Did you know you are supposed to trim a Cairn?
I didn’t.
Things To Do On Saturday (or “Why I Am Such A Good Boy”)
These events took place over the course of one weekend when Bitey had just turned four months old. This was before I had a camera, and it took me pages and pages to scribble out all of the misery my puppy put me through in those two days!
Find the Biscuit
Coming up with activities to keep Geordie occupied during his first winter proved to be challenging. He never has been the type of pup to play by himself. He would much rather have someone else there with him. (This can be exhausting when your puppy is awake 20 hrs a day!) Our family dog loved to play “Find the Biscuit” and would search and search until he found every treat we had hidden. Hoping to buy myself a few minutes of peace and quiet, I introduced Geordie to the game.
Since Geordie wasn’t good at Sit/Stay yet, I had my Mom hold him in one room while I hid a biscuit in another. After we released him to search, we sat down where we could see him and had a chat.
Geordie searched for a few minutes, then came over to my Mom, made eye contact, and made a noise that had the cadence of “I dunno”. He clearly wanted her to tell him where his treat was. Without gesturing, she said, “It is over on the register, behind the end table”. Geordie paused for a moment to think, got an “Aha!” look on his face, then ran behind the end table to the register and grabbed the biscuit. The two of us were completely stunned. Until now, we had no idea that this little 8 month old puppy had the linguistic skills to understand that sentence. So surprised, we kept jumping around yelling, “He knew what we were saying! He understood!”
We didn’t realize it, but that was the first indication that we had a puppy Noam Chomsky on our hands.
Biscuit Dust
Geordie is really fond of Breath Buster biscuits, and when he finished a package all that remained were very fine crumbs. Since he liked the biscuits so well, I figured he would enjoy the crumbs, so I poured them into his bowl and let him help himself.
I didn’t give it another thought until later I saw him sitting up on his haunches, using his paws like a bunny washing her face. What?!? Geordie doesn’t wash his face that way! Upon investigation, I found that the biscuit dust I had given Geordie had turned into a paste and stuck securely to the roof of his mouth. I wanted to use my finger to gently dislodge it for him, but he would not let me put one in his mouth. (The look on his face said that he thought I was going to try to take the food from him.)
Hmm…what can I use? I know, his toothbrush! I grabbed his toothbrush (and promised him that could still eat the food) and carefully pried the paste loose. I thought it was interesting that Geordie would allow a tool in his mouth (but not a hand), and it made me grateful that I had gotten him used to it.
Today’s lesson: if you give your puppy biscuit dust, make sure it is in tiny quantities so it doesn’t stick to his mouth.
The Real Reason I Brush Puppy’s Teeth
In the past week, the subject of brushing your dogs teeth has come up several times among friends. These days, I tell myself that the reason I do it is for my dog’s health. Thinking about it, however, started to bring up long-buried memories of why I really brush Bitey’s teeth…
Prior to Geordie, my family had a dog, and in all his years we never brushed his teeth. We never even thought about brushing a dog’s teeth. When I first heard about the practice, I thought people were going overboard with anthropomorphizing their pets. On the day Geordie showed up on my doorstep, my folks brought along a little puppy starter kit with a leash and bowls and toothbrush/toothpaste. I wasn’t sure how much I would use it, but it was a gift, so I wanted to at least try.
If you’ve ever brushed a puppy’s teeth, you know how awful this process can be. They are bitey creatures by nature, and putting your fingers in their mouths sets you up for a world of hurt. The reason I was so persistent about brushing Geordie’s teeth was that it was a war of wills. He was determined that he was going to be the boss of everything, and I was even more determined to prove him wrong. Wrestling the puppy each day and forcing him to be still while I cleaned his teeth turned out to be a good lesson on which of us was stronger willed.
Eventually, I found a brand of toothpaste that Geordie liked, and that helped the process a lot. Nowadays, he will actually remind me if I forget to brush his teeth. He still doesn’t like the brushing part, and for as long as he can, he stalls and hides his face against my shirt so that I can’t get to him. He thinks he is getting away with something, but to me it is a chance to get some snuggles from my non-snuggly guy.
Go ahead. Hide away, my little boy. I will take all the hugs I can get.
Our Week, As A Counting Song
This week on our walks together, Geordie and I saw:
(They were eating at someone’s bird feeder)
Walking
One day, when Geordie was several years old, we were out for a
walk when a neighbor saw us and said, “You are so lucky that your dog walks nicely on a leash! We just got a new puppy, and all she does is pull and pull.” Lucky? Really? I know she had to have seen us slogging around this neighborhood, regardless of the season, all to exercise my beast and try to get him to heel. Three years of walking several miles each week and coaching my boy every step of the way
No, luck had nothing to do with it.
Why Won’t You Spin?!?
As our time in Puppy School drew to a close, the teacher warned us that in the winter puppies generally don’t get as much outside exercise and therefore occupy themselves by getting into trouble indoors. To keep your dog from getting bored, she said, get a book of dog tricks and start teaching them to your pet.
I found a nice one on Amazon and started working with Geordie as soon as it arrived. We started working, but we didn’t always have success. One trick I had wanted him to do was to spin on command. To teach him, I decided to use one of his toys as a lure. I would spin it in a circle, and he would follow, getting a treat at the end. After a while, I was sure that he understood the circular motion, so I dropped the lure and gave a command-with- gesture instead. When I did that, Geordie simply wouldn’t budge.
One afternoon, we had been working on the trick over and over with Geordie refusing to move on command. I threw up my hands and asked the ceiling above, “I know he understands the concept. So why won’t he spin?” Geordie had been listening to what I said. He walked over, grabbed his toy, shoved it in my hand and yelled at me, “Because ‘Spin!’ means ‘Follow the toy!'” When he said that, the light bulb went on above my head and was reflected in the wide-eyed, open-mouthed, comprehension-dawning”Oh!” on my face.
That was such a watershed moment for us. Up until that time, I thought that I simply had the angriest, bitiest little dog ever created. Suddenly I could see that he was frustrated that whenever he talked, I didn’t understand him. It reminded me of stories I had read about Helen Keller when she was young. She was often angry and threw tantrums which turned out to be the expression of her frustration at not being able to communicate with the world.
For me, the incident showed me that my puppy had great intelligence, but he spoke differently from other dogs I had known. For him, he saw that I actually was capable of comprehension and willing to work with him to communicate.
As an aside, from that moment on, Geordie always has done “Spin” without a lure.
Toy of the Gods
Mommy forgot to shut
The bathroom door
Where the roll of TP
Hangs so close to the floor.
When from over my shoulder
Comes a loud, angry roar,
“Don’t touch that, you beast!
I don’t have any more!”
So I snatch up the end
And away I do soar..
So pleased with my game,
I am thrilled to the core!
Leaping and bounding
And twisting with glee
I watch as my human
Can’t catch up with me.
I roll till I’m wrapped
like an ancient mummy.
It’s a gift from the gods
This roll of TP!
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 