Bad Doggy!

Rowdy got a good scolding this morning.  He knows he is not supposed to pull things out of the trash can, but the desire to lick the fresh hamburger meat package that I put in there must have overwhelmed him.  Usually it gets stuffed down where he can't get at it, but this time I had no room, so I put it on top within his reach.  I was wondering if he would take the bait when I put it there and sure enough he did.  I will have to put it somewhere else, so he can't get at it again.  Bad doggy!  

Play Ball.....NOW!

Usually when I play ball with Rowdy, it takes him a moment to get into the excitement.  Not so today!  I have been sick for several days and he hasn't been out much or got much exercise.  So today when I said, "Would you like to get the ball?" he jumped up and tore down the hall before I even had a chance to get it down from the shelf to throw to him.  Waiting impatiently for me in the hallway, he barked with enthusiasm for me to throw the ball, and after I did, he grabbed it and brought it back to me quickly, dropped it at my feet and started jumping up and down and barking for me to throw it again.  With me just picking the ball up off the floor, he already was tearing down the hall again after it and it had to pass by him, so he could find it and bring it back.  He was one 'excited to play' doggie today!  And we finished off the play with a favorite treat, as usual!

Out Fox-ed!

I was taking Rowdy for a walk this morning and on the north side of my subdivision, there is a wooded area with some clearings that are mowed, that are behind a mini storage complex.  Back near the far end of the clearing was a cute red fox.  He was grooming and scratching himself and I tried to get Rowdy to focus on him.  We left the street and walked toward the fox for a bit, before Rowdy finally noticed him.  He took a strong bead on the fox and I released his leash and said "Get him, Rowdy" several times.  He just watched the fox and when we were about 200 feet away and approaching, the fox finally jumped up and scurried of into the bushes.  Maybe if I had said 'Squirrel' he might of chased it.  I was not too concerned that Rowdy would get hurt by the fox, because if he attacked, Rowdy would have ran back to me.  I reattached the leash and we were back on the street to finish our walk.

Determined To Go!

I needed to run some errands, so with the cooler temperatures this season, I could take Rowdy with me in the car.  He was so excited to get to go with me as usual and jumped right in the car in his seat.  Well, for some reason the car wouldn't start or crank over.  So I had to let him out while I tried to figure out what was wrong with the car.  He didn't want out.  We hadn't gone anywhere yet and he didn't get his ride, so he didn't think it was time to exit the vehicle.  Finally he very reluctantly got out of the car and I proceeded to fix the problem.  After I got it started, he still got to go for his ride.  I could tell he was pleased that he didn't get left at home this trip.

What's He Thinkin' Bout?

When I was checking the oil in my car, I looked to the back yard and saw Rowdy sitting by the fence and watching me with his ears perked up.  That got me wondering what he was thinking about.  Was he waiting for me to come back to him, to give him attention?  Was he thinking that he hoped I would take him with me for a ride to wherever I was going?  Did he wonder or even comprehend what I was doing, or that I would be leaving him there for the balance of the day?  Was there even a thought process going on in his mind and was he just waiting for something to happen so he could react.

I do believe that there is some sort of thought process going on, although somewhat primitive.  He can't be running on instinct alone.  He does what pleases him and gets really excited at anything that is really pleasing, like getting a treat, or seeing his buddy Wrigley when he hasn't seen him in a couple of weeks.  He pushes limits, but minds when he is pushed back to his place.  He gets scared when a thunderstorm passes thru the area and wants to cuddle up to me for protection.  And, he would also have to have a thought process to have the dreams like he does, when his legs twitch and he lets out a muffled bark in his sleep.  With such limited activity in his life, he had to be dreaming about chasing a squirrel, cat or another dog in the neighborhood.  That is a thought process of an activity that he was involved in. 

I don't buy into the theory of people elevating the intelligence of a dog close to theirs.  I more believe that those people have their own intelligence lowered to a dogs level.  They could also be blinded by the love for their pet, just to give them the benefit of the doubt.  I do however believe that certain breeds dogs are more intelligent than others.  Certain dogs are easier to train and their intelligence level could be based on how much they can learn.  Their willingness to learn for receiving attention also plays a part.  Dogs that are attention needy, will tend to be more destructive if they don't receive the attention and I believe that they can be the more smarter dogs and will be able to learn more.  I have also read somewhere that a dogs human vocabulary is around 200 words and that is about the limit of what they can comprehend.

Most of this is based on my observations of dogs over the years.  I don't necessarily count Rowdy as high on the intelligence list, but what he lacks there, he more than makes up for being a very sweet dog and a great companion.  So I say again, what was he thinking, when he was watching me?     

Dog Fight! Dog Fight!

There are usually several dogs around the consignment auction that I occasionally go to and today there was a new one.  It was a black female that looked like part pit bull, but a little leaner and still part puppy.  She still was taller than Rowdy and we first encountered her when we got to the sale in the parking area.  They did the usual sniff each other greeting and then we went on.  The black dog followed us quite a ways into the yard and I finally got annoyed and shooed her away.

A couple of hours later it was lunch time and I had just got my bar-b-que sandwich and a coke.  With the sandwich in one hand and the coke in the other and trying to hold on to Rowdy's leash, I was having a hard time holding everything while trying to pull some napkins for a dispenser.  All the sudden 'growl growl snarl snarl bite bite, you know, the typical dog fighting noises and I looked down and the black dog was back and in a skirmish with Rowdy.

That pissed me off so I kicked at the black dog and stopped the momentary fight and the black dog disappeared off in the crowd.  I was having a hard enough time trying to balance the plate with the sandwich, the coke, Rowdy and get the napkins.  It was a miracle I didn't dump the sandwich on the ground.  I don't know which dog started the fight, so I don't know if Rowdy was being territorial with me, or the other dog jumped him.  Maybe Rowdy found a morsel of food on the ground and the other dog came up just at the wrong time.  Rowdy is hardly ever aggressive except when playing with his buddies and usually darts in and runs away in a playful attitude with other dogs, as he did earlier with this dog.  This is the first real dog fight I have ever seen Rowdy encounter.  He and his buddies get into occasional spats, but they are more of being annoyed with each other and are nothing like this. 

We went over to a flatbed trailer that was a few feet away and I set my food down, put Rowdy up on the deck and I sat on the deck and ate my lunch without further incident.  Rowdy wasn't the slightest bit shook up and everything was back to normal with him begging me for a bite of my food.  Yeah, he got a taste.   

Frightened and Confused

I badly bruised my leg on the lower calf area, right where Rowdy likes to sit against me.  There was 8 vertical inches of badly swollen area and it was very sensitive to touch.  Well, here comes Rowdy to sit against me for attention and I had to push him away and tell him 'no!'  The poor doggy got a scared and confused look in his eyes with his pupils dilated, as to say, 'What did I do wrong?  I don't understand!'  Feeling like he was being scolded for something, he wanted to push up against me for comfort, but I couldn't let him.  It made me feel bad that I had to push him away, but it hurt like hell when he is up against my leg.  I did allow him to sit close to get his attention, but would have to move my leg away when he tried to push up against me.

Dead To The World

The other night we had a storm roll in at around 4AM with lots of lightning and thunder.  Sarah was visiting with Rowdy's buddy Wrigley.  I usually don't let Rowdy up on the bed, but when there is a thunderstorm in the area, he gets scared, so I will make an exception and usually pull and old blanket up for him to lay on.  Thought this time I didn't get the blanket, I let him up anyway thinking he would lay down by our feet. 

Well the little rat nosed his way up between Sarah and I where there was just enough room to barely squeeze in.  Then, after a minute or so, he managed to wiggle onto his back for me to rub his chest.  I did momentarily rub it and then drifted back off to sleep. 

Next thing I knew, I woke up at around 8:30 and Rowdy hadn't moved a muscle.  He was still on his back, sandwiched between us with his feet up in the air.  I couldn't believe that he got that comfortable and just laid there like that for over four hours. Oh, and Sarah smuggled Wrigley up under the covers too.

He'd Rather Hold It!

I can't believe how long this dog can go without going to the bathroom.  As of the time I am writing this, he had been over 15 hours since he ate his dinner last night without going. 

When I went to let him out for his final break last night, it was raining.  He won't hardly go out in the rain unless he has to go really bad, so he didn't go.  He got me up early this morning like he usually does, leads me to the door to go out, but it was still raining and he wouldn't go.  Finally, a few minutes ago I conned him to go out, by telling him to go get the squirrel.  Then he went outside and did a very long number 1.  I quickly shut the door on him so he wouldn't get distracted and just stand at the door.  Then I watched him thru the window as he did his business and came back to the door, to be let back inside.  Whew!

There have been times when the weather is good and he still won't go out.  I guess maybe he really doesn't need to go, but he does have a bit of an established routine, so I wonder why he doesn't go.  Hummm, wish I could hold it that long!

Talk To Me!

Lately, Rowdy has just been a regular, good, obedient dog.  I probably harass him more than he does me.  I wish I felt better and could spend more time playing with him or taking him for walks and such. 

I have however been engaging him in conversation, or at least talking to him for a response.  Using key excitement words like Squirrel or Cat, which he loves to chase, gets his attention and he'll whine and shake his head around making a kind of wa-wa or continuous changing pitch wa sound.

Other key words, phrases or sounds get him excited, like pointing to my watch and saying, "Is it time?" referring to time to eat his dinner or 'chow'.  This riles him up enough to bark with the whining. 

His body language is so cute when he gets this excited as he wags his tail 90 miles an hour, squirms and wiggles around and raises up on his haunches to do a little begging act.  Put it all together with the whine and bark and he puts on the cutest show!

How Does He Know?

How does he know?  How does Rowdy sense when I am about to do something and he jumps up to follow me?  What nuance do I have?  What body language do I present?  What is it that he tunes in on?

There are certain repeat behaviors that I do, when I am about to go do something.  When I go to bed and turn off the computer, there is a Microsoft sounds ding at shut down that when it goes off, he jumps up to follow me to his bed, which is his dog crate close to my bed.  He knows that when he hears the ding, I am going to get up out of my chair.  But lately, if he is alert, he will jump up when I am only clicking on the shut down icons before the ding.  How did he know I was clicking to shut down?  I could have been clicking on anything like a Youtube video, or an item on eBay or Craigslist.  What did he sense to know that I was shutting down and going to bed?  Where he lays, the computer monitor is out of his direct sight, but he has proven to be blind to what is on the screen, so he can't see the change on the screen when I log off the internet to shut down, so how did he know?

Another scenario; When I am out working in my workshop and I am going back to the house, before I am ready to walk out the door, he jumps up off his pillow to follow me.  This was when I first noticed it and have been monitoring my behavior, to try to determine what causes it.  There are two main signals that he usually tunes in on and jumps up to and those are when I take off my glasses and/or pump the bottle of hand cleaner.  But, when I don't do those things and are about to run to the house for something, he will still jump up.  What did I do that he tuned in on, to know that I was going to the house?  I'm moving around a lot and move toward the door many times in my movements, but I am not leaving the shop.  In this case I may not remove my glasses or pump the hand cleaner, but still he knew that I was going out the door this time and jumps up to follow. 

Depending on what I am doing, I may take my glasses off several times too, but he doesn't jump up till I am ready to walk out the door.  How did he know that was in my thoughts?  How did he know at that particular moment that I was heading for the house?  Did he read my mind, or was there some subtle change in my body language to signal my intent?  How does he know?

He Smelled It!

Around 2 in the afternoon, I went outside with Rowdy running ahead of me.  Soon as he got outside of the door, his ears were at full attention and looking left and right, like he is when I alert him to a squirrel in the yard.  I didn't know what he was tuned into, but he was sniffing and smelling all around and up on top of the deck.  I told him to "Get that squirrel" and he hunted around and under the deck.  He was under the deck for several minutes when I called him out.  He came over to the storage building where I was working and laid by it, still keeping a keen eye on the deck.

About 30 minutes later, he got up and like a cat, slowly started to creep toward the deck, with his head low and his cackles up.  So I peered out of the building and I saw the squirrel moving across in front of my back door and told Rowdy to "Get Him!"  Rowdy took off like a shot and chased the squirrel till he made it to the fence and a tree for safety.  I realized later that he may have had the squirrel cornered under the deck, because he was reluctant to come out from under it when I called him.

Rowdy always gets great praise and sometimes a treat when he chases those squirrels out of the yard....."Did you get um?  Did you get that squirrel?  That's a boy!  That's the way to get that squirrel!"

Sitting With Some Chow

Though it is normal for dogs (especially Rowdy) to usually stand up when eating their food, sometimes when I have given Rowdy a treat when he is in the seated position, he will remain that way while devouring it.  Though, when I feed him his regular meal he always stands.  

But, when we were over visiting his buddy Wrigley and he was fed, he sat at his bowl eating it.  It may have been because he was lying down waiting for it in the place where he is usually fed, when we are over there.  I think he just stood up on his front legs when the bowl was placed in front of him.  I don't know if it made a difference, but he is on carpet over there and on tile at his own home.  It was just kind of funny to see him eat that way.  Of course, he is a silly dog anyway! 

Get That Cat!....... Or Maybe Not!

If you holler 'Cat' or 'Squirrel,' Rowdy is up for the chase.  I believe 'chase' is all he does, because when he catches up to it, it becomes a standoff, or it is up a tree and he can no longer reach it.

So the other day, there was a cat roaming around in the street in front of my house.  So I got Rowdy's attention by hollering 'Cat' and he came running up to the door.  Then I said, "Get the cat, get the cat!" and he tore off after it at full speed.  The cat ran away for a short distance and then turned, arched it's back and stood it's ground.  Rowdy stopped within 3 feet of it, stood there for a few seconds sizing up the situation and then backed away.  I laughed and called him a chicken dog and called him back to the house.  The little chicken dog came running back to the house all proud and happy from his chase.

A More Human Trait

Even though Rowdy does all the things dogs normally do to show affection, like jump up, wag his tail, rub up against you, roll over on his back, lick you and loves to be petted, he does something else a bit unusual.  He does what I would call 'hugs you!' 

Now I don't mean this in the sense of reaching up with his paws and trying to wrap them around me with an embrace, but instead, he will lean his head sideways against me with some force and hold it there while still taking in the affection I am giving him.  Usually he will do this when I am sitting on the couch and he comes up between my legs for attention and will press his head up against one of my legs, with what I would call an affectionate embrace.  That's why I call it a hug!

Another thing is what he does is with his paws.  Though he will do it occasionally at other times, he usually does this when he sits up on his haunches or two legs for me to rub his chest.  While I am doing this, he will place his paws on my hand and then pick them up and touch my hand over and over again, in a movement that resembles someone reaching out to take or hold your hand.  This movement is different that when he shakes hands or 'gives me five!'

Though I have been around many other dogs in my life, I have never encountered this type of affection from a dog.  The closest thing was one Sheppard cross that would push up against me to be petted, but that was pushing it's whole body and not just a part of it, as with Rowdy.