Cider Press Hill

Authority

Trying to figure out a loony dog is a good recipe for making the human as loony as the dog. But I hit on an idea this morning.

Terry has been as nuts as ever and was making me more so. I let her out early this morning, as usual. No more than fifteen minutes after she came back in, she stood near me in the kitchen and pooped on the floor. After the near sleepless night I had last night, that was not a wise move on her part.

While I don’t necessarily recommend doing this, I grabbed her and ground her nose in it. Because if I hadn’t done that, I’d have strangled her. Fed up doesn’t begin to describe....

I shoved her out the door with authority. When I let her come back inside, I growled at her to get on her bed—NOW. And I stuck my nose in her face and growled at her to stay there. With authority.

And she meekly complied and wagged her tail and looked at me with adoring eyes. What an unexpected response.

She has been as normal the rest of this morning as I’ve seen her since her little brother died. She is not an alpha dog. She apparently needs structure and she needs a boss. She needs someone (dog or human) to tell her what to do, and when. With authority.

While Peeps was alive, he handled the authority part. A growl and snap on his part kept her in line. I handled the love and affection part. It was a smoothly run operation.

Now, I guess I need to do the authority part along with the love and affection part. I’m really quite astonished at the change in her since our confrontation. She hasn’t been whiny or restless. She hasn’t been getting into mischief. She’s just been...content. I don’t even have to growl. I snap my fingers and point. She moves. And wags her tail and looks at me with adoring eyes. Then I scritch her ears and she melts all over me.

Maybe I’ve finally figured her out.

Posted on 11/10/05 at 11:27 AM
 




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