irritated the other animal and do it over and over. With his cat-sister, it was to cut her off. He would come from behind at a trot and run ahead of her and make a quick left or right in front of her. She often had to stop abruptly to avoid walking into him. I could see that this habit of his irked her, but I could not see a way to stop him from doing it.
He used to love to sit on the chair directly in front of the busiest entrance in the house so he could keep track of those coming in and out of the backyard. Whenever my sheltie passed by Blackie on his prestigious chair, Blackie would give the sheltie a paw to the butt end. The sheltie put up with this. After all, the cat wasn’t taking out his claws; he was just taping him. Then one evening, when my sheltie was suffering from a sore leg, Blackie gave him the usual tap as my sheltie limped by. All hell broke lose. My sheltie barked and growled directly in Blackie’s face, exactly three times. Blackie backed away, sliding backwards off the chair through the hole below the low rail on the backrest and ending up under the table looking both aghast and astonished. After that they were mortal enemies.
And then there was the dog I adopted from the shelter. Immediately on his arrival at his forever home, he chased my cat up a tree. That ended any chances of the two of them becoming buddies. Even though I gave the dog a lecture, he chased the cat several more times before finally realizing that the cat belonged on the property. After that, he only chased strange cats, but it didn’t matter, the damage had been done. Whenever he got close to the cat, the cat hissed at him, and it sounded as if he was blowing up balloons so the dog was well-warned.
Not long ago I had to move my mother into a nursing home and I took her cats into my home. I asked Memie how she felt about my dog Sadie and this is the answer I got.
Do dogs notice birds?
I know my dogs notice squirrels. They certainly pay attention when there is a chipmunk in the yard! Oh yeah.
But do they notice birds? Well mine certainly does. She spends long periods of time watching them fly back and forth to our feeder as if she believes if she studies them long enough, she can learn to fly.
Now there is one bird that likes to tease my dog. And my dog has a hard time figuring out where it is, because this is one of the fastest and smallest birds in our yard.
There it is…oops… I swear it was there.
Rag Dog
It has been a while since I featured a dog on this blog.
I saw a dog the other day who made me look at him twice, thrice and one more time. The first time I saw someone with dreads, I’m embarrassed and a bit ashamed, I looked at the person the same way. Bob Marlee wore dreads. I’m a big fan of his music.
This dog looks as if he wears his fur in rags – the kind of rags my mom used to use to curl my hair a long long time ago.
This is the Bergamasco Sheepdog. And according to the AKC (https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/bergamasco-sheepdog/), he is independent, intelligent and sociable.
His height is between 22 and 23.5 inches and the female can weigh as little as 57 pounds, while the male can weigh up to 84 pounds.
Life expectancy is 13-15 years.
This dog comes in black and grey as well as the above brown. I had to know how you would groom this coat so here is a video.
By the way this dog breeds is over 2000 years old, and originates from the Italian Alps.
Mutts
I have been taking a lot of rides in the country lately. I live in the city and so this is a vacation from all the noise and buzz. I have noticed that most country dogs are mutts.
This one was barking and chasing the car until I stopped and took out the camera. Then he became totally silent.
This next dog was sleeping right in the middle of the road. When I stopped to admonish him, he took serious offense and started howling.
This next dog followed me all the way from his house to a dock on a river. He knew his way around though because once he got tired of me, he left and trotted back home.
Whatever number of breeds comes together to create a dog, the result is always a distinct personality.
Dogs-A-Musings 