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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / May 2004Dogs who worry too much
Almost every night we go out and sit on our fourth floor balcony. We take Boone and Oliver out with us. While Boone (at 80 lbs) is way too big to slip his Labrador self through the metal bars that make up the railing that keeps us from falling off the balcony Oliver, at 9 pounds, IS small enough. Now, Oliver is a smart boy and wouldn't purposely jump off but when a passing Swift taunts him he may just forget himself and jump off before remembering he has no wings and we're 4 stories up. So we always put his little harness on him and a 20 foot line. He can still move freely around the balcony but if he jumps or falls we can hopefully stop him. I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just coincidence but as time has progressed I noticed that he does this deliberately. If he thinks Oliver is too close to the edge he'll get on the line so Oliver can't get any closer to the edge. He doesn't impede him in any other way but I notice he is almost always watching Oliver and the only time he seems to completely relax is when Oliver is sitting in one of our laps. The really funny thing about this is that when we first moved here NOTHING could get Boone to come out on the balcony once he realized how high we were. It took almost a month of coaxing to get him out and another month after that to get him to stay out with us. It is clear that he realizes the danger of a fall from high up. I think it is sweet that he is worried about Oliver!  SignatureMargaret Fine mefine@mindspring.com (snip) >I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or >his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >first moved here NOTHING could get Boone to come out on the balcony once >he realized how high we were. So Boone may have overcome his fear, but he's still the one aware of the danger. Smart doggie. Theresa My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/ > Almost every night we go out and sit on our fourth floor balcony. We > take Boone and Oliver out with us. While Boone (at 80 lbs) is way too [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Margaret Fine > mefine@mindspring.com Yes, that is sweet. Joy >Almost every night we go out and sit on our fourth floor balcony. We >take Boone and Oliver out with us. While Boone (at 80 lbs) is way too [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >is clear that he realizes the danger of a fall from high up. I think it >is sweet that he is worried about Oliver! Now that is a very intelligent dog to realize that sitting on the line will prevent Oliver from falling off. That is progressive, cause and effect thinking. Doggie Einstien? -- CATherine >>Almost every night we go out and sit on our fourth floor balcony. We >>take Boone and Oliver out with us. While Boone (at 80 lbs) is way too [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > -- > CATherine I don't know about the Doggie Einstein but I was at first amazed about this but then I started thinking. Boone knows what a leash is and he knows the leash prevents him from going where he wants to at times. I think it is a short leap of intelligence to put together that Oliver's leash could be used to prevent Oliver from going any closer to the edge. Boone seems to have a fear of heights so he must know that a fall would be bad even tho he has never had a fall from high up. Thinking that I could be reading too much into Boone's actions I didn't hold on to the line at first when we were out tonight. When Oliver went close to the rails Boone stood up, went to the line and sat down on it. I then made Boone move, held the line for a few minutes and then put it down. Sure enough, Boone got up, went to the line and sat on it. As I mentioned in another post, Boone was raised to be a guide dog for the blind and has some impressive breeding behind him. Guide dogs must be able to think because they need to be able to be "intelligently disobedient" at times (for instance when their person says "forward" but the dog knows that there is car coming the dog needs to refuse to move forward). I don't know if this line thing is much different although Boone doesn't have a personal stake (meaning he won't be injured if the cat falls off the balcony) like he would if he walked into the path of an oncoming car. It is all very interesting. Maybe I should get one of those dog intelligence tests for him. :-) If he is brilliant maybe I can capitalize on this and he can pay for his own kibble. ;-) SignatureMargaret Fine mefine@mindspring.com >>>Almost every night we go out and sit on our fourth floor balcony. We >>>take Boone and Oliver out with us. While Boone (at 80 lbs) is way too [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] >he is brilliant maybe I can capitalize on this and he can pay for his >own kibble. ;-) IMO he has already paid for his food by being a caretaker! >I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or >his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >is clear that he realizes the danger of a fall from high up. I think it >is sweet that he is worried about Oliver! Boone is *so* sweet! He must have seeing-eye dog in him. >>I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or >>his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Boone is *so* sweet! He must have seeing-eye dog in him. Did I mention that Boone was raised to be a guide dog for guiding eyes for the blind but didn't make it into the program? He has a fear of loud noise and would freak if a car back fired or something. He has some pretty impressive breeding behind him SignatureMargaret Fine mefine@mindspring.com >>> I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or >>> his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > noise and would freak if a car back fired or something. He has some > pretty impressive breeding behind him Well, I'd say other than noises, he passed! You gained :) >>>>I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or >>>>his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Well, I'd say other than noises, he passed! You gained :) One of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life was act sad that he didn't make it into the formal training. :-) People were consoling me and all I could do was just bite my lip and nod my head. I had to bite my lip to stop from breaking out into a smile. Inside I was sooo happy that he was coming back home. I raised other dogs for the program and while I was sad to see them go I was happy that they were going to help someone else. With Boone a very primitive part of me was going "mine, mine, mine!" so it worked out well for all of us. SignatureMargaret Fine mefine@mindspring.com Margaret, how lucky for you that Boone stayed. How lucky for Oliver that Boone stayed. Please give Boone lots of hugs and skritches and praise from us. Jazz & his mama SignatureIrulan from the stars we came, to the stars we return from now until the end of time > >>>>I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or > >>>>his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > help someone else. With Boone a very primitive part of me was going > "mine, mine, mine!" so it worked out well for all of us. >>>>> I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or >>>>> his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > help someone else. With Boone a very primitive part of me was going > "mine, mine, mine!" so it worked out well for all of us. ROFL!!! "Margaret Fine" <mefine@mindspring.com> wrote > One of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life was act sad that > he didn't make it into the formal training. :-) People were consoling [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > help someone else. With Boone a very primitive part of me was going > "mine, mine, mine!" so it worked out well for all of us. LOL! It would seem that you were made for each other. Congratulations! SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki >> Boone is *so* sweet! He must have seeing-eye dog in him. > >Did I mention that Boone was raised to be a guide dog for guiding eyes >for the blind but didn't make it into the program? He has a fear of loud >noise and would freak if a car back fired or something. He has some >pretty impressive breeding behind him That was a funny coincidence, because I'd forgotten all about that! Or maybe it's really his breeding and training showing through? When I was little, I read a little book about how guide dogs are raised and used. It was one of those children's books with a paragraph or two on each page, accompanied by a photo of the scene being described. It showed how a retriever puppy was fostered, trained, introduced to his blind person, and became part of her everyday routine. I remember thinking that the fostering part was the most interesting, because I knew that a seeing eye dog would need to be trained and would go to work, but I didn't know about the fostering part. A child can easily relate to that stage of life. "Margaret Fine" <mefine@mindspring.com> wrote > I think it > is sweet that he is worried about Oliver! That is very sweet, and very very smart. SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki Margaret Fine had something important to tell us on Wed, 19 May 2004 17:19:50 GMT: >I've noticed lately that Boone has taken to either placing his paw or >his body on the long line. At first I thought that this was just Awwwies... that's so cute! What a caring and considerate doggy he must be :) SignatureKaren AKA Kajikit Here kitty kitty kitty... visit http://www.catslaves.org! Come and visit my part of the web: Kajikit's Corner: http://www.kajikitscorner.com Allergyfree Eating Recipe Swap: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Allergyfree_Eating Ample Aussies Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ampleaussies/ |
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