My kids adore our cat. Greta, who loves attention, begs for attention, needs attention, is usually passed over if the cat, who desires no attention, swats at attention, hates attention, is anywhere nearby. Is it because Charlie is indifferent and, therefore, a challenge? Is it because little boys need to get scratched and clawed to feel like they have met their bruise quota for the day? Both boys whine when it’s time to feed the dog, but vie to feed the cat. I might just sit Greta down and have a heart to heart with her over her clinginess, give her the age old bit of advice about how distance makes the heart grow fonder. I doubt she’ll listen, but a good dose of snubbing might be just the trick to bring her favorite play pals back into view.
I finally get the term “puppy love”. I always thought it was all about sweet, cute love. But now that I have raised a puppy I fully understand what “puppy love” encompasses, because it is much more than warm and cuddly. Puppy love is overlooking flaws. I overlook the sum of clothing, furniture, toys, and shoes Greta has rendered untouchable and Greta overlooks the number of times I forget to feed her on time. Puppy love is exorbitant amounts of time spent with each other: Greta standing next to me while I wash dishes, Greta standing next to me while I fold laundry, Greta standing next to me with her head propped on my arm while I try to type on my laptop. Puppy love is unabashed and uninhibited excitement. Greta is always thrilled when I come home and greets me with wild abandon. I have muddy paw print stains on some of my shirts and ripped or stretched out claw marks on others all a result of the excitement she exhibits the moment I walk in the door. Puppy love is many more things, but most of all, it is rewarding.
Is ultra-competitive behavior common among canine parents?
Competitive parents can be highly annoying. These parents love to share that their child is able to one up whatever your child may be able to do and the moment something new is learned, this child has probably already learned it… a year ago. My husband has never been remotely competitive, until now. But, he isn’t working with our little boys, he isn’t bragging on THEIR ability. He is secretly training our dog to one up his best friend’s dog. As soon as he saw that Greta’s Dobie buddy, Raven, could catch a treat in mid-air, he began working with Greta to, not just catch a treat, but balance it on her nose, turn around, and catch it upon command. Raven is quieter, faster, sleeker and better behaved, but by goodness my husband is determined that our dog will be able to catch a treat with more flair than Raven. Let’s hope our friend doesn’t decide to teach his dog how to jump through hoops or we may be investing in a three ring circus setup in our backyard complete with fire tricks and trampolines.
Greta sneaks, really and truly sneaks. She sneaks up on her other Dobie pals when playing in the yard, moving in slow motion, crouched down like “the Others” in the television show LOST. She sneaks up on squirrels, never making it within killing range, though she sure tries to move quietly enough. And she sneaks up on people at the door who ask whether we are happy with our current alarm system or ask to use the phone. This is odd to me. She barks at the UPS guy, the FEDEX lady, and the mailman. She gruffly huffs at new visitors when they get out of their cars in the driveway, but she is silent when people of questionable intent come to the door. She peaks around corners of the wall to get a look at these types of visitors and never makes a sound, surveying the situation. I was told by a trainer once that she is assessing the person at the door and making a decision as to what to do next. The trainer also said not to allow her to come up with a decision on her own and give her an immediate direction. We like to give her a command so the person at the door knows she is there anyway, but what if we didn’t? I can’t help but wonder what she would do? Walk away? Eventually bark? Do all dogs act strangely toward people of questionable intentions? Is it only a Dobie trait? Or is it a Greta thing?
Gumby: still in one piece even after all this time.
All week the kids have been looking forward to giving Greta this vibrating ball we bought her. She barks madly at anything that moves, so why wouldn’t she go nuts at a moving ball that makes weird noises? Cole has been talking about how we will win some sort of imaginary video award and lots of money over a video of Greta going crazy for the latest and greatest toy she has ever had. We drew straws over who would get to be the one to hand it to her but, in true dog form, she was completely unpredictable. We turned it on, and she walked away. She didn’t even double take. So we don’t have a cute video of a hilarious reaction to this most “amazing” toy despite a whole week of anticipation. We just have a picture of old tried and true – Gumby – the toy she went over and picked up after the failed video attempt. I guess some dogs just know what they want.
If we don’t get to Charlie first thing in the morning she meows by the front door and waits. Apparently, this morning she was too hungry to wait and took matters into her own…claws. She had just started eating her own freshly caught breakfast when I came out with her cat food. I guess I was thankful that she didn’t smear the insides across the front porch like she usually does, though I am not sure what our fickle feline will do with the leftovers. It’s going to be another long hot day here in Florida and our cat might get a little creative. I just know we have our own Checkpoint Charlie guarding our yard. Cole likes to say she is part of the “No Squirrels Allowed” club he and Adam have formed. My boys think she is the coolest cat in the world.
Is it cruel to hide the toys that annoy you away from your dog? Greta loves a good squeak toy. I want Greta to be happy. But a good squeak toy is a loud squeak toy and I just can’t tolerate two rambunctious little boys and a constantly squeaking dog all summer. So, I have hidden all her squeaky toys and opted during my last dog toy buying spree for a toy with a bell inside. So far, Greta hasn’t pulled apart the rubber weave or been able to wedge out the bell so it has been a good buy. Cole and Adam roll it around with Greta chasing and trailing behind, and there aren’t a lot of activities that all three of my “kids” can play together. This ball has been added to what I call Greta’s “baby” collection and more often than not I find her sleeping with her head propped on top of her ball or a paw draped over it like she is sleeping with a lovey. The benefit has also been we have been able to replace her football “baby”, which she would intermittently squeak in the wee hours of the night, with her new rubber ball “baby” and we have gotten more sleep in the process.
Trying to get a picture of Greta with her bone is like trying to sneak up on a deer, a fierce, territorial deer. I am not sure what kind of animal bone this is, but judging by its size and the way she anxiously guards it, I think it might be something rare and extinct like woolly mammoth, or stegosaurus. She has managed to separate what looks like a knee cap from the rest of the bone. This has been quite problematic for her because she can’t control both pieces with her mouth at the same time. She can only carry one piece and, when approached, tries desperately to drag all of her bone loot to another “safer” part of the yard where she can chew and guard her prizes undisturbed. After two weeks she is still wearing herself out chewing on this “toy” night and day and seems to be calmer physically, like all that jaw movement releases the tension in her limbs. However, another week of needless worry over getting her bone stolen just might turn her into one of the most neurotic dogs ever.
Greta’s best Dobie friend has a rope ball toy identical to the one we got Greta, so we thought this new toy would be a “gimme.” We forgot that Greta’s penchant for chewing is far more obsessive than her buddy, Raven’s. The ball actually floats in water and is easier to find at the dog park than some of Greta’s tennis balls, but the moment she decided to keep the ball for herself and not give it back, she handily separated the ball section from the woven rope in only a few bites. So, now she has two toys that are better for choking than playing and we have had to remove the toy entirely. The six leashes, two harnesses, and one collar she has chewed through in three minutes or less should have been a forewarning that a rope toy would be rather wasteful, but we just didn’t get the message. It’s back to regular old tennis balls for this Dobie.
I make my two young sons figure out my iPhone apps on their own. I decided that being able to decode a handheld game is important for a child’s development. So, why is it that when it comes to my dog I am a complete pushover? When we first got the Buster Food Cube I assumed Greta would get the hang of it pretty quickly. I was so wrong. It’s taken a long time for Greta to understand this toy. I spent several weeks kicking it around, filling it to the brim with food so she could get food more quickly with little effort, but I soon found that I was the only one of us working at it. Greta was just waiting until food fell out and she was getting rewarded for nothing except outsmarting me, which apparently takes less effort than I thought. I was running around out of breath, kicking a cube while she sat and waited for treats. I changed tactics and I began using the cube to feed her dinner.
I could tell at first she felt cheated. Dinner I have to work for? But I learned that when Greta is hungry enough she drops her lazy affect and gets to being a little more persistent. Now, she is able to pick the whole cube up in her jaw and will bring it to me when she wants to play. The Buster Food Cube is one of my favorite toys because she can successfully entertain herself without my help, and it only took me two weeks to figure it out.
Coquina rescued her precious Doberman puppy Greta from squalor on a South Florida farm at the tender age of 8 weeks. Since then she's been balancing being a work-at-home mom with raising two young sons, a dog, and a cat. This is their story.
