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Happy Thanksgiving...
... to all the Americans anyway. Well, to those who celebrate it. I said happy Thanksgiving yesterday, without thinking, to a coworker who's a Jehovah's witness. She wasn't rude about it, but I felt like a moron.
I have the day off from work, though I have to work tomorrow, so no staying out late. A little later I'm going over to a close friend's house, and then later having dinner with a co-worker's family. I know such nice people. They're all willing to feed me. :)
I'm watching another friend's dogs over the holidays. THEY'RE DRIVING ME MAD. For one thing, they don't get along with my dogs at all. I have to keep the dogs shut in separate rooms and take them for walks in shifts, because otherwise they try to attack each other. It seems to be getting a little better ... I might try taking the whole pack for a walk before I leave this morning. MIGHT. I don't really want to take chances with borrowed dogs -- so far, none of the dogfights have turned really vicious, and I don't want anybody getting badly bitten.
I'm glad I kept the male puppy, since my other dog is a girl. Male and female dogs hardly ever fight, but dogs of the same sex will really go at it. Both the guest dogs are bitches, and very aggressive, dominating personalities too. They're terriers ... I guess it goes with the breed, although Frisky was not aggressive like that, so presumably you can train them to more docile behavior.
The longer I have Izzy, the more impressed I am with HER behavior. Last night she gave up on the domestic situation and took her favorite rawhide chewie outside to lay in the snow for a few hours. She likes being outside and isn't bothered by the cold, so I figured she was probably happier out there than inside beset by terriers. I didn't want to leave her outside when I went to bed, though, since she was unrestrained (we don't have a fenced yard) and had nowhere warm to sleep. So I called her ... she wouldn't come in. (Can't blame her.) Sigh. I went down and gently took her rawhide chewie out of her jaws. I suppose it was a dumb thing to do with a dog I don't know all that well, but even though she's been defending it to the death from the terriers, she opened her mouth very willingly with never a growl or a nip. And once I had it, she didn't try to jump on me and take it back -- she just got up and came in the house like I'd been telling her to. Where I immediately gave it back to her. Good behavior should be rewarded.
I've read that dogs learn social behavior from their masters and hence pick up their masters' personality traits. This is possibly why Lucky is turning out to have a "type Frisky" personality -- docile, quiet, not a jumper or a face-licker. Or maybe I've just been fortunate enough to get dogs who fit well with my personality type.
I have the day off from work, though I have to work tomorrow, so no staying out late. A little later I'm going over to a close friend's house, and then later having dinner with a co-worker's family. I know such nice people. They're all willing to feed me. :)
I'm watching another friend's dogs over the holidays. THEY'RE DRIVING ME MAD. For one thing, they don't get along with my dogs at all. I have to keep the dogs shut in separate rooms and take them for walks in shifts, because otherwise they try to attack each other. It seems to be getting a little better ... I might try taking the whole pack for a walk before I leave this morning. MIGHT. I don't really want to take chances with borrowed dogs -- so far, none of the dogfights have turned really vicious, and I don't want anybody getting badly bitten.
I'm glad I kept the male puppy, since my other dog is a girl. Male and female dogs hardly ever fight, but dogs of the same sex will really go at it. Both the guest dogs are bitches, and very aggressive, dominating personalities too. They're terriers ... I guess it goes with the breed, although Frisky was not aggressive like that, so presumably you can train them to more docile behavior.
The longer I have Izzy, the more impressed I am with HER behavior. Last night she gave up on the domestic situation and took her favorite rawhide chewie outside to lay in the snow for a few hours. She likes being outside and isn't bothered by the cold, so I figured she was probably happier out there than inside beset by terriers. I didn't want to leave her outside when I went to bed, though, since she was unrestrained (we don't have a fenced yard) and had nowhere warm to sleep. So I called her ... she wouldn't come in. (Can't blame her.) Sigh. I went down and gently took her rawhide chewie out of her jaws. I suppose it was a dumb thing to do with a dog I don't know all that well, but even though she's been defending it to the death from the terriers, she opened her mouth very willingly with never a growl or a nip. And once I had it, she didn't try to jump on me and take it back -- she just got up and came in the house like I'd been telling her to. Where I immediately gave it back to her. Good behavior should be rewarded.
I've read that dogs learn social behavior from their masters and hence pick up their masters' personality traits. This is possibly why Lucky is turning out to have a "type Frisky" personality -- docile, quiet, not a jumper or a face-licker. Or maybe I've just been fortunate enough to get dogs who fit well with my personality type.