So, I went through Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide by Brenda Aloff a second time. Much of the info I already knew, but here are a handful of things that struck me while thinking about Lilly and Ginko’s use of their bodies to communicate. …
In general, I follow the American Animal Hospital Association’s Canine Vaccine Guidelines. That means, I only vaccinate my adult dogs every 3 years (not every year). Since it’s required in our county by law, that means a 3-year rabies vaccination. I also do not do annual boosters for some of the others, like that combo one many dogs get for distemper, etc. because I once interviewed the top canine infectious disease expert in the country, and he told me that many such vaccines have MUCH LONGER duration of immunity that we’ve been led to believe. I absolutely want …
I found a copy of Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide by Brenda Aloff at my local library and checked it out, based on Dog-Geek and KB‘s recommendations, after I shared my Calming Signal confusion. I’ve read through the whole thing once, and I have plenty thoughts to share soon. Today, the topic is this: I believe Lilly speaks Dog-lais with either a heavy accent or poor syntax. She mixes her metaphors. She conjugates her verbs incorrectly. She reads like electronic assembly instructions translated from the original Chinese. …
Either I need to transition my dog clothes over to brown, or I need a better stain-fighting formula to get the dog dirt out. Seriously, all of my dog jeans (… yes, I have jeans designated for dog activities) have a brown tinge to the thighs from Lilly putting her feet on me when I ask her to BEG (a calming strategy to get her to focus on me). I’ve tried all the usual over-the-counter stuff that’s supposed to get the stains out, but there is still a pall that looms on some of my clothes. …
Sometimes we catch a glimpse of a rare arctic ice bat in our very own backyard. Ooooh, scary! …
When my friend Lisa Metzger at Metzger Associates in Boulder recently sent me some hedgehog links, I realized I’ve never written about Xena — the pygmy hedgehog in my past. She was an albino (to boot), so she was entirely white, with pink eyes and everything. I would never have an exotic pet again, and I would caution others against it, but it was an interesting experience. Granted, it’s not a freaky as the camel featured over at Days of Speed, but it’s a tad bit nuttier than the goat who runs …
Our big-picture trainer (Gigi Moss) often says that true pack-leader dogs seem completely normal. They don’t seem bossy or dominant or whatever term you use. They just appear like well-adjusted, normal dogs. If a dog does seem otherwise, then he or she is likely concerned about “status.” As Gigi likes to joke — It’s similar to people. All the posturing happens in middle management. In other words, most visible actions comes from a wanna-be, not the one with actual control. Lately, I’ve noticed some funny interactions between Ginko and Lilly that might shed light on things.
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The nice thing about any season other than summer is that it’s pretty safe to take Lilly in the car with me. Sometimes that means popping by Tom’s mom’s house, where Lilly is learning to be a good girl in a new place. I’m even brave enough (for short spans) to let her run around off leash. …
At times, in the winter months, our solar-powered gate opener poops out. Sometimes, there isn’t enough sun to charge it. Sometimes, the bitter cold drains the battery. That means on very rare occasions it’s left open, which means the dogs are stuck inside. On such a day recently, I was busy working in my office … when two dogs ran past my window. I knew mine where in, so even though one dog was clearly black and white, the sight didn’t throw me too much. Indeed, it was Riley (a bc) and Kenai (a husky, possibly husky mix) running past. …
Sometimes when I write, which is my honest-to-goodness career, the real world recedes and I live entirely in my head. The only sounds I hear all day long are my thoughts and the keyboard. Every hour or two, I shake myself out of this work-focused stupor to get a snack or whatever. Last week, I shuffled into the master bedroom in search of a tissue. Lilly, who apparently had been waiting for me to rouse, ambushed me with a high-flying kissing fit. …
