Little Duckling (by Matt Hansen)
Tag Archives: nature
5.8.12 Whose got your back?
I am not sure why but my dogs seem to sleep like bookends a great deal of the time. Do we animals sleep with our back to our best friend because that is safe? This way you know your back is protected and that your best buddy will see things coming from one way and you will see them from the other? I just find it interesting because that is how I sleep as a human. I always turn out with my back to the center of the bed. Otherwise, it feels to vulnerable. I have tried to turn with my back to the outside but something about that just does not feel safe. A Travelodge survey found that 50% of British couples prefer sleeping back-to-back, either not touching (27%) or touching (23%). When I started looking into this for the blog, I found a ton of hits about dogs sleeping on their backs, but I only found one (http://dogs.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Dog_Sleep) that talked about back-to-back behavior. That blog talked about it being bonding behavior as well as safety. Since I do not sleep with my dogs in the bed, I wonder how people and dogs that do sleep together are positioned. Does your dog have your back?
Just another dogdaz morning at the zoo ❤ 
5.7.12 Leave my donut alone!
Sofie loves her new toy, I call it ‘Donut.’ Donut is an Kong Airdog toy, which is a variation on a tennis ball (the dogs love this line of toys). She has taken off all the skin by now, which is what my dogs love to do to tennis ball things. She enjoys carrying it and ‘Beaver’ (her lovey) in her mouth at the same time. This morning she came to me with Beaver, Donut, and another soft toy in her mouth (wish I could have gotten a picture).
Lulu gets jealous sometimes when Sofie has ‘special’ toys and she steals them to tease Sofie. I do believe that the dogs are capable of teasing and playing games on each other. I watch Lulu set Sofie up for a fall all the time. She actually places toys in Sofie’s mouth, just so she could then snatch them away.
Here is Lulu stealing Donut, and the chase is on…..
Just another dogdaz at the zoo. ❤
5.5.12 Her Secret Is Patience
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Watching and waiting. The dogs seem to spend a great deal of time watching and waiting. They love to look out the door and watch the world; some things they bark at, others they just watch walk by. The poor things seem to always be waiting for me to play with them. Waiting for me to make breakfast. Waiting for me to make dinner. Waiting to go for a walk. Waiting to go outside and run around. Watching me while I work. Watching me do chores. Waiting and watching while I talk to a neighbor. Watching squirrels that they are not allowed to chase. Waiting for the moment when I tell them to run free. I guess we all spend a lot of time in our lives watching and waiting. ‘Patience’ they say is a virtue. The ability to wait for something calmly. The secret to so many things in life appears to be just giving them time and having patience. I find this especially true when working with animals. Both my dogs require tremendous patience from me: Louise because she is fearful and Sofie because she is headstrong. So as they watch and wait for me, I, in turn, watch and wait for them.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
5.4.12 Chasing Tree Rats
I am mad at Louise for taking off after a squirrel when we were at the house front steps and then she disappeared into the neighbors yard. I put Sofie in the house and got a lead and went out calling her. I guess there is not much you can do when a Hound/Lab sees or smells a varmint, but I just don’t like it. She fools me because she can be walking with me off lead, so nice and calm and then zoooooooooom – there she goes. Well that is just not safe, and not right, and I just don’t like it. So I am mad at you Louise. I try and try and try but the clicker and the treats are no match for a smelly, peanut eating, tree rat.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo ❤
