2006-07-14
Hairy Houdinis
I was just reading Poolagirl's entry about her escape artist pooch and it got me to thinking about our "Hairy Houdinis", Floofy-Q and D-Dog.Floofy-Q is our giant Pomeranian look-alike if a Pom looked sort of like a Chow (which Floofy is not). And if a Pom were about 30 lbs. Actually if you know what a Keeshond looks like, she looks like a red, slimmed-down version of that. Or maybe a hairy Japanese Spitz. We've speculated on all of those ... and ended up basically saying that she looks like her mother and we think her father was a dog, too.
Anyway ... back to the Hairy Houdini discussion.
Floofy-Q's nicknames have been, variously, Chisel-Snoot, Mole-Paw, and Iron-Tooth.
The first is due to her having stuck her snout into a chain link fence opening and then began twisting her head around such that the hole got bigger and bigger by her snout pushing the wire out of alignment until she had a hole big enough for her head. Mind you, it wasn't quite big enough for her shoulders, so our neighbor that time had to go "rescue" her.
The second one is, fairly obviously, because she dug under the fence, requiring us to put concrete under the fence line.
The latter is because she will chew through just about anything, metal sheeting and chain link, chicken wire, or wooden doors, to avoid being a) confined or b) separated from me.
She chewed a Floofy-sized hole in the bottom of the bedroom door once, when it got blown shut by the wind and trapped her in there and we had gone shopping.
I won't even go into the argument Partner and I had over THAT one.
So ... Floofy stays inside all day and only goes outside under supervision.
But Partner insists that D-Dog, being a good ol' dog and all, is meant to be outside, so he stays outside all day while we're gone, and comes in when we get home to lounge around by the fire in the winter or just lounge on the cool floor and drink out of the toilet in the summer. (Why DO they do that?)
Until recently.
One day not too long ago we were about to pull out of our driveway and here comes D-Dog around the corner.
"Did you leave the gate open?" sez I.
"No" sez Partner, with a look of consternation on his face.
We were in a hurry so he just put D-Dog in the house and we left.
Next day, Partner put him out again and sat and waited.
Our 70 lb. dog with admittedly long legs, that had always stayed in the yard for the 6 years we've had him (unless Floofy got out and showed him how to work the latch, which did happen once), suddenly had decided he could JUMP THE FENCE.
The fence is a six foot tall fence.
He sailed right over it.
Now, if he weren't fixed, I'd think he'd have been worried about his ... um ... male doghood. But still ...
Six feet?
Not surprisingly, Partner refused to let him stay inside now, nor would he make any sensible modifications to the fence.
Partner is a firm believer that dogs should understand things like cause and effect over time (you jump the fence, next time you get tied up) or the dangers of a dog running around loose these days, and should understand humans and do what they want.
I, on the other hand, am a serious advocate of letting animals be what they are and making the attempt to understand them, so as to more easily let them know what I want.
Anyway ... suffice it to say that D-Dog is still outside all day, inside the fence, but also attached to one of those long runner-type chains where he can still run up and down the yard, get to his doghouse and water bowl, but not to the fence.
*sigh*
If it were me, I'd just keep 'em inside all the time, let them sleep on the bed with me, sit on the sofa, and only go out when they needed to.
Then again, if it were up to me, there wouldn't be any leash laws so that dogs would be accustomed to other dogs and how to behave around people, or at least be dog parks every few blocks. American dogs are pampered and sequestered, and rarely get to learn from other dogs how to behave. So, we have problem dogs, and then all dogs pay.
Don't get me started on children now, y'hear? hehe
Mitakuye Oyasin
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