8.14.12 Would You Like Cheese With That WHINE!
Sign repinned from lol
I am sooooooooo tired of Sofie’s whining. I have been making a study of this, and she even whines in her sleep. This must be a Sheltie trait. Never having a dog with this breed mix before, I am not sure, but I have never had such a big baby like Sofie Bear. So I decided to do some research. I went to “Sheltie Planet: Your Guide to Everything Shetland Sheepdog,” to find out if this is a breed problem. And, it sort of is. They say you should ask yourself these questions to try to figure out why she is whining:
– Is she in pain? NOPE
– Is she simply bored or lonely? Could be, but we could be in the middle of a major play session and she will whine (or maybe dog talk), so I will say, MAYBE.
– Is she afraid or anxious? I don’t think she is afraid, but anxious, well of that I am not sure? I don’t really see her as an anxious dog, but I have Lulu who is pretty high strung, so in comparison maybe I am missing something. I will have to think on this.
– Does she need to go outside? Well if she asks, I take her, but that is super rare.
Sofie is a very vigilant dog, she can hear a fox outside 200 feet away. She will bark at noises that we human’s just don’t hear, but I figure that is vigilance, not anxiety. Shelties are bred to guard the flock and warn when intruders are around, so it is in her DNA. I guess I am more tolerant than other people when it comes to innate traits. A dog is a dog and you have to allow them a bark or two or an occasional whine. Poor Sofie definitely has reasons to whine: (1) When she wants Nine to come out of the cat room and play with her; (2) When she wants Muffin to stop helping me make dinner, especially when it is the dog food kind; (3) When she wakes up and wants me to let her out of her kennel (but I can tell her to go back to sleep and most of the time she will), and, for sure; (4) When she wants a toy that Lulu has. The family says she whines all the time, but maybe I just don’t hear it. I have been told that she whines terribly when I leave, which is something I really need to figure out how to help her stop. The Sheltie website said basically to ignore the whining, but that sure doesn’t work around here. When she was a puppy I tried to give her positive reinforcement for not whining, but that was really hard, since it is not a predictable thing. A lot of times I think that Sofie is just dog talking to me though. She likes to sit there and have this whole conversation. I am not exactly sure what the story is about, but I know that she likes when I make eye contact and tilt my head as if listening. “Well, Sofie my love, would you like a little cheese with that whine?”
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
Monday’s Random Facts
Random facts: Sloths only poop once a week and have very bad eyesight. Their very soft hair grows in all directions because they are upwards as much as downwards.
by asirap
8.13.12 Hornero Nest Building
People are capturing the most incredible things on camera these days and are able to turn them into just such wonderful pieces of consumable art and information that travel thousands of miles around the globe in seconds thanks to the speed and technology of the internet.
For example this amazing series of photos of a Hornero bird building it’s nest from the LOL DAMN site. I could not find out who the original photographer was, but I thought that it was just something that must be shared. A private moment caught forever in pictures.
From Wikipedia I learned that “Horneros are brown birds with rather short tails and fairly long bills. They are known for building mud nests that resemble old wood-fired ovens (the Spanish word “hornero” comes from horno, meaning “oven”). They are from the family of birds called Furnariids, and while many of these types of birds have different nests, the hornero nest is the reason for the common name applied to the entire family; Ovenbirds (though unrelated to the Ovenbird, which is a parulid warbler). The size and exact shape of the hornero nest varies depending on the species. They generally lay 2–4 eggs, although the breeding behavior of the Bay Hornero is virtually unknown.
Adult horneros can frequently be seen sitting on top of their nest. They are generally noisy and all horneros are partially terrestrial, and commonly seen walking on the ground with a relatively up-right posture.
The Rufous Hornero is a national emblem of Argentina, one of the several countries it inhabits.”
I stay humbled to the fact that I can see a bird that lives (8394 km) 5216 miles away building it’s nest. How cool is that? I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
8.12.12 Mojo, All Better
The dogs have been really missing their best friend, Mojo, because he had bone surgery on his leg and was not able to walk with us or play for what seemed like forever in dog days. But Mo healed quickly and he is now back to himself. So the girls and I went over for a little romp around the yard; but, no jumping and catching frisbees until we are sure that Mojo is all healed up. I think I have mentioned this before, but Louise does not smile for many other dogs (or people for that matter), but she always has a big smile for Mojo. I just love it when the dogs are content. It is so hard when an animal is hurt or sick for many reasons, but it is also frustrating because there is no way to explain to them what is going on. But I never really thought about the fact that there is no way to explain to my dogs, Lulu and Sofie, why they could not go over to play with their friend who they have walked and played with constantly their whole lives, until this event. They knew he was still there because they heard him bark from across the street and they saw him a few times when he came out his front door for a moment or two. It was kind of a funny waiting time until he was better. They missed him. We are all happy that Mojo is all better now.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
8.11.12 Good Work, Girls; You Make Mommy Proud
I am so proud of the dogs. This week I have left them alone twice for increasing longer periods of time in the house, out of their kennels. First it was for about 2 hours. But today I had to go visiting and to dinner, and I knew that I would be gone a long time because I had to drive over an hour away. I locked the kittens and crazy Miss Kitty away so that they could not get into trouble; I gave everyone a really good snack (because I knew that I would be late for dinner); and I left (I don’t believe in making a fuss or they will fuss). I was gone 5 1/2 hours. This is a first for me 
and for the dogs. I have never left them unsupervised, out of their kennels for that long. On my way home I was envisioning shredded couch pillows, ala Wonderbutt, or chewed up pens with ink everywhere, or a dead cat (though Noel would more likely kill them before they would get her or Muffin). But, other than mauling me at the front door, they were great. This is so exciting. I hate to go out for more than maybe 3 hours when I have to leave them in the kennels, though I have left them as many as 6 hours. They probably just sleep, but I worry about stiffness and such, even though they can stand and turn around. I really want them to be able to be out, except at night, and that really is because they like to wake me up to play at weird times (which I attribute partially to the fact that they are not usually out at night when I am sleeping, but also because they are not allowed on the bed, so they need to get close to me somehow). This is a new phase at the zoo. Free roaming canines. I like it and I hope they keep up the good work.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
