2014 Dewey Pics #1

The hilarity of shy dogs

We are out at the campground this weekend. It's windy and Sunshine is a little more skittish in the wind. Bf's 11 year old nephew is out this weekend. Sunshine knows him well and is usually fine with him in the house, trailer, our backyard, and even if she's out on leash somewhere. He's on her approved safe people list.

Sunshine was nervous and didn't want him to pet her tonight.  The wind, darkness, and loud drunk strangers were a little much. Rainy stepped up to the plate for some pets and I stepped between Sunshine and the kid. An effective well practiced move for us.

When we moved to leave, the kid waited until we got about 10 feet away, then ran up behind Sunshine to get a reaction out of her! Of course Sunshine freaked out, skittering forward in a panic. I stopped, turned, and used my handy dandy death voice. "Hey! Don't you chase her to scare her!" "I didn't mean to." Was the response I got. "Yes you did! If you want a momma bear to rip your head off, mess with that dog again." Kid quickly changed the subject asking if a table was made of glass.

The funniest part is that halfway through this Sunshine was glued to my side, not shaking, no tail tuck, and looking at the the kid with a "Haha! My mommy's going to kill you" gleeful look. I was surprised at how quickly she went from terror to watching the kid squirm. The shy ones really do need you to be their protectors.

He's a pretty good kid, just a boy with some judgment lapses like all kids.

Conversation with Rainy

Me: What's this sticky outy thing on the side of your face?

Rainy: Scritch mah nose lady!

Me: Oh it's fur and skin hanging off your face! You are 10 years old! What the hell are you doing? How are you shredding the flesh on your cheek? You need to be more careful and act your age!

Rainy: Where are da cookies?


 

Daily Post: Superpower

I only have interest in one superpower. Imagine what I could do with the ability to eradicate stupid from this world. Someone who could do this would never be bored! That's a lifetime of work. At least once a day I'm shaking my head at the stupid that surrounds me. Within the past week I have had 9 separate interactions with the Delaware Unemployment Office. I cannot even begin to describe that level of stupid. Why are logic and common sense to hard to find these days?

This must be why I get along much better with animals. Even the girls think that stupid is exhausting.



 

No No Bad Dog?

I used to get so upset at the thought that any dog was yelled at enough that they thought their name was No, No, Bad Dog. What kind of life is that? Dog should be nurtured and loved. If they are doing something that wrong, the human has an issue, not the dog! Why are humans so awful to other creatures? This really bothered me.

Then I brought home Sunshine. This dog lives to get into trouble. She will tip toe up to you steal a flip flop out from under your nose, and tip toe away without you even noticing. She's like a little 4 legged ninja! You can holler at her and all she does is blink at you. She is not put on this earth to be a good perfect dog.

It took me a long time to finally realize why she was brought into my life. Sunshine was brought into my life to teach me all about a shy dog. To totally debunk the whole dominance theory that was still rattling in the back of my head. To make me a better advocate at the Vet's office. She made sure that I didn't sweat the small stuff. Learned to laugh at the disasters that don't really matter in the long run.  Houses were meant to be redecorated with stuffy fluff. Flip flops, hats, and used wash clothes taste really yummy and help with itchy teeth. A few holes eaten in the wall can just be spackled and sanded. I learned how to clean up corn oil off the kitchen floor along with the rest of the trash can contents. Did you know that fish food is irresistible?

One of my favorite memories is when BF caught her eating his slippers. He yelled at her, took them away from her, and banished Sunshine to the bedroom. I was reading in the bedroom. I watched while she walked in with him following her to make sure she got to the bedroom. Then he turned to stalk back out in a huff. Sunshine proceeded to tip toe follow him. I have never seen a dog tip toe before and I may have peed a little trying to only silently laugh... BF turned around to make sure she was staying in the room and Sunshine instantly froze with a paw midair. He corrected her again and sent her to her bed on the other side of the room. Turned to walk out and the exact same thing happened. By this time I was howling with laughter and he couldn't keep a straight face anymore.

Then there was the first time I left Sunshine at a close friend's house for the weekend. She's a shy nervous dog so we weren't really sure how it was going to go. It was a house where she had visited often and she was comfy with the people there. We expected her to be a little stressed. Well no one yelled at her the entire weekend, they just laughed at her and that egged her on. I gather that it all started when she cried a little in her crate at night. She was immediately let out of the crate and it all was party time from there! She started out by stealing tissue boxes and escalated, to jumping up and knocking the breath out of people, to stealing toilet paper, and jumping on top of dressers! She didn't stop running around the entire weekend. Oh the naughtiness!

It's amazing how time and experience changes your thoughts and opinions. Sunshine embraces the No, No, Bad Dog title. She's quite proud of it. I now have this proudly displayed on my minivan

Jetpack testing...

Trying to use a new auto posting tool. Testing 1 2 3...

Daily Post: One Question

Another one from the Daily Post. If you had to come up with one question, the answer to which would determine whether or not you could be friends with a person you've just met, what would it be? What would the right answer be?

This is an easy one today! It hold true for any type of relationship. "Do you hate my dogs?" I'm okay if you're not in love with them, but you need to at least tolerate them in my life. This is probably the time to note that I have very well behaved dogs. When we have visitors over they basically greet, get their pets, and go sleep for a few hours on their ridiculously expensive dog beds.

Rainy reads people really well. If you ignore her, she ignores you right back. If you baby talk to her she rushes up for a perfect pet lover greeting. If you are terrified of dogs, especially big dogs, she will ignore you. People who are scared of dogs generally stand there for 20 minutes while we talk, then they get brave enough to just risk a teeny touch with a single finger. Rainy will stand stock still and not startle them at all. She's such a wise pupper!

The second question would be "Do my dogs like you?" Sunshine is not fond of strangers. She generally tried to avoid them at all costs. She only ever gone after one person in all her years with me. The person stopped behind me to talk to third person and Sunshine was not having it. I have no idea why this one person triggered this reaction, but to this day I don't trust that person and try to avoid them. I have no problem listening to what my dogs are telling me. Of course over the recent years there have been some stories that have surfaced that makes me not too fond of this person, but Sunshine knew first.

Sunshine's communication works the other way too. Back when the current BF was a brand new stranger, we were sitting at a picnic table at a park talking. Sunshine went to his side of the picnic table and laid down! Usually she would stand and hover behind me to be invisible. Now this didn't mean she instantly loved him, she was just making sure I knew he was a good egg.

Both girls made him work really hard to be accepted into our family. That was not expected from Rainy. I think back and laugh about the time Rainy started barking at BF when he got up to read a poem that was hanging on the wall. I was in the bathroom and the poem was across the hall from the door. This dog won't even bark at a doorbell or knock at the door! Anytime BF would ask Rainy to do something, she would slowly blink at him, then roll her eyes to where I was. She would make eye contact in a clear communication of "Do I have to listen to this guy?"  Sunshine wouldn't let him touch her for many months. I still don't know how he got her collared and leashed up that day he decided to take them out for their potty walk. I asked about it and all I was told was "It wasn't easy."