The Little Pack

Tonight after throwing Jackson’s toy for hours and listening to him whine, I finally had to say, “No more toys, Boy.” No more toys is almost as heartbreaking to him as “That was a bad, bad Boy.” His poor sad face… Meanwhile Archie was feeling neglected and doing what he does when he feels this way, knocking objects off the kitchen counter. Tonight, that object was a water pitcher, and yes, he broke it. Archie wants attention all the time, however, that attention must be received by you coming to him, and definitely not the other way around. The way he’s discovered he can draw attention to himself is by (in order of escalating desperation):

1. Crying.
2. Knocking things over.
3. Knocking things over and then off the counter.
4. And as a last resort–beating up Baby Titten.

We only reached Stage 3 tonight. Then he started mingering around, waiting for me to pick him up. Its possible that this tactic has worked in the past, thereby reinforcing the behavior. And now, Jack is setting toys on the ottoman and giving me the Border collie eye as though by simply staring he can teleport the toy into my hand and make me throw it. If only life were that simple, objects would never be broken, toys would not accumulate on my lap, and Cheyenne would never paw at my face.

Tonight one Cheyenne mystery solved: lately she has been pawing and pawing and pawing at me. Persistently. Sometimes my head, sometimes smashing my hand underneath her body. Although this sounds like a dominance thing, I must first explain that pawing is Cheyenne’s one way of communication with humans. Which, frankly sucks, because there is really no way to tell if she has to go out, if someone took her toy or bone or looked at her sideways, if she wants a treat, etc. She doesn’t vary the way that she paws, it simply means that she has something she desperately needs to tell me and she is so frustrated she can’t just speak in my language. Instead she is forced to just reiterate, Mom! Mom! Mom! with her perfectly groomed, razor sharp claws, until I finally either lose my patience and yell at her to lay down, or I miraculously telepathically figure out what the issue is. A side note: the other dogs–the former angel dogs–have also taken to pawing when they want something. This, by the way, is not how learning between the dogs was supposed to happen. Why does the bad influence always prevail? That is contemplation for another day, back to the recent resurgence of pawing.  Lately she has been taking my spot when I leave it, so more and more its beginning to seem like a dominance issue after all. Tonight, I got up and came back and there she was curled up in my chair on my blanket and I had an epiphany to the point I burst out laughing. She wasn’t trying to take my spot. She wanted my afghan. She loves afghans. She has simply been trying to tell me that she wanted a blanket. I got hers (yes, she has her own afghan) from the bedroom and spread it out on the ottoman. She immediately leaped into the new spot, made the perfect nest, and curled up happy as a clam. And now as I write this, somehow she has both of the blankets, is passed out and snoring with her body pressed against mine and dreaming I can only presume, of chasing rabbits and shrews. What would life be without this crazy brown-spotted dog?

Tonight Cheyenne was obsessively pawing at me–my arms, my face. I asked her “What do you need to do?” (which means “Sit”, don’t even ask…) and she sat, but continued to paw, inlcuding trying to paw at my feet when I told her no paws. Sigh… that’s a Shoo-Shy for you, desperately trying to find the loop hole. So anyway, I pointed at the floor in front of me and said, more to myself than anything, “If you want loves, you need to lay down.” I had absolutely no expectations. After a (very) prolonged period she sighed, laid down, and rolled over! I was stunned. I hadn’t even said it as though I was asking her to do anything. Which only proves just how intelligent she really is, and also just how uncooperative she really is. It isn’t that she doesn’t understand what is being asked of her, its that she doesn’t understand why she should comply with my requests. I had stopped touching her and she really wanted attention. I am beginning to think that she is affection motivated, even though I have never heard of such a thing. Hey whatever works. Even if it is only 60% of the time.

Really is any other evidence needed?? For further proof, head on over to http://www.thebark.com/content/dog-nation, scroll down and click on Smiling Dogs. New dogs are added each week. You cannot look at these pictures without realizing the depth of joy these animals experience. In IO’s case, I was eating popcorn and she knew that she was about to get a piece. Have I mentioned that she is very food motivated? It’s OK Missy, your mom smiles for treats too!