(190) He's Happy in the Morning and I Know It (so stomp your feet!)

The second article that inspired me from the Bark Magazine was one that expressed that all dogs wake up happy. The essay suggested that dogs wake up happy because they are carnivores and are eager for the new day of hunting. While it is true that Max and especially Beeker are excited to get outside and to eat their breakfast I think Beeker wakes up happy because he has had wonderful doggy dreams (legs moving and whimpering included) and he hasn’t seen his buddy Maxie all night and he is anticipating playing and getting to go outside for a walkabout. Beeker is by nature a happy dog. He twirls his tail around in a circle and if he is extremely happy to see me in the morning he will even let out a Beeker Howl which is not like a bark with a sharp start and abrupt ending, but rather a low start with a vertical arcing volume and an ending that is sometimes so high I think he is going to continue with a song. His howl is only a one note vocalization but it gets his happiness point across. I know a dog that is so happy to see people in the morning that he actually grins. The corners of each side of his mouth go up and he show all of his teeth when he first greets people. At no other times of the day does he do this, only the first greeting of the morning. It is such a hoot to see and I actually didn’t believe it the first time and asked others if I had seen what I thought I saw. Yep. He’s the original smiling dog in the morning. Max is more subtle with his morning excitement. I think this is due to his master’s morning temperament. Max’s master likes to have a while to wake up and doesn’t really understand why people talk for the first three hours of the day. It could be that dogs reflect their owner’s morning attitude. All I know is that Beeker greets the day like he’s late for a birthday party and it’s his birthday. He’s just a happy dog. He’s so happy he’s infectious (Even to Max’s owner! Shhhh, don’t tell Max’s owner).

On the other hand, I’ve been noticing that I’TS COMING! It is still hot outside, with temperatures in the high 80’s and 90’s but it’s coming anyway. I noticed this morning on our walkabout that the grass is drying and the leaves are starting to fall on our deck. If you’re patient and take in a slow deep breath you might even be able to smell it. If you have to drive the back roads or through the country you will definitely be able to tell it is on its way. The dried beans and corn stocks are a dead giveaway. Another unmistakable way to tell is to look at the calendar. But that is really cheating so you may just want to use your eyes and ears and nose to tell that it is on its way. I have to admit that this is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the changing colors of the leaves, the crunch of my shoes on the leaves, and the cooler nights. The dryness is in the air. A friend and I try to take a trip each September or October to the Corn Maze just to act like kids and get lost in the corn. It smells so wonderful while we are trying to find our way out. But just to let you know, autumn is on its way and coming fast.

(189) Dog Happiness

The new Bark magazine is here! It’s always a great day when I arrive home and get to peruse through the newest issue of Bark. I love all of the pictures of dogs. I love the many helpful hints from readers about how to enjoy my dog more. Sometimes I even agree with some of the articles. But I always find inspiration for blog entries. There are some things I don’t like about the magazine. For instance, they are adamantly opposed to anything Cesar Milan says or does. I love Cesar. I think he has brought responsible pet ownership and bonding between dogs and people back to the forefront of conversations. He has empowered ordinary people to have a better relationship with their pets. Go Cesar! But…Bark Magazine takes every chance to dis Cesar because he will sometimes say that owners have to be stronger (discipline wise) than their pets and he believes that the pack mentality works for families with even one or two animals. Enough of this soapbox for now…


In this month’s Bark I read two articles that inspired me. One article suggests that our dogs give us so much happiness and we often forget that we also need to give them some happiness in return. I agree. The article continues by giving 10 things that we can do for our dogs in return. So here are my 10 things to do to make my dog happy.

1.) Beeks often reminds me that I forget to play. So I should play with him more. Dance even!

2.) Beeks loves to chew and he has only ever chewed his toys. So I should give him stimulating toys to chew for his enjoyment and novelty.

3.) Beeks loves to go outside with me in the morning on our walkabouts. Dog’s love to smell the roses and any other thing. So I should continue to allow Beeks to be all that he can be and remember that an essential part of any dog is his nose. He needs to explore with his gorgeous nose including smelling as an adventure and stimulate his brain.

4.) Beeker is a well behaved dog and sometimes I forget that he needs reinforcement for his good behavior. I expect him to follow my commands but now rarely reward him for doing so. So I need to give him the rewards he loves and remember to appreciate how well he responds when I ask him to do things.

5.) Beeks loves my attention and sometimes I neglect him because a quiet and well behaved dog is easy to neglect when I am busy. So I need to focus on him each night for a little while at least, giving him my undivided attention with a good petting or brushing.

6.) All dogs need good clean bowls of water and it is easy to walk by the water bucket without changing it if it still has water in it. So I need to change out the water bucket at least twice a day. We have a well so water is cheap here.

7.) Dogs love to go naked. All dogs want to live sans clothing. Beeks loves to go without his collar. So I need to take his collar off him at night. I would hate to hear a restrictive collar while I tried to sleep (especially with metal tags hanging on it). Some people would say dogs should only wear their collar and tags when they go outside…

8.) Beeker loves to be outside and loves to go on walks even more. He needs exercise and is happier when I take him on regular walks. So I need to get back to regular walks for both of our health. ( A tired dog is a happy dog and walking tires out Beeker).

9.) Beeker loves other dogs. He loves Maxie and he loves his cusogs too. So I should try to get him together with other dogs as much as possible. He’s always happy when he gets to play with his friends.

And # 10…

Beeker loves to go for rides in the car… and his favorite car destination? Of Course… Ice Cream. So I need to take him to Micky D’s all of the time (Okay every so often).

That’s my top ten things to do for Beeker to let him know that his happiness is important to me. I don’t think they are very difficult to follow. What are your top ten ways to show your dog his happiness is important to you?

(188) Smart Dog Intelligence Ranking

While talking to my father the other night he mentioned that he saw a report on AOL that stated there was now research ranking the smartness of different dog breeds. I say smartness instead of intelligence because whereas many breeds may be intelligent, only those who use their smarts or an outward expression of their intelligence are ranked. I didn’t read the article that my dad was talking about, but I did look up smart dogs and found a ranking system by a professor of psychology and Neuropsychology at the University of British Colombia. The Author, Dr. S. Coren, wrote a book called the Intelligence of Dogs, suggesting that there are three types of intelligence in dogs.


• Adaptive Intelligence (learning and problem-solving ability). This is specific to the individual animal and is measured by canine IQ tests.

• Instinctive Intelligence. This is specific to the individual animal and is measured by canine IQ tests.

• Working/Obedience Intelligence. This is breed dependent.

The Working/Obedience Intelligence is the ranked system that I wanted to view. There were six categories for dog breeds. Brightest Dogs, Excellent working dogs, Above Average working dogs, Average working /Obedience Intelligence , Fair working dogs /Obedience Intelligence, and Lowest degree of working dogs/ Obedience Intelligence.

Of course I wanted to know where Beeker and Max would fall. I also wanted to know where my favorite other dogs would fall. Keeping in mind that not all dogs are “working” dogs, I figured that Beeker (cattle dog mix) would be somewhere in the above average group and Maxie (Newfoundland) would be in the average range. I also kept in mind that we were talking about breed intelligence and not individual intelligence. I know Max and Beeker are extremely smart dogs (called parental pride). Turns out that Beeker’s breed (cattle dog) comes in at #10. So he is in the Brightest Dog group and Maxie’s breed (Newfoundland) comes in at a tie at # 34. Now the criteria that was used is that a Bright dog breed will understand new commands in less than 5 repetitions and will obey the new command 95% of the time. I think Beeker obeys them a little less than 95 % of the time. For above average breed they understand a new command in 15-25 repetitions and obey in 70% of the time. I think this is a fair claim on Maxie. You could say he stands for his breed. Belle our female Newfie was probably atypical and obeyed commands 95 % or better. The website that I looked at to read about this research and book was:

http://petrix.com/dogint/index.html

or

http://www.petmedsonline.org/top-10-smartest-dogs-in-the-world.html
You are able to see where most breeds fall. Its fun to see if your own dog matches up to its breed intelligence standard.

I also read on a simular site that a smart dog will learn everything you want it to know, but a super pet will also learn everything it can get away with. Just something for you to think about when you are working with your smart dog. I’d say Beeker fits into this category. He is always trying to find something and someone to “work” or to do a job on.

(187) Pets Chinese Style

When my oldest son was living in China for a year we decided to visit him during the Christmas holidays. We had a fantastic three weeks of traveling through five cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Wuhan (the city where Ash was living), and Hong Kong. This was the year before China hosted the Olympics. China was changing from a third world country to a formidable world power. What we noticed were the number of affluent people now living in China. Sure the majority of people still were poor and a dinner for nine people still cost a years’ salary of $40, but we also saw people in Hong Kong who after only a number of years as an independent autonomous trade zone, was doing quite well. One thing that stuck in all of our minds was the number of people we saw with pets. True that there have always been pets in china but on this trip to china we noticed the increase of pet stores. When people have extra money to spend and little room or in the case of china a limit on children they will put their extra money on their pets. I was reminded of this fact when I saw tonight’s CNN report of the increased number of owners in China who are dyeing their pets. You can read this report at:


http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/27/china.dyeing.dogs.pandas/index.html?hpt=C2

Do you remember when The Animal Planet tried to get on the contestant bandwagon with the TV show Groomer Has It? On that show they often dyed animals to increase the beauty of the animals they were asked to groom. I thought they all looked incredibly ugly. Who would dye a dog blue or like dye it to look like the owner’s favorite wild animal or athletic team mascot? Now China is finding that they like the colorful look of their dogs all dyed up to look like other animals (animate and inanimate). If I asked my oldest son about this latest Chinese fad he would say that it is sooooo Chinese. I agree with that.

For example, during our Christmas trip, we stayed in a Wuhan hotel that was having a holiday celebration on Christmas Eve. This was the strangest conglomeration of East meets West that I have ever witnessed. They had about twelve Santas parading down a neon lighted runway who were met by angels coming down ropes from the ceiling with pictures of beer. When the Angels met the Santas they had a beer chugging contest. Then came a parade of Disney characters including Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They had little Chinese children dressed up in Halloween costumes like Batman and ballerinas. They played loud rock music until two in the morning and all the alcohol was gone. Now that is Chinese.

I am not surprised that the Chinese like to dye their pets. They like to have colorful reminders of what makes them happy. Why not? They live in relatively small places and have relatively small numbers of “extras” in their life. Their pets get lots of attention when they are dyed. This is also socially interacting behavior simular to the Germans who take their little Dachshunds to all the pubs and out for walks. The attention surrounds the dogs and owners gets them engaged with others. It’s a social phenomenon that works for the Germans and is now working for the Chinese. They take their little dyed dogs out on walks and they meet other people who socially engage with them in conversations about how cute their dogs look and about their own little dogs. It’s getting people to talk to each other. How wonderful our dogs are?

(186) Saturday with the Dogs

I didn’t have to work today but Brad did so I got to do what I love doing on Saturday’s. Beeks and I went to garage sales. Beeks knew the minute I woke up that something was up because he followed me around the house waiting for me to pot my shoes on. When I went into the kitchen he followed me even though I was just getting another cup of coffee. When the time actually came for us to venture out he was ecstatic. He twirled around like a ballerina (Okay a male ballet dancer). He was excited. I was focused on one particular sub division that was having a sale but I also knew that I was getting there late as far as garage sales go. That is not the point. It’s the thrill of the hunt. Unfortunately there were no bargains by the time I got into town. I was able to drive through and only stopped at a few garages. I actually didn’t buy anything. So with garage sale money in my pocket we headed to my favorite paper store to see if they had any new papers to buy. They didn’t have anything new but they did have a sale on paper so I stocked up with my garage sale money. Having “new” paper motivated me to get busy making cards this afternoon and soon I realized that I needed a straw for one of the projects that I am working on. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate even one straw. Not one, so I did what any logical thoughtful, creative person would do. I got Beekster and we went to McDonald’s for an ice cream cone and straws. Worked perfectly. I got the straws I needed for my art and Beeks and I got ice cream. Wonderful and tasty.


Now we have a guest staying with us for the night. A nephew is in town overnight until his parents come to pick him up and take him back to college tomorrow. Like most college students he was at a concert last night and didn’t get much sleep. We happen to be the “between” stop so it works out perfectly. I picked him up at the McDonalds (no not another ice cream) and we headed home. I gave him the option of sleep or food first and he chose food first, then sleep. I had forgotten how much college boys eat. I made spaghetti and meatballs and all of it is gone! After he sleeps we will make dinner and I am sure he will again eat something.

Max was so excited and ramped up when we got home after I picked up our nephew. I had prepared for his initial meeting by putting the dogs in the laundry room behind the gate. After we had been home for a while, we let the dogs out with surprisingly little excitement. I had shared that it is best to ignore Max so with that Maxie was calmer and only needed a little sniff to realize that this was a friend and not a foe. He just keeps getting better and better about correct behavior with initial meetings. We also keep getting better and better with Max meeting new people. I think that the initial meet and greet will always be his “issue” and the more we can assist him with making it a calm low stress situation the better he will do. Now tomorrow when the rest of the family comes to pick up our nephew will be another story. OMG, hope for the best for us. We will just do this same routine and all will be well. (I hope). Beeks will be the steady one with greetings, he will also be the one that will alert Maxie of approaching visitors. He’s good at that. It seems to be a lazy Saturday now. Chez and Beeker are on the bed sleeping, and Maxie’s on the floor next to us sleeping as well. The house is quiet for now.

(185) I Toad You So...

Houston we have a problem. I don’t know if it is with Maxie or with the toads but somebody is obsessed with somebody. Maxie has become proficient with finding the toads that come into the dog run and he has decided that they are his occupation and for his enjoyment. To be honest we haven’t figured out if the toads are coming or going but that doesn’t really matter since when we open the door Max usually has one between his front paws and is jostling it back and forth like a ping pong ball. If you remember a previous blog or if you have known any dogs that try to catch toads you may remember they excrete a mild poison that makes dog’s mouths froth. We are now on Toad catch number 7. Most dogs (the smart ones) only need to try this one time before they get the lesson that toads are good to leave alone. Well, Max not only doesn’t leave these toads alone, he seeks them out each time we open the back door. The last time Brad took one away from Maxie, he put it outside the gate. Now, if Max cannot find one in the dog run, he sits by the gate and fixates on the place he last saw Brad out the toad. What’s with that? He started to claw a little trench between the gate and the fence just so the little toad can get inside easier. Is that considered baiting? I would love to know what it is that Maxie loves so much about these toads. Is it a mild form of hunting? Does he get excited to catch something? Why does he keep putting it inside his mouth and getting all foamy? Has he acquired a “taste” for toad? Is he addicted? We actually discussed this morning if the toad issue might be significant to his output issues. I guess it could happen that the slime from the toad is affecting him.


Beeker doesn’t seem to be as interested in the hunt as Maxie. Max looks like he is playing with the toads.

I remember my family pet, Gretel. Gretel was a runner dog. We lived outside Carbondale at the time and our house had a large yard that then bordered a cornfield. One day Gretel came home with a soaking wet duckling. Gretsie kept that soaking wet duckling between her paws and would let it wander out just so far and then she would go and get it ever so gentle and bring it back to keep it again between her paws. My mom still can recall the details of Gretel’s playful obsession with the duckling. Maybe this is just like that. Maybe the toads are like playmates to Maxie. A playmate that doesn’t nip at his tail or heels.

Now the next question is how to stop this madness. The toads refuse to get smart and keep out of the dog run. Maybe they are instinctually heading for the window covering, like the salmon that swim up steam or the geese that fly north every winter. Maybe they are trying to “go home”? We can’t keep Maxie out of the dog run. He needs some place to go out. Although we have other places to leash Max, he is just as likely to find “critters’ and eat more grass in those places. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as we go from Fall and into Winter. I wonder if Toads hibernate or if they just go deeper underground. I bet Maxie will like toadcicles!

(184) Meet Your Match for a Forever Home

Every year thousands of wonderfully adorable dogs and cats are euthanized because there are not enough homes for them and they are unloved and uncared for. I’ve written before about the many reasons to adopt from the humane society as well as the reasons to have your pets altered. I think it’s a great way to help stop the over population of unwanted animals in our country.

Having said that, my sister told me about a program she saw on PBS last night that told about the many dogs and cats that are serial returnees to humane societies. These are the dogs and cats that do get adopted from rescues and humane societies but soon get returned because they were not the “right” match for the family that initially adopted them. In the program on PBS, they talked about a new research based matching program that some Humane Societies are now using. that tests cats and dogs for certain personality and energy traits so that the person/family wanting to adopt a new pet can match their own personality and energy level desires with that of the animal they want to adopt. This program hopes to lower the number or returned pets so that the dog or cat can find their Forever Home like Max and Beeker have. The name of the program is called “Meet Your Match”. After the animal is tested in three categories it is then color coded so that the adopters can “match” not only the cuteness of the animal but its natural energy/personality levels as well.

The three categories for dogs are Socially motivated, Internally motivated and Externally motivated. However, under each of these categories dogs are tested/looked at for energy or personality for that motivation. For instance, under Socially motivated a dog could be “Life of the Party” (Green), “Goof ball” (Yellow), or “Constant Companion”(Purple). Under Internal Motivation the traits are “Free Spirit” (Green), “Wall Flower” (Yellow), or Couch Potato (Purple). For the external motivation the traits are “Go Getter” (Green), “Busy Bee” (Yellow), or “Teacher’s Pet” (Purple). Of course descriptions are given for each color and trait which are too lengthy to go into here. However I think this is a splendid way to assist families to make more informed choices about pet adoption. Matching your own needs and personality with that of the pet you are going to adopt. When going to adopt a pet the perspective owner also fills out paperwork that then leads to a “color pass”. Then you know that the dogs and cats with the same color code are a better fit with your wants and needs. How cool is that? I have to admit that I knew immediately that Beeks was the dog for me but it would have been reassuring that I had found a match right from the start. So what color code would I have been looking for if I were looking for Beeker today? I think Beeks would have been a Socially motivated dog mostly a Green color or maybe some Yellow. Max would definitely be an Externally Motivated dog and probably a Purple color.

This whole program was developed by a researcher for the ASPCA.