Dogs are amusing creatures aren't they? Just when you think you have them figured out they do something that makes you ask yourself, "really?" I find it interesting that they have the most accurate mouth-to-eye co-ordination when I toss them a piece of peanut butter cookie the size of a Tic Tac from 10 feet away. Yet when I toss them a piece of celery from three feet away it bounces off the top of their head, or off their nose, or they simply watch it fall to the floor in front of their feet.
It's interesting how they can't seem to hear me hollering at the top of my lungs to "Come here!" when they are chasing after something - like a coyote! Yet when they are in a dead sleep in the bedroom down the hall, they can hear a dollop of softened butter hit the kitchen floor. Can you say capable of moving at the speed of light when motivated? I'm curious why they hate going out to "do their business" in the pouring rain and will stand at the threshold of the door looking outside and then at me with an expression that says "I'm not going out in that, I will hold it all day long if I have to!"
Yet they will eagerly go for a walk in said rainstorm while enthusiastically splashing through every single puddle they come across. Even more thought-provoking is how they request to go out to do their business, in a downpour, during the middle of the night, every two hours! (Sleepdeprived owners are less demanding.) Why is it that when they are soaking wet from either a swim or playing in the rain, they must stand as close as they can to you while they shake? When you attempt to run away from them to prevent getting covered in wet dog spray, they frantically run after you as if you are trying to leave them behind. But try running away from them while they are at the dog park in the hopes that they will come to you and they just stand there watching you leave. "Bye Mom ... it's been swell!"
It's also odd how they can fit underneath the bed at the sight of the nail clippers, yet can't seem to reach a ball that has rolled under the same bed. Picture a dog whining, laying sideways with its head and two front legs extended under the bed while barking ... "Mom, I can't reach it!" "Whatever!" How about when they stare longingly at their water bowl refusing to drink out of it because there is something in the water, like a piece of toy, food or other unknown substance, yet they will lap up dirty puddle water as if they had just come back from a week in the desert. And when you do refill the water dish with clean water they promptly walk into the bathroom and drink out of the toilet.
They can sleep through me vacuuming the entire house, including the dog bed they are lying on, yet are irritated by a squirrel running along the power line extending from the house to the hydro pole. ("Damn squirrel woke me up for the last time!") I love how my dog Piper eats an apple, like a human, holding the entire apple between his front paws and taking bites out with his front teeth. He eats everything but the core - it's hilarious! Yet when I feed him his raw food chicken carcasses he won't eat them unless they are chopped up into bite-sized pieces.
I read an article recently about a dog's pooping patterns. It claimed that dogs will aim either their front or back end towards the magnetic north 75 per cent of the time when going number two. I find it peculiar that there was actually money spent on researching such a subject, but on observing my own dogs, oddly enough, it is true! It's funny how I will hear them playing and roughhousing in the living room, yet when I walk into the room to see what they are up to, they are all curled up in little balls as if they had been sleeping all afternoon. Hooligans! Amusing creatures dogs are, but they do keep us smiling!
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for more than 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her through her website k9kinship.com.
