Posted by Dinah on September 8, 2011, at 22:48:44
In reply to Re: Thanks » Dinah, posted by floatingbridge on September 8, 2011, at 10:46:15
Those are both strong dogs with more will than I can cope with, I fear. :) I am not a dominant person, apparently. And Pekes are no doormats either. They are fully aware of their royal ancestry.
I have a Maltese who is sweet and good, and a spaniel who is sweet and good. But my heart belongs to my sheepdog. I think I fall in love more with the demanding and quirky dogs than the sweet and good ones, to my eternal shame. Not that the sheepdog isn't good to her dainty white toes, and she definitely has a core of sweetness. But she wakes me up each morning by putting her head on my bed and staring at me. Which means I wake up with a smile. She also stares me out of a fair number of table snacks. She attacks my ankles as I walk, all whirling hair and flashing teeth, without ever actually pinching my skin. I never manage to go to the bathroom on my own. The Maltese opens the bathroom door with his little prehensile paws, and the she butts it open then stares at me in the mirror until I acknowledge her and smile. She's good and sweet and demanding. She's dancing paws and happy barks. She almost died when she was two, from underdeveloped kidneys. We've kept her going for over a year with fluids and medications and a lot of coaxing with appetizing foods. She eats better when she catches her food midair, so I toss her meals to her. I wish we could do it forever, though I know that's not realistic. Her paws don't dance quite as often as they used to. And if it weren't for the prednisone, she wouldn't eat at all.
When they sent her home with two days of medications, with all the associated implications, we arranged to buy a puppy. We are so blessed that she has been around to train him. We had never hoped for so much. He's not her, of course. He doesn't have her essential sweetness. He's sharper and has more flash. He bullies the (male) Maltese a bit. But he's a joy in his own way. Smart as a whip, and very obedient. More than her in some ways. He'll always come when called no matter what's going on, while she won't necessarily. If I fuss at him for barking at the back fence neighbor, he'll jump up and attack the fence in total silence, which is absolutely hilarious. She seems constitutionally incapable of being quiet when excited. Instead of staring me awake, he pounces on the scale and uses the subsequent clatter to wake me up. And he has his own prehensile paws, and manages to open the door if it's even slightly left ajar. Having sheepdogs means never being alone in the bathroom. :) It also means being fiercely adored, and having fierce adoration demanded in return.
I can't imagine how people can be without dogs.
poster:Dinah
thread:995638
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20110722/msgs/996227.html