Silly dog story

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

After reading the story about dog abuse here, I thought I’d post a silly story of my dogs to brighten your day.

We have always grown up with dogs. We have usually had Collies, and they are always really awesome. They are sweet, and would never hurt a fly. We used to have a 2 acre fenced-in area that was partly wooded for them to be outside dogs. Really sweet puppies.

At this particular time we had three. Well two Collies and a Sheltie. The Sheltie was obviously of blue blood. My parents always joke that our dogs’ blood is bluer than ours. Not that we are blue-blooded. But he was certainly a bit aloof. Much different than the Shelties we have now.

Well one night we went out to eat, the entire family and we let the dogs stay in the house while we were gone. I can’t remember why we did that but although they were house dogs, they certainly were trained to not go in the house since they also spent a lot of time inside. Each time my mom came home she’d let them in and they’d go on a rampage inside the house snorting and licking.

We left, and when we came back, we noticed that there was something wrong with Henry’s mouth. Henry was the male brother of Hannah, the other collie. Maybe it has something to do with my mom being a bit of an assertive gal, but all of our female dogs seem to end up being very assertive as well. Don’t know why. But Henry also wasn’t the most intelligent dog either. But the point is that when we looked at his mouth, he had a chipped tooth and a cut lip! Not a canine tooth, but one of the smaller incisors between. We had no idea what the hell happened, but in the end we figured out a scenario that might possibly explain it.

The counters were bare, but it’s possible that maybe they weren’t wiped clean so they smelled like food? Henry most likely stood up and put his front paws on the counter. I can imagine him licking the counter with little stretch of the imagination. Only, to henry’s great misfortune, his back paws were planted on a wool rug sitting on top of a very slippery varnished surface. Needless to say the rug slipped and Henry had an accident… He’s such a silly dog.

Just in case you want to know, Henry is still around although his sister isn’t. My mom got two more shelties who are absolutely spoiled to the core. And Henry, having retired is very much spoiled as well. All he does now is moan for attention! He’ll wake them up in the morning for some petting, and periodically throughout the day!

Our two shelties, a lot younger, are loads of fun. The funniest one is the little male sheltie that we have. I absolutely love that dog. He’s the biggest coward you’ll ever see. He gets scared of COLORS! that’s right. If you wear a funny patterned shirt, he’ll get scared for a second. He also likes to climb around on the furniture like a cat, which I have no idea why they did that.

And mysteriously our dogs have taken a liking to eating raw potatoes. It’s probably not good for them, and it is a rare “treat” but they like them. Don’t ask me why. We had a basket of potatoes sitting there for years before one of them ever tried one. But when they did my mom had to move them when she noticed that she was running out of potatoes. It’s the craziest thing you’ll ever see, and the female sheltie we have now will get jealous, and try to steal the others before she finishes hers!

Anyway, thought I’d share.

It’s truly the most mundane post I’ve ever written here at the SMDB.

2

where da’ pics??? We want pics! :smiley:

3

Cute story!

I used to have this cocker spaniel mutt that could jump like a border collie and climb fences like nobodies business. I had never seen a dog scale a 6 ft chain link fence before. He was amazing. Could leap up into my arms…and did so without warning sometimes. I loved that little guy!

4

Nah, good post. Collies can be a bit of a handful though being extremely active and curious dogs. Someone once told me that it’s a lot less bother to get two collies rather than one so that they can tire each other out. Prepare for your stuff to be eaten, licked, sniffed and shed on to destruction. However the only collie I’ve got in my life at the moment is my next-door neighbours, and Polly is welcome in my bit any time (not that I’ve got much control over this you understand).

5

Our Honey dog is a stitch. We have a gate up in front of the kitchen now because she used to get into all sorts of trouble. She figured out how to open the cabinets with her nose pretty fast. We would come home to half-chewed raw potatoes, empty cereal boxes, etc. One unfortunate day she discovered the gravy packet we had on the bottom shelf of the pantry, chewed it open, drank all of her water (salty stuff), and left funky gravy stains on the living room rug. THAT was fun.

She was fine most of the time - only occasionally raided the kitchen, maybe once every few weeks or something. After the gravy incident, that was it - up went the gate. Now she contents herself with chewing on the drywall when she gets bored. :smack:

6

Another silly dog story. I may have shared it on the Dope before, but I don’t feel like doing the search to find out.

When I was 13 or so, we got a new dog. He was a Brittany, and was a bundle of contradictions. To begin with, he was a beautiful dog, but he was also 20 pounds heavier and a full two inches taller than the breed specs. He was incredibly aggressive towards other male dogs, but a sweetheart with females. He tried to present the image of being a loyal guard dog, but most of the time it was more than a bit of a sham. He tried to be brave, but we got to saying about him, “He’s a bird dog, alright - chicken is a bird, right?”

One of his foibles was that he liked having dry food in his bowl all day - so he knew, if he got really hungry he could snack on it. Usually his bowl was empty by the time he was to be fed (usually just before suppertime) but not always. Having said that, he would make few exceptions to his rule about leaving his dry food alone til he really, really wanted it. First, of course, if there were garnishes of people food thrown in, it got eaten immediately. That’s pretty normal.

What wasn’t normal was that he became convinced, for reasons no one ever figured out, that one of my mother’s friends was a dog food thief. Whenever Carole came over to visit (Not infrequently, say about once a month.) he would announce her by barking as she came up to the back door, then run to his dog bowl and wolf down his food, as fast as he could, before she could steal it from him. The really odd part was that he liked her. Once he finished his food, he’d go over to greet her and get petted.

Of course this reaction got him in trouble one day, when my father came home earlier than the dog had expected. I forget what had happened but, that day, for once he was being fed a little sooner than usual, and he was going for his food immediately. While he was eating my father drove up, and came up the walk to the back door. Now, kibble has much that can be said in favor of it, but it’s not quiet to eat. So the first that the dog knew that someone was coming was when the back door (which was next to where we kept his food and water bowls) opened.

The poor dog was possessed of two mutually exclusive imperatives: He had to remind us all what a good guard dog was, and bark at the intruder; He also had to protect his supper, since it could be Carole visiting, again. So he gulps a huge mouthful of food and…

“Wooooof! Woo- Ack cough cough choke cough”

He was most displeased that both my father and I found this hilarious. I bet you never knew a spaniel could give a black look, either. We certainly hadn’t known until then.

7

Sorry, no pics… :frowning: Maybe I’ll ask my mom.

But about collies. I couldn’t really say what it’s like to have a single collie. We’ve always had two. Our collie at the moment is really old, so he’s not too active. He’s such a baby though. He’s never had it better, so he’s enjoying every moment. My mom bought him a big pillow with his name on it. Also, we have a big kennel for the shelties to sleep in at night, but Henry, the collie is very jealous of that, so during the day he crawls in there and sleeps.

Collies are great though. Ours have never been all too active, I guess. They always did play around and such, but I guess it’s because they always had such a fun yard to play around in. We had a two-car garage that had a special bed of pine straw for them to sleep in. I tell you, my mom really takes care of her puppies. But of course they got to come in as well. Basically every day from when my parents got home until they went to sleep. Yes, they sat around the dinner table with us while we ate. Our sheltie, back when Henry broke his tooth, would always pester my dad for food. I always told him though, because it was only because he gave him all the food!

I’d love to try other breeds of dogs, and I can’t say that having a collie is a good idea unless you have some room for them to roam, but I really think they are great dogs. As I said, they are slightly larger dogs, but they’d never hurt a flea.

I always found it funny when my friends came over when I was a kid. They’d always say that our dogs were really big or they’d just simply be scared. If you knew these sweet dogs, you’d realize that they’d never hurt a thing. I used to try to ride them like a horse as a toddler! Collies are great dogs though.

During the summer we would put out fans so they could stay cool during the day. Amazingly when we would move the fans, from time to time, they would still sit in the previous place that provided the most ventilation. Apparently they didn’t connect the dots… But then Henry got the idea of sitting next to the front door. My mom bought an antique door that didn’t seal well, so a lot of cool air seeped out, so he’d sit with his back against it on the outside. Of course he was highly put out by having to get up when you wanted to get out!

But yeah, I miss my puppies. It’s always great to go home and see them. The shelties are particularly crazy. They go insane! It’s generally 5 minutes of licking…obligatory.

Also yeah, about our little male sheltie, called wolf. He will often bark at his reflection. He’s a bit small for the breed, but still, he’s hilarious and a constant source of comedy.

But yeah, if I were to be a dog, I can’t think of a better place to live.

8

The funniest thing I have to share about Boomer happened before we got him.

My husband and I were at my office Christmas party. We have these at a bar, with food, and we sit around and drink beer and talk after. Joan asked if anyone wanted a dog. A stray had followed one of her kids home, and she already had two.

She said he was housebroken, well trained, didn’t bark or chew or jump, a really nice dog. She’d put up notices, called local vets, etc., nobody had claimed him.

My husband and I (this was after five or six beers) said we’d be glad to take him. We had two cats, but it had been awhile since either of us had had a dog. We worked different shifts so someone would almost always be home with him.

As the evening wore on, I started to have my doubts. We’d just installed new carpet, our yard wasn’t fenced, and one of our cats had attacked a neighbor’s dog (cute little thing, just walking past the house on a leash with its owner).

So I said to Joan, “I’m having second thoughts about the dog.”

My husband says “You can’t give away my dog!”

Written out like that, it’s not so funny, but it was hysterical at the time. Ron had already bonded with Boomer and they hadn’t even met.

Things got off to a rocky start. Joan brought Boomer over and the first thing he did was pee on the stereo speakers. Then he peed on a chair. We took him outside and he ran like a banshee around the neighborhood – the dog was fast!

But except for that first half hour or so, he’s been a perfect dog. He’s 10 now, thinks he’s a lap dog, and likes to lean up against your leg and make this doggy purr sound. I don’t know what we’d do without him.

9

Yes they are. I think they can be a bit intimidating for people who aren’t very dog-minded - they seem to pretty much universally want to get involved in everything. About the pseudo-horse thing, when I was a wee bairn my mum and dad had a huge Alsatian (Kim) who adopted me and my wee brother as if we were her own pups. There exist photos of me holding onto Kims collar as she trotted around the garden with me on her back, and photos of my brother getting washed as a toddler with Kim jumping into the bath to help out. Poor Kim died of kidney failure at far too young an age.

Damn just typing that has made me a bit weepy.

10

I don’t really have any stories about my current dogs that are funny. I could probably think of a few from dogs since passed, but that’d make me sad. But I’ll tell you about my doggies anyway. Ladybug, a black lab/chow mix, is 11 years old, and starting to show her age in a big way. She likes to play tug-of-war with her toys, and if you give her a stuffed toy, she’ll delicately pick at the threads that hold it together until she makes a hole, then she’ll pull the stuffing out, and the squeaker, until there’s nothing left inside. This makes her happy, for some reason. :rolleyes: :slight_smile:

Jasmine is a black-mouth curr mix. She is 6. She is 50 lbs. of muscle and instinct, with no brain cells to trouble her peaceful existence with thought. One of her great delights in life is to chase the squirrel out of the bird feeder. The squirrel is in no danger, but hasn’t figured this out yet. The squirrel runs from the feeder to the fence along a little ladder about 6 feet long, which is about 4.5 feet above the ground, then runs along the fence until he gets to the neighbor’s yard. Jasmine will run, bark, and jump, trying to catch that rascal squirrel. It’s a hoot. :smiley:

The girls

Right after a bath–rolled in the sand :rolleyes:

The cat…er, I mean BIRD feeder…, :dubious: :stuck_out_tongue: :smiley: (That’s Rio)

11

Back when my husband and I were still newlyweds, his mother had a basset hound - Sugar. She was the first basset I’d ever known, and she was a trip.

One day, she managed to get up on the table where 2 pounds of fudge was cooling, and snarf it all down. Didn’t get sick, didn’t puke. Just ate it and snoozed.

My MIL spoiled her something awful. Sugar got buttered toast every morning when my inlaws had their breakfast. She had her own afghan, and when she was cold, she’d lie down and whimper most pathetically until she was covered up - all but her nose.

She was pretty much a slug. They tell me when she was a puppy, she’d walk a few yards, then plop down for a nap, then get up and walk a little farther, then nap… So once she assumed the nap position, she wasn’t moving.

She loved popcorn. Not enough to rise from nap position, tho. So my inlaws would oblige her by tossing pieces of popcorn her way. I wish I had a photo - there would be Sugar on the floor, surrounded by popcorn, except for the arc that she could reach without rising. The funniest was when there was a morsel *just * out of reach - she’d try and stretch and will the treat to her mouth, but it wouldn’t move, and neither would she.

What’s even funnier to me is that my MIL finally got another dog some years after Sugar died. The new pup is Abbie - a cairn terrier. I don’t think you can get any more night-and-day than those two!

12

It’s funny that you talk that way about Collies! It doesn’t really describe mine to well at all! They were pure-bred, but they were kind of nocturnal. I have no idea why, outside of the MIssissippi heat. They did go out at night and bark at anything it seems, but as far as curiosity goes? I dunno, mine never seemed particularly curious. They would get excited to see you for the first 10 minutes then forget about it. If they went inside, they’d go crazy for 10 minutes, then lie down. They loved to rub up against the couch though.

I also remember when we went to school, they’d go crazy. They generally went crazy around all cars (herding instinct and all) But they would chase our car at lightning fast speed. Our fence ran parallel to the highway, so they would chase my mom’s car. Man were they fast.

But eventually we went to another school, so we went in the other direction denying them the chase.

And for anyone that’s had a pair of dogs, did you ever get the jealous types? For instance when I’d call Henry, Hannah would come running up, because she realized if I was calling him he was going to get some attention. She knew her name, but she just knew that something good was coming.