Tag Archives: dog behavior

Fighting Like Cats and Dogs

So why do dogs and cats have this stereotypical relationship as enemies? We see it over and over in books, television, and film — think about Garfield and Odie, for example. Most dogs can learn to tolerate cats. It depends largely on the dog’s prey drive. Canines are predators. They chase and catch smaller animals for food; even thousands of years of domestic life can’t quite change that instinct to chase. Selective breeding has enhanced that trait in some dogs, and faded it in others. For instance, many terriers have high prey drives, as they were bred to be hunting … Continue reading →

Just When I Think I Understand Them…

I’ve had my dogs, Moose and Lally, for a few years now. Lally joined the family in September 2003; Moose was adopted in January 2004. But just when I think I know them pretty well and can guess what they’re going to do… they surprise me. A good friend of mine bought a pair of cushy beds for her dogs, only to find that the dogs weren’t fond of them. She gave one of the beds to me in the hopes that I could reclaim my sleeping bag from Moose and Lally. And let me tell you — this is … Continue reading →

Mud Socks

I keep hearing people talk about how mild the winters are in the Pacific Northwest. We’ve had a share of sub-freezing days (that gave my Moose some trouble with his hips) that made me wonder. At least with the sub-freezing weather, the mud solidified! Over the weekend, though, we had some gorgeous days. The temperature came close to fifty degrees, and the sun poked through the clouds. So I decided that Moose, Lally, and I were long overdue for a trip to the dog park. Less than a mile from the apartment is a fenced in off-leash park with water … Continue reading →

Wipey Feet

My dog Lally does a funny little dance after she goes to the bathroom. She scrapes her back feet against the grass: right, right, left, left. I call it “wipey feet” (as opposed to Happy Feet, I guess). The topic came up in one of the dog lover sites I frequent, and nobody had a definitive answer. Why do some dogs wipe their feet after they piddle or poop? No expert in wipe-ology came forward to solve the mystery. All we could do was make some educated guesses. Some folks thought it might be similar to a cat burying messes … Continue reading →

Pets and Pregnancy

One of my best friends in the world is pregnant, and I’m just delighted. You might remember her dog Casey, who’s appeared in a few stories here and there. Now that my friend has entered her second trimester, Casey has started to act differently. She’s been having accidents in the house — specifically in the kitchen and the bathroom — both while her owners are home and while they’re out at work. I turned to one of my favorite online dog communities to see if anyone else had experienced something similar during their pregnancies. They had! Several ladies wrote in … Continue reading →

The Dog at the B&B

Last week at the cats only boarding facility, I had a quick refresher on computer stuff — how to add a new client to the system, how to input various charges, how to check someone out, how to put a guest on the schedule. For practice, we pretended that I was a new client and added me to the system. Of course, you may notice that I don’t have any cats to add. So we used Moose. To my surprise, the computer program the boarding facility uses already has codes for dogs. It must be a program that any animal … Continue reading →

Stop Chasing!

I was out walking the dogs the other day when two young men on bicycles stopped me and asked for directions. As the boys started to ride off, Lally suddenly took interest and wanted to chase them! The chase instinct is one of the strongest instincts in dogs. Pursuit and hunting behaviors are strong in both domesticated and wild canines. Your dog may want to chase: Running people or children. Bicycles, skateboards, and roller skaters. Cars. Other animals. Moose once chased after a ride-on lawnmower. It was a short lived chase; after three or four steps, he lost interest and … Continue reading →

Training: Redirecting Unwanted Greetings

My girl dog Lally is half boxer — which is why she likes to “box” me when I walk in the door. She stands up on her back legs and bats at me with her paws. It’s cute, but it can also be painful! It seems like every dog has his or her own particular greeting ritual. Moose demands a good scratching as soon as I come home. My brother’s dog Lily isn’t happy until she has licked everyone’s face. Lally boxes — and she recently accidentally tagged a male friend of mine in a very delicate area! The first … Continue reading →

How Do Dogs Learn?

There are some behaviors that dogs inherit from their wild relatives. Inherited behaviors are strongly influenced by breed; for example, a border collie tends to have strong herding instincts while a greyhound (and other sighthounds) will have a strong desire to chase moving objects. Some dogs have an innate calm; others are innately nervous. My Lally seems to be the nervous type — sudden noises and movements will startle her. Human behavior around animals can help tone down or key up these behaviors. Inherited behaviors can’t be unlearned but you can work around them. When Lally gets excited, she tends … Continue reading →

Moose and the Collar Trick

Before Moose got hit by a car back in June, I was lamenting his collar trick. You see, Moose has a big head — most German shepherds have a narrow skull, but Moose is crossed with something that has a big, square skull. (The vet suggested a pit bull or a rottweiler.) He’s also got a big neck and lots of thick fur. All that adds up to trouble for me and Moose and the collar. As much as I tighten the collar, he can still somehow slip out of it. The diameter of his neck must be bigger than … Continue reading →