Some days I just don't understand my dogs

[thepennywhistle]

Okay, I think I know my dogs well. LIve with them pretty much 24/7, love them,
raised them, trained them, work with them constantly, but still there are days
where they'll toss me a surprise that tells me I still don't understand them as well
as I'd like to think I do.

Today, my box from Jeffers Pet Supply arrived. I've been looking forward to this
for ages. I finally decided to get the lovely stainless steel food dishes and water
buckets that I've wanted for my dogs. Easy to keep spotless and disinfect, provide
constant good water for them with no chemical or taste leeching you can get from
plastics. Get really cool if you toss ice cubes in there in the summer, assuming
summer ever comes this year. I thought this would be great.

Four dogs gave me the expected 'yeah, whatever' reaction I expected (only people
get excited over water buckets, I know). The fifth is terrified of the water buckets,
and I have no clue as to why. This dog came to me as a rescue infant, so I know
there is no 'shiny bucket' trauma hiding in her past. The other dogs showed no
hesitation in using them, so she didn't pick it up from anyone else's behavior.
I've no idea what set her off, but poor Teegan is in the kitchen right now, slinking
around the baseboards and eyeing the buckets as though one might at any moment
leap up and pursue her down the hall, a'clanking and a'rattling.

This is nothing we can't overcome with a little time and food and reassurance. It's
just a reminder that as hard as I try to understand my dogs and think like a dog,
they still have ideas I can't follow.

*sigh*

Skye and the white collies

[Nettle]

*Chuckle* I think more like a dog than a person. One day I'm going to end up stuck in "dog" mode

She may not have a shiny noisy bucket in her past, but she sure has one now in her present. And she does not like it, and the fact that the others are too stupid (she thinks) to realise how damned dangerous that bucket is matters not one jot to her.

So - you were nearly there - you just locked into the human mindset a fraction too long, not realising that because she has not met a nasty bucket before you thought she wouldn't react to the nastiness in a bucket now. Call the bucket a leopard and you'll be there - you must react to leopards even if they are just lying there covered in spots.

[luvmydogs]

I can just see you sitting by the window waiting for the delivery truck...

[Sarah83]

Lol, Rupert would do the same. He took to drinking out of the toilet and puddles he found on walks when I put his food and water in a metal bowl and just didn't eat at all. He wouldn't go near the metal bowls for anything, I couldn't even get him to target them using the clicker.

[thepennywhistle]

Nettle,

Thanks for helping put that into Teegan's perspective for me. I'm afraid my primary 'second language' is
horse. That's the language I'm in danger of being stuck in, and in horse I'd have expected conniptions over
something new as we all know new shiny buckets eat horses, but I'd never have expected that viewpoint in
smiling, fearless, confident Teegan. I needed that nudge to remember she certainly can be unnerved by the
unexpected, just like the rest of us.

For now, the shiny buckets are shelved, while one occasionally sits outside with me with smelly cat food
treats in it. Hopefully I can have my lovely buckets holding water soon.

[thepennywhistle]

I can just see you sitting by the window waiting for the delivery truck...

You think I wasn't? Hey, life is small over here, and this was a big treat -- at least for me! I used
the shippers tracking number to keep up with its progress across the country, and I knew when it was on
the truck to be delivered to my door. Absolutely I was watching out the window for it

And we got a new weasel! It's a toy called a Skineez. They are about 14 inches long, roughly colored like
various small creatures (foxes, skunks, chipmunks, etc.) with a head on one end, floppy feet and long
tail, but no stuffing in the middle. It's like a long soft pelt (of synthetic fabric). It struck me as a little
gruesome when we were given the first one, but my girls just love them. It's not unusual to see a collie
on the head, collie on the tail, and a collie with her mouth around the middle as all three tear around the
yard in stride carrying this precious toy.

At least something from my box was a success