Dolly Taught Us To Do a Trick.

This post is a bit tricky to do without giving the little surprise twist away right at the beginning. I like to save those for either the end of the story or near the end . I will say that having a dachshund as a pet can be a bit complicated at times.

 Gretchen loves to stay up late watching YouTube videos or chatting with her friends on the Backwoods Home magazine Forums. There are some good folks  there and we have made friends that without the net we'd have never known existed.

 It was midnight and Dolly came trotting out of the bedroom in a very happy mood. She walked up to where Gretchen was and sit down. About the only time she barks at us is when she needs to potty and even then her habit is to breeze right past you to go to the back door and bark. If she wants or needs something else she will come to one of us, sit down, and look at us quietly. There is no paw on the legs or anything to get your attention. She just sits patiently. 

 That particular night she had her little grin on her face. I call it a grin but it's actually the look she has in her eyes plus her body language. She was happy about something.

 When Gretchen saw her she did the "Hi how ya doing Dolly?" routine. Dolly remained seated It was obvious she needed something.  At times like these we ask her questions like "Are you hungry?" "Do you need to potty?"" Can i pick you up?" She got no response from her questions. When can't guess what she wants we say "OK Dolly Show Me! Show Me!"  Well she did get a response then. 

 Dolly led Gretchen to the kitchen where she stared at the kitchen sink. Gretchen said " Oh you are thirsty." "The water bowl is full Dolly but let me get you some fresh."  This comment produced some tail wagging so we were on the right track. Gretchen re-filled the water bowl but Dolly would not drink. She kept glancing at the sink. Gretchen says "You don't like the water bowl any more?" Dolly did not respond but she still looked at the sink. We were back to a guessing game. All of us talk to Dolly like we are talking to another human."  We don't expect an answer but I think she understands a bit more than we realize.

 

 Sometimes a bit of inspiration helps. Gretchen dug out my old green  coffee mug. The one I quit using because I was afraid I'd break it.That particular mug is no longer sold. I used to take it to work with me. Gretchen filled it with water. Dolly drank huge gulps of water out of it for a long time. Her usual habit even when she is thirsty is to take several short laps and walk away. These were not laps they were gulps and when she was finished she did the "Oh my humans are so smart !" performance with several "Thank You!" looks thrown in. She gets happy when we figure out something she's trying to tell us. 

 I used to take that mug outside with me in the morning. Sometimes Dolly would steal coffee out of it. Sometimes I'd let her have a little.

 Now here is the twist I was talking about earlier. I quit using that cup four years ago. In fact we did not even own Dolly then. She was owned by my next door neighbor. I took it out during the summer when Dolly hated our family. We eventually became friends and Dolly came over every day to visit. Like grew to love and love grew to a deep love. That summer has a lot of good memories. When the neighbors divorced that fall Dolly decided that I was going to be her new owner. I retired the coffee cup that fall.

 So I had a bit of a mystery on my hands. I know that a smart dog will remember somebody they love for years. I have used several coffee cups since then. She should have forgotten that cup a long time ago. It was only used for a short time in the mornings. Better yet what caused her to remember it?

 I think I know but it's just a theory and another twist to the story.  Dolly had been asleep. I think she had a dream about it. I know she dreams by how she acts when she sleeps on my shoulders. She moves her legs as if she's running, her tail wags, and on rare occasion she even barks. It's not a full bark, it's more like a sleepy "Burrrff " I think that night her mind had gone back to that happy summer when she was still a pup.

 We have not seen her use the water bowl for a few days now. In fact she even quit policing it. She lets the cats do as they wish with it. However every night when it is around midnight she comes out of the bedroom and wants water from my old coffee cup.  She gets it in the morning too.  This has turned out to be a good thing. Dolly has dry skin and she's now drinking more water on a daily basis than she used to. 

 Dolly is the most unusual dog I have ever owned. She is also the best and we all love her very much. I believe she loves us more.

 

Ouch

I say ouch very frequently and far more than I like to. How it relates to this post will be explained a bit later.

Dolly had an off day yesterday. Restless in the morning and slept way too much in the afternoon. She wanted out of her crate just before dark and signaled that she needed to potty. It was more like a false alarm as she hardly did anything.

Gretchen went to bed early. Dolly wanted out to go potty again. Rather than wake her up I took her out around 10:30 PM. I was concerned about snow and ice but much of the snow had melted yesterday and it was still warm at that time of night. Her trip outside was a false alarm. She clearly did not like it that I had taken her out instead of Gretchen. She wandered about aimlessly and stopped frequently to see what I was going to do. Trying to manipulate a belly sling, a leash, and i cane is something I do not do well. At one point I tried carrying the cane but Dolly mistook it  as me wanting to hit her with it. She dropped to the ground and cowed like she was expecting a blow. I've never even said "Git" to her let alone hit her. Gentle words accomplish far more. I picked her up and brought her back in.

I gave up trying to get some sleep at 3:00 AM. I went out to the living room to watch a little TV and here Dolly thinks it's morning and time to get up. So I take her out of the cage and try holding her in my lap. She has to potty. I'm not very impressed by that but I took her out anyway.  Not wanting to scare her I left my cane on the carport. I have a problem working the belly sling anyway. At that point I began to even doubt my ability to walk and chew gum at the same time without messing up.

We walk. Dolly is giving me those concerned looks of hers. maybe she thinks I can't walk and chew gum too. Within a short period of time she finds the spot that is just right and does her business. By that time my blasted back stiffened up and i uttered the word "Ouch" a couple of times. Dolly immediately dropped to the ground and refused to go further. She's looking up at me with that concerned look again. I picked her up and took her back inside. Once in the recliner she put her front paws on my chest and began to lick my face. Once finished she curled up in my lap and went to sleep. I let her stay there until I stiffened up again. I put her back in the crate where she is sleeping now.

I tried sleeping in the recliner but had no luck. While I was trying to do that I got to thinking and all at once realized that the word "Ouch" is in Dolly's vocabulary. I was remembering the incident where one of the cats scratched me, I said "Ouch !" and within seconds I had one very angry Dachshund come charging out of the bedroom barking and growling because someone or something had hurt "her" human.

I believe she cut her trip short because I said ouch. The refusal to walk further was her way of trying to get me to go back inside.  She's done a similar but different routine in the past, trying to get me to go inside if she thinks we have been out too long. Typical of an intelligent dog the routine is a bit different each time. I get aggravated by our circumstances but then I remember that had we all been paying more attention a few weeks ago this entire situation would not be necessary.

Earlier today I read in a Australian newspaper that their tree huggers down there are ranting on pet owners. They claim people should not own pets because they damage the environment and contribute to global warming. Down there they call these people "Warmists".  The Warmist's claim that one dog puts out as much pollution as two Toyota Landcruisers.  Yes they hate SUV's as passionately as our own American Warmists do. I am very pro-environment myself but I doubt the claims about Global Warming. Yes our winters are warmer than they used to be but I believe it is part of a natural cycle. I see the Warmists as just another form of communisim.

I am surprised that our own sensationalist news media did not report this so-called crisis. I think they did not because it would anger too many pet owners and possibly turn them against the green movement. If they ban pet ownership they will have to pry my Dolly from my cold dead fingers.