Listening by looking

It's fascinating, at least to me, to observe my deaf dog Lily and try to figure out what visual clues she is using to tell herself to growl or bark or run. Now, if the other dogs are growling, barking or running it's pretty easy to suss out.

Tails are problematic-Greta's tail is curved. Cody has a magnificent tail, but a lot of nervous energy and ambivalence, so it's usually waving no matter what the situation. Prissy's tail is in a permanent state of asserting dominance.

Oliver's scruffy tail seems to be the one she watches for clues. His tail is the most fluent for expressing what is going on in the world of the hearing. It's also the biggest and easiest to spot after dark.

Now his ears, not so much. It's pretty hard to tell what movements are intentional and what is just flapping in the breeze-but the rest of the gang has very expressive ears.

Another interesting thing I've noticed is that the other dogs have clued in to the fact that Lily barks when she sees something she doesn't understand, which is to say she barks at a lot more things than THEY do. Anyone else's bark is usually given at least a look see by one or more of the guys. Not Lily's.

It will be interesting to see if she works out what is bark worthy and develops some street cred, or continues to vocalize. She is actually a month or so older than Oliver, but size and handicap has made her very much a follower-but not an unhappy one.

Remember the time Ollie farted?

Hahahahahahaaaaa!

?

Do my feet stink?

MMMM MMMMM Good

River Dogs

I took Greta and Oliver to the river and let them splash around. Greta demonstrated it is possible to get tangled up in a life jacket and potentially drown. She is talented. Oliver took the whole thing in stride in his stoic, solemn manner, but seemed to have a good time. particularly in the mud at the edge of river. Who would have thought that much mud existed in the entire world?

I was really pleased-there was a granpa fishing with his two grandsons, but my dogs stayed focused on me.

belly up to the sun

happier than you will ever be

(Bit of my favorite dog haiku)

Make Up Class

I took Ollie for a "make up" class to see if he could replace Prissy for the rest of the class sessions. He passed with flying colors-such a clever boy.

Living under one set of rules here and visiting my mother several times a week is just too hard on Prissy-and keeping Priss away from Mom is just too hard on Mom.

Oliver did really well in his first Petsmart visit and formal class-he should be star of the class by next Thursday.

Best picture EVER

Bottom matters too

I didn't think Bitty's departure would make any difference in the pack-but the bottom matters too, especially when no one wants to BE the bottom. I was hoping that spending a day or so alone would help Prissy and Lily get along better, but I am pretty certain Priss is going to try to assert herself and NOT be the bottom.

If she would stop with the ear biting, Lily would probably let her boss-but Prissy never knows when to stop. Eventually I think she'll figure it out, and Lily will gladly follow Priss and use her as her ears, but it's going to take a few go rounds for it to all work out.

Bye Bye Bitty

Bitty is taking her last ride tomorrow. I really had hoped she'd just go in her sleep. Old age has taken it's toll-she has trouble walking without pain, going to the bathroom is painful, even eating isn't much fun any more. While the big dogs were at the kennel she perked up for a few days (she doesn't care much for them) but old age is just relentless and I feel mean keeping her around.

I will take her and hold her as I have all my dogs, so that her last breath is in the arms of someone she knows. I always felt like she liked me as much as she was capable of, but her heart belongs to her first mother-who I hope hears this and will be waiting for her on the other side.

Training the trainer

We practiced a group sit. Since Lily was part of the group, to be fair, I tried not to use words. Prissy got a little frustrated because she figured out the game first, but Lily eventually caught on too.

If I said sit, and Prissy sat, I gave her treat-no need to penalize her for my mess up.

Uh Oh

I forgot to cancel the reservations I had for this weekend. I feel awful, so I am taking three of the dogs in. The kennel says that wasn't necessary, but honestly, when you reserve for 6 dogs on a holiday weekend....She said she hadn't had to turn anyone away. OOOOH.

So, I'm taking in Greta and Cody, who despise fireworks, and Oliver, who doesn't like to be too far from Cody. Lily and Bitty can't hear them (Bitty doesn't hear well either) and Prissy could care less-besides, she has a class tomorrow night.

It's funny, no one is bothered by fireworks when they are crated in the house-it's the daytime poppers that really get my dogs going. I don't like them very much either.

MMMMMM, Fiber

Let's see what the fuss is all about.

Yurt

This post from a forum, about a Doggie Yurt leads me to believe I am not the only person who likes small dogs.

No, I am not building them a yurt, I am too busy working on the coolest parrot stand ever seen by human kind.

But I do like the whole picture frame idea......

Snacking on a Tree

Or the grass underneath a tree.

Can you tell I'm facing the breeze?

Floppy ears are good weather vanes

Go tear down your own stinkin Tree

Prissy does not share

Even if the ball is too big for her to pick up.

Look at ME...NO NO ME..NO ME ME ME

Fun last night. Same angle, same shot, same cute dogs. There are worse things in life than endless cuteness.