| Syl |
[Friday
07/25/08 at 6:43pm] |
I think I'm lucky to know my dogs, especially my two older dogs, especially my oldest. My oldest dog, now almost 10 years old, is by far the most intelligent and emotionally empathetic animal I've ever had the privilege to know. She's loyal and devoted to her pack, our family, beyond any comparison I know of, and understands emotion and intention beyond any training that she's had. She does things purely to make us happy, even if she doesn't think she'll get anything out of it.
An example is when she was a puppy, we left some food out for her while my parents went to work, and my sister and I went to school. We covered her bowl of food with a plastic plate to prevent bugs from getting in, and left her at home. When we came back home, we found a hungry little puppy, and an untouched, covered bowl of food. We easily pushed the plastic plate off for her, and she chowed down like crazy. Apparently, she thought that since the food was covered, it was not hers to eat. We found that out when we hid one of her toys in a very loosely covered container. She wanted it, but she assumed that our covering it from her meant that it wasn't for her.
Another awesome memory I have of her when she was a puppy was when we lived at Central Park. While my sister, mother, and I were talking in my room, she slowly walked in, head low and ears down. We watched her walk in, go into my closet, pick up a stuffed toy monkey from my shelf, and slowly walk out, looking at us. When we followed her out, she laid down by the stairs, carefully placing the toy in front of her, and looking at us in submissive anticipation of approval. She wanted that toy, but she didn't want to mess with it until we told her she could. She even made sure we saw her enter and leave, and made sure she didn't do anything with it until we came back.
Lol, speaking of Central Park, we used to have this game... which apparently she still remembers, even though we left there when she was like 2 years old. But she used to sit on the top of the stairs, and we would sit on the bottom, throw the ball up to her, and she would throw it back down. It sounds really lame, but it was really fun XDD If the ball got stuck, she would get up, go to the stair it was at, nudge it with her nose, or pick it up, go back up, sit down, and try again. Lol, it was really fun. She really loved to play fetch outside too. She still does, she just gets tired very easily.
Since we got the new puppy (our fourth dog), she's been working very hard to establish dominance.. but more than that, she's been trying really hard to make Cloud's dominance clear, our second-oldest dog. Cloudie isn't submissive to Sora or the puppy... but he doesn't fight for toys... So he would do all he can to prevent the puppy from taking his stuff, but when she did, he would just try to get another toy. While I was playing fetch with Cloudie today, the puppy kept taking his toy, since she's faster than him most of the time, and reaches it first many times. Cloudie becomes upset and stars looking for another toy, and the oldest dog just turns to me and looks for her cue. I look to the puppy and tell her "That's not yours, that's Cloudie's, Where's your ball?"
"Where's your ball" is the command we have to either find a toy or find a different toy than the one that is currently being held. So I was telling the puppy to get a different toy... my other dogs know this command. The oldest dog steps in, and forcefully takes the toy from the puppy, and starts walking away. When Cloud passes her, she drops the toy in front of him, and he cheerfully picks it up and gallops back to me for me to throw it for him again. This happened every time the puppy got the toy in the past few days. XD I couldn't believe it. My oldest wanted Cloud to have it... she didn't want to step over my authority to get it to him, but once she realized that I wanted Cloud to have it, she took action JUST to give the toy back to Cloud. Not to prevent the puppy from having the toy as many alphas might do, not to get the toy for herself, but because Cloudie, who is like her son, wanted that toy.
Cloudie really did believe, and may still believe, that our oldest is his mother. As a puppy he would try and curl up by her belly or sleep on her back, lol... our oldest hated him at first, but she warmed up to him very quickly. She doesn't tolerate anyone else abusing him, and Cloudie is protective over his mother figure as well. I think in a way, she's jealous of Sora because Cloud is friends with her. She doesn't accept Sora as her own, but tolerates her because it's clear that she's part of the pack. But Cloudie loves Sora very much. He's very protective of her, and enjoys playing with her, and she really cares about Cloud too.
Anyway... I wanted to post this because my parents are leaving and taking the dogs. I might not get to see my oldest dog very often after this... and since she's older, I keep thinking of what it might be like to not get to see her in her last days. I really love her, and she's a really awesome animal. I know she'll be happy, and I know she's had a REALLY great life. We all love her very much, and she definitely knows it! I hope she continues to be happy to her end, whether I'm there to see her to her passing or not.
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AHAHAA OH GOD DAVID PLEASE STAY FOR ONE MORE SERIES.
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