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Bob-you are on track regarding dog thoughts and behavior. There is a new
book out called "Kindred Spirits" written by a veterinarian.
This book echos what you have written. If we humans would learn to
speak "dog" we would realize that our animals are
speaking to us all the time. Their message is what makes us happy people.
We all have a lot to learn from our dogs. Keep up your stories. They are
great. Rachel
I know this is way off
topic and I will abid by list rules, but only after one more violation
describing the gentle nature and personal rewards Merlin has given
me. Inspite of each transgression I instantly forgive him and have
learned to live more in the moment as is necessary when in a trade.
I promise not to say another word. There was a movie on TV in which
the theme was you can't trust a mongrel as you never know when he will
turn on you. So here this 90lb stranger is lying on my bed and I am
wondering when he is going to devour me, although he appeared to be much
more than a mongrel.
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He has a big neck to hug. My niece who is only a foot
taller likes to hug him when she comes to visit. Initially Merlin
acted aggressively towards her, perhaps thinking she was another animal
in his space. He apparantly knew little of children. Cookies
soon made them pals.
I think he was on his way out of this world when he dropped in. A
newspaper ad in the lost and found, posters on telephone poles, inquiring
with neighbors, the postal lady, the UPS driver, none resulted in an
owner showing up. He has a bumb right hip/leg that is looking much
better now. When walking he would leave three paw prints and one
arc in the sandy soil, kind of interesting. I kept thinking
wave1,wave3,wave5, Exit as we walked towards his favorite grass.
Had I not started feeding him he would not have had the strength to climb
out of the drain ditch with such steep sides. With his weight and
weakness it was a struggle. I think he also hid in there to stay
out of site from other dogs and walkers on the canal bank.
So far he is slowly killing me. One evening I was taking him
through the outside door in the dark and he stepped in front of me.
I tripped and started to fall on him. In avoiding him and him
moving I landed on the concrete sidewalk on both knees. What a
pain. They are still not right and if I kneel on them there is a strange
feeling. Then another time a neighbor dog was up our way spotting
on all the places where our dogs spot. Guess its a territorial
battle among the dogs. The outside dog was barking in his pen and
Merlin in the house started barking too. So I put him on the retractable
leash and we headed outside. This time I looked one way and he ran
the other way and suddenly I was airborn, no kidding. I was lifted
off my feet, pulled in the air and landed on my left hip and upper left
chest. For a few days I had to use crutches from hip and thigh
pain. The chest must have an internal bruise. His 90 pounds
running at full speed had much more momentum than my 180 at rest.
So when he hit the end of the leash all the F=MA was transferred into my
hand, my arm, my shoulder and body, just like the impact of a 500 point
DOW drop had on the stomach in '87. The poor shoulder socket was in
a deep hurt. Now the surprising thing is Merlin came back to my
groaning on the ground rather than continuing after the neighbor's
dog. Most of the day he just lies curled up on a floor mat right
beside my chair. If he hears gunshots from the neighbors or farmers
chaising birds out of the fields then he crawls under the desk and lies
in front of my feet...and that's a dog that could kill when his
aggression is turned on.
He is a special dog . He has quite a vocabulary too. Whines,
barks, growls, grrrrs, licks, stares. Sleeps with his ears straight
up always tuned into the environment. When he wants something he
raises his right leg and holds his paw out. By his behaviour I've
tried to figure out some of his past. Like his facination with the
van, perhaps he lived with a retired person who was passing through the
valley in their van or RV and bolted during the storm. Like when
I'm preparing to put his collar on, he will sit anxiously quiet like
someone did it before me. Also if he sees me pick up the leash he
knows we are going walking.
Now get this, if we head outside for a walk he first heads for our other
dog's pen. From the very first day he was here he knew I took Boy
for a walk. This really surprised my mom and I. He had been
watching our routine from outside the yard. It really was amazing
to see him want to include Boy in the walks. There is a tolerated
jealousy between them and Merlin has become the dominant one in the
pecking order after a few skirmishes.
One last thing, living this close to an intelligent animal has its
surprises. Like children, dogs behave the way they think we people
want them to behave, but there are times when I can catch him in his
animalness. I'll try to coax him into playing and it sounds like he
is trying to speak, its kind of a deep throaty sound accompanied by some
kind of paw gestures. It really would be interesting to hear what
he has to say about his experiences prior to coming here. I'm not
so sure he totally trusts me yet as his eyes are still checking me out to
make sure I'm for real. There are times when his eyes seem to
communicate a thankyou or expression of gratitude, but perhaps that is a
reflection of my own perceptions. He will look you straight in the
eyes whereas some dogs will avoid eye contact. If only he could
speak.
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----- Original Message -----
From: Don Thompson
To:
realtraders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2001 9:06 AM
Subject: Re: [RT] silly question
My sentiments also, Bob, your descriptions are pictoral and evoke good concrete kinds of mental images. The last sentence was a little too vortexy, but what the hell, you suck me into the story very well.
don
What a nice story. You are a great story teller and should write more. I will be watching for your stories. Rachel
At 09:26 PM 2/26/01 -0800, you wrote:
OK,Ok, I have a
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