Poodle with an afro
I saw one today – a poodle with an afro. Driving to the post office this morning in the pouring rain, I saw a tiny white poodle zip out the door of the dog salon and take off down the sidewalk, with his person (in a long yellow rain cape) in hot pursuit. The dog's entire body was shaved, while the fur on his head was as long as poodle fur gets, and pouffed up and out as big and round and fluffy as anything I've ever seen.
Within a half a block I also saw a man walking a bassett hound who was so fat her stomach was literally within an inch of the ground. The man was carrying an umbrella and smoking a pipe and seemed oblivious as his dog neatly sidestepped the chilly puddles that would surely have dampened her poor little naked belly.
I always feel sad for thin-furred animals in the winter. They never should've been bred to be so naked!
At home, we are in the midst of an attempted coup d'dog. Twice in the last month or so, Tater has not exactly attacked, but sort of aggressively harrassed the Jeeps in front of me – once over who gets to sit on the couch, and once over a piece of crust from a grilled cheese sandwich that he'd somehow snuck in and left lying on the floor (he often leaves food unfinished, but freaks out if another dog shows any interest in it. That's why they only eat when we're there to supervise, and they never get left alone with any food at all – either of them.).
My theory is that he's been noticing Jeepers' gradual decline, and is starting to think this might be a good time to challenge his status as the top dog in our house. It used to be, they both sat on the couch with us, and both joined us in bed – Jeepers first, then Tater. Now the Jeeps is too frail to jump up onto furniture, or to get down again if he does get up there, so he lies on the floor at our feet while Tater gets all the couch and bed space. Also, because he's up close to us while the Jeeps is down on the floor, Tater is now getting the vast majority of the full-body snuggles and pets.
It just dawned on me while writing this: he probably thinks this means we've demoted the Jeeps.
We still feed Jeepers first, and the other night I found out just how important this really is to them. I usually fill both bowls at the same time, then put Jeepers' bowl down on one side of the kitchen, and then Tater's on the other side. On this occasion, though, I was filling the bowls on the table, which is right next to Tater's eating area. The house was in chaos (dinner on the stove, dogs milling around, phone ringing, etc. etc.) so to save a few seconds I put Tater's bowl down first, then leapt across the room to give the Jeeps his bowl, figuring Jeepers would follow me across the kitchen to eat his own dinner in his own area.
That did not happen. The second I stepped away from that first bowl, the Jeeps was on it, even though it wasn't his bowl, his food, or his area! All he cared about was that it was the first bowl on the floor – ergo, it belonged to him.
I've read all about the social lives of dogs – I know that dogs don't think like people, and that it's best for people to respect and support the heirarchies the dogs establish for themselves, rather than trying to force them into some artificial kind of social order that satisfies only their own human ideas about how animals "should" behave. When Tater and I first moved in with Jeepers and Mr. A, we (the humans) assumed that the Jeeps was the Alpha dog. He was older, he was more aggressive, and he lived there first. But maybe we were wrong. Or maybe the heirarchy is shifting.
Personally, I don't care who the Alpha dog is – I just don't want any fighting. I especially don't want the Jeeps to get hurt; Tater is half his age and about 25 lbs bigger, and the way he was acting the other night was making me very nervous. So I got the number of a trainer who's supposed to be very good, who will be coming over after Christmas to help us evaluate the situation. Until then, these are the new house rules for dogs at Chez Tinarama:
1. Tater will be asked to sit-stay before he gets his dinner, and the bowls get put away (not left empty on the floor) as soon as dog dinner is over.
2. Tater will stay on the floor with the Jeeps when we're sitting in the living room.
3. Jeeps will receive equal pets (I confess I feel kind of guilty, now that I've realized how much I've been neglecting this).
4. Both dogs will be walked at least once a day, rather than just letting them run around the yard on their own. More exercise would do us all good, and walking dogs together is supposed to be a good way to help them bond AND re-affirm your own place as the pack leader – another area where I think I've been kind of slacking off a bit lately.
I have some more ideas I'll be running by the trainer. Dog people? Any suggestions?
Within a half a block I also saw a man walking a bassett hound who was so fat her stomach was literally within an inch of the ground. The man was carrying an umbrella and smoking a pipe and seemed oblivious as his dog neatly sidestepped the chilly puddles that would surely have dampened her poor little naked belly.
I always feel sad for thin-furred animals in the winter. They never should've been bred to be so naked!
At home, we are in the midst of an attempted coup d'dog. Twice in the last month or so, Tater has not exactly attacked, but sort of aggressively harrassed the Jeeps in front of me – once over who gets to sit on the couch, and once over a piece of crust from a grilled cheese sandwich that he'd somehow snuck in and left lying on the floor (he often leaves food unfinished, but freaks out if another dog shows any interest in it. That's why they only eat when we're there to supervise, and they never get left alone with any food at all – either of them.).
My theory is that he's been noticing Jeepers' gradual decline, and is starting to think this might be a good time to challenge his status as the top dog in our house. It used to be, they both sat on the couch with us, and both joined us in bed – Jeepers first, then Tater. Now the Jeeps is too frail to jump up onto furniture, or to get down again if he does get up there, so he lies on the floor at our feet while Tater gets all the couch and bed space. Also, because he's up close to us while the Jeeps is down on the floor, Tater is now getting the vast majority of the full-body snuggles and pets.
It just dawned on me while writing this: he probably thinks this means we've demoted the Jeeps.
We still feed Jeepers first, and the other night I found out just how important this really is to them. I usually fill both bowls at the same time, then put Jeepers' bowl down on one side of the kitchen, and then Tater's on the other side. On this occasion, though, I was filling the bowls on the table, which is right next to Tater's eating area. The house was in chaos (dinner on the stove, dogs milling around, phone ringing, etc. etc.) so to save a few seconds I put Tater's bowl down first, then leapt across the room to give the Jeeps his bowl, figuring Jeepers would follow me across the kitchen to eat his own dinner in his own area.
That did not happen. The second I stepped away from that first bowl, the Jeeps was on it, even though it wasn't his bowl, his food, or his area! All he cared about was that it was the first bowl on the floor – ergo, it belonged to him.
I've read all about the social lives of dogs – I know that dogs don't think like people, and that it's best for people to respect and support the heirarchies the dogs establish for themselves, rather than trying to force them into some artificial kind of social order that satisfies only their own human ideas about how animals "should" behave. When Tater and I first moved in with Jeepers and Mr. A, we (the humans) assumed that the Jeeps was the Alpha dog. He was older, he was more aggressive, and he lived there first. But maybe we were wrong. Or maybe the heirarchy is shifting.
Personally, I don't care who the Alpha dog is – I just don't want any fighting. I especially don't want the Jeeps to get hurt; Tater is half his age and about 25 lbs bigger, and the way he was acting the other night was making me very nervous. So I got the number of a trainer who's supposed to be very good, who will be coming over after Christmas to help us evaluate the situation. Until then, these are the new house rules for dogs at Chez Tinarama:
1. Tater will be asked to sit-stay before he gets his dinner, and the bowls get put away (not left empty on the floor) as soon as dog dinner is over.
2. Tater will stay on the floor with the Jeeps when we're sitting in the living room.
3. Jeeps will receive equal pets (I confess I feel kind of guilty, now that I've realized how much I've been neglecting this).
4. Both dogs will be walked at least once a day, rather than just letting them run around the yard on their own. More exercise would do us all good, and walking dogs together is supposed to be a good way to help them bond AND re-affirm your own place as the pack leader – another area where I think I've been kind of slacking off a bit lately.
I have some more ideas I'll be running by the trainer. Dog people? Any suggestions?
Labels: dogs
1 Comments:
I really know nothing about dogs, but your plan sounds very reasonable to me.
What I do know is that of all dog breeds in the world the standard poodle is the weirdest: their gait; that haircut (I'm trying to imagine one with a 'fro); their muzzles; everything.
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