At the consignment auction again, at the food area again, the black dog again, started slowly stalking Rowdy. I hadn't seen the dog all morning, until we got in the food line. Rowdy slightly cowed and tried to pull away in the opposite direction with his hair standing up a bit. He remembered her too! I shewed her away a couple of times as we were standing in line, but she managed to circle around and come up behind me. About a three second fight took place and I immediately busted them up and shewed the black dog away again. She tried to get close to Rowdy a couple more times during that afternoon, but would not come very close when I was looking at her.
I'm growing a bit concerned because she has a bit of a pit bull head and could get much meaner as she gets older, at least to other dogs. She is still a large puppy and is very friendly with the people attending the auction. If this continues I may not be able to take Rowdy with me, when I attend it. This is not a stab at pit bulls in general, as I have come across some very friendly ones, but I have also heard that if they taste blood, they will start fighting and killing other dogs. Since she is not my dog, I will have no way of knowing if she ever did.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
That's Not Your Bed!
Many nights Rowdy has been sneaking down the hall into the den and sleeping on the couch. I can never hardly catch him there, because he usually hears me coming down the hall and promptly gets up and peers around the corner to see me. The only reason I know he is down there is because I hear his toe nails clicking on the laminate floor and if I go down there I can feel the warm spot on the couch where he has been laying. Even though it is not alright for him to blatantly be on the couch, it's really not that bad because it's an old couch that's probably ready to be thrown out to the curb. But since I can't afford a new one, I still use it.
Well, this morning while in bed, I heard him come back from the den, fumble around and go back down to the den. When the heater kicked on, for which the noise might provide me cover, I decided to see if I could catch him in the act. With great stealth I slowly made my way down to the den and peered around the corner at him. He was laying close to the doorway, sitting with his back toward me with his head down nibbling on himself. I quietly reached down and with a clawed hand, goosed him and growled like a mad dog at him. He spun around like lightening and gave me an ut-oh look and then jumped off the couch and half circled me with his tail between his legs. Then he stopped and looked up at me and I said, "Get down there!" and he tore off running down the hall and got back in his bed. I wasn't really mad at him and was actually laughing on the inside at the way he got caught in trouble and how he ran away from it, without really being punished.
Well, this morning while in bed, I heard him come back from the den, fumble around and go back down to the den. When the heater kicked on, for which the noise might provide me cover, I decided to see if I could catch him in the act. With great stealth I slowly made my way down to the den and peered around the corner at him. He was laying close to the doorway, sitting with his back toward me with his head down nibbling on himself. I quietly reached down and with a clawed hand, goosed him and growled like a mad dog at him. He spun around like lightening and gave me an ut-oh look and then jumped off the couch and half circled me with his tail between his legs. Then he stopped and looked up at me and I said, "Get down there!" and he tore off running down the hall and got back in his bed. I wasn't really mad at him and was actually laughing on the inside at the way he got caught in trouble and how he ran away from it, without really being punished.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
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!
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
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!
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
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.
Friday, November 20, 2015
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.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
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?
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?
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