Dogs

I have, among the zoo I call home, a dog and a cat. The cat was a rescue, brought into my clinic last summer while 3 or 4 weeks old, someone dumped a litter near the school. It came home 'for just a day (sure).
The cat, ruler of the universe, does as she damn well pleases and rules the roost.
My dog on the other hand adores me and lies at my feet wherever I sit, and is a little shih tzu. I have had, in years past, bigger dogs, dogs I loved such as German Shepherds and Labs, but now, the Shih Tzu, Mr. Muffin, is my only dog.
They say you grow to look like your dog. Muffin is foofy. I never thought of myself as foofy, but ya never know.
You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat their dog. If you want to date someone, look at how they treat their mom, and how they treat their dog. I do not cook foofy little meals for Muffin, but if I have something nice for dinner he gets a bit. He is a companion dog, but not an outdoor sport dog, if you throw a ball he will look at you like you have just dropped a whole lot of IQ points, lol. But he is my dog now and I love him.

How do you treat your dog, if you have one?

I'm a dog person. Mine is spoiled rotten. You could say, "I'm his bitch". He rides w/ me everywhere i go. Sleeps in the same bed w/ me and talks to me by yipping directly to me to something of interest. He's really bright. I can't even shut the door to go to the bathroom w/o him following me trying to open it. He keeps tabs on me 24/7 (lol) .One time (not at band camp-lol) my savannah climbed out of a temporary cage I had him in. I was cleaning, and the phone rang. I ended up ranting for an hour or so on the phone and forgot. He came up and "beaked me" in the back, and made an expression that after 13 years.......well.....i can read my dog...i know my dog and I knew something was up. I looked around and sure enough......the savannah had gotten out. One of those "Lassie" moments, i guess. He's such a good boy. Dogs are great animals. I think people could take a few pointers from dogs.

I dunno......there was some story about an old legend long ago. It's one of those stories that gets told in a smokey room as everyone's shooting the breeze listening to Pink Floyd. I am only probably getting some of the story right, but anyway it goes something like this.......At the beginning of time, man and all beast were divided by a large bottomless crack in the earth seperating them. The dog left all other beasts jumping across to join his companion... man. And so we have it. Man's best friend.

Originally Posted by thecobrakid

You could say, "I'm his bitch".

Muahaha!

Well, we have two dogs in the house. One is 'mine' the other is terese's. Moose is just a big ol' goof. He's a sweet dog and all but I'll be the second to admit (terese has always said it first..) he's a bit of a dork. His mom died at birth and all his siblings but him and his sister died shortly after. A friend of ours that is part of a humane society took him in and did all the bottle feedings and nursing and all for both Moose and his sister until they were old enough to make it on their own. So Moose is HUGE on the seperation anxiety thing. He's torn up more than his share of furniture and other items in the house for the first little while of being here alone with Harley (terese's dog). Once we found out he was going to be a problem being left alone they were built their own little room that they go into when we have to leave the house.

Mostly because of the seperation anxiety he is constantly at my feet. If I go into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee he gets up and follows. If I go to the bathroom he's right there. God forbit I get into the bathtub or shower with the doog closed - he'll scratch the heck out of that door just so he can come in and lay next to the bath/shower. (actually this is an improvement from the days of him having to be held by the collar so he didn't jump in the tub with you - I am not making this up!)

We were told he was Boxer/Bulldog. The mom was bulldog and her owner told the society ppl that she'd gotten pregnant by a Boxer. Looking at Moose you can kind of see that but we're leaning more towards Mastiff. Who knows.

As far as the dogs looking like their owners and vice-versa, I'll have to have terese take a picture of me (ugh) and Moose together to see if there's any resemblance.

As a matter of fact, as I type this, he is laying on the bed not three feet from me. *clicks* a digi-pic...

As a matter of fact, as I type this, he is laying on the bed not three feet from me. *clicks* a digi-pic...

Awww, what a sweet looking little doggy!

He's torn up more than his share of furniture and other items in the house for the first little while of being here alone

Ya think? Let's take a quick peek, shall we?

Live and learn?

BTW - I've come to learn why dogs tear up your stuff when left alone. Many people think it is because the dog is upset and trying to get even with you having left him/her. So you come home to find your favourite shoes are torn up. Or your blanket is torn to shreds.

What your dog is showing you though is that he misses you and has been trying to look for you. They use their sense of smell and take at anything that smells like you the most. So the sweater you love and wear a lot...or your shoes...or other items that are 'you' get destroyed because your dog is taking the closest thing s/he can find and tears it apart looking for you.

Also, making a big fuss when you leave and come home just goes to show your dog that you missed him/her as well and that you much prefer to be there with him/her than be apart. So when you are apart s/he'll try that much harder to find you because now not only does s/he want to be with you but s/he knows you much prefer to be there as well.

Just thought I'd share that.

As for the picture above...well...what can I say. We were missed! I feel so loved....

LOL oh my god, that is some serious damage. I've never had any dogs with separation anxiety, thank goodness, and I hope I never get one.

Wow y'all must be great people if he misses you that much....or have great scent, lol.

Could we have a full pic of the fine snake cage in the lower left?

Sure.

That is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

Originally Posted by MR_Jungle_Mist

What your dog is showing you though is that he misses you and has been trying to look for you. They use their sense of smell and take at anything that smells like you the most. So the sweater you love and wear a lot...or your shoes...or other items that are 'you' get destroyed because your dog is taking the closest thing s/he can find and tears it apart looking for you.

Yes, but she should leave my laundry in the hamper! I'm only in the next room! I have a spoiled rotten house Rottie, and her favorite thing is to get into the dirty clothes hamper then come strolling through the living room or den (preferrably when I have company!) with either one of my bras or a pair of my underwear hanging from her mouth! Which ranks her right up there with a dog I had growing up who used to tear open my gym bag and pull out the socks so she could eat the toes off of them. And this was after a full week of gym class.