Another night when the dogs got me up, twice, for various things. Major Tom started things off at 2:30 AM, putting his paws on the edge of the bed then sticking his nose in my face to wake me up. I got up to see what he wanted. He bolted into the kitchen and guzzled water from his bowl, then went to the door to go out. Nothing like tanking up on water before a potty break.
Later around 6:00 AM, Sirocco got me up. He wanted to get past Magdalena and get up on the reclining chair. She snaps at him when he goes by, either because she’s playing, or because she’s mad because she thinks Sirocco is trying to take her Gizmo stuffed toy. Magdalena also has a habit of laying down in whatever area of the floor will inconvenience the most members of the house. Whether it is blocking Sirocco from going between rooms, or being in the way if I’m trying to carry something through the house, Magdalena is sure to be underfoot somewhere along the way.
I took the wife out for a doctor’s appointment and after I got home I took the dogs out for a walk. The weather was nice – sunny, almost 50 deg F (10 deg. C), no wind, and all the snow and ice have melted off. The dogs went insane. It’s been a while since they’ve had a regular walk. They were barking their heads off and trying to all rush the door at once. Major Tom and Sirocco were so excited they wouldn’t hold still long enough for me to get their harnesses on. With some effort I managed to get them on and took them out. Major Tom spent the most time sniffing, not having had a chance to do so for a while. I guess he had to catch up on all the local events. Sirocco was all over the place, running from one side of the road to the other and back again. Magdalena surprisingly was the best behaved of the group. She got her harness on with no problems and walked next to me for most of the way.
There was another person walking their dogs near the back fence of our house when I got home from Major Tom’s walk. He had to go over and say hello, with a lot of barking. This was returned by the other dogs. Not quite a “hello”, a little more argumentative than that. I figure this was a dispute over territory and who was trespassing on whose land.
A little later I had to take the wife to her friend’s home so they could visit. They have a dog, part boxer, or maybe pit bull, and I think maybe some mastiff. The dog’s head was HUGE! It seemed that his head was half of his body. I got a thorough once-over so he could get all my dogs’ smell. Of course my dogs did the same when I go home. I wonder what’s going through their minds when they spend that much time sniffing me. Are they making judgments about the other dog? Are they making judgments about me because I was spending time with another dog?
A few police cars went past our house, with sirens wailing. Major Tom and Sirocco were outside and started howling as the police went past. This is new behavior for them. They kept howling after the police were gone. “Thank you for protecting the house, but they’re gone now, you can stop.” They accepted this and calmly walked inside like nothing happened.
Now that the snow and ice I’ve see just how prolific our dogs were when they went out to potty in the snow. Sheesh! Also, Major Tom tends to pee in the house, usually trying to mark the furniture. I’ve told hi multiple times that we already know all the furniture is ours and he doesn’t need to mark it, but the argument has fallen on deaf ears. The most perplexing thing he does is pee on the bag of dog food. “Dude! You have to eat that!”
As the wife was out visiting her friend, I got to attend my weekly gaming session. Just before it got started, the dogs started on their constant rotation of going in and out the back door. Every few minutes one of them wants to go out, while whichever one is out comes in. Since it was a nice day out today I just propped open the back door and let them come and go as they pleased. They went in and out four times during the first twenty minutes of the game before settling down. It was nice not having to jump out of my chair all that time to hold the door open for them.(We really need a doggy door).
Major Tom keeps trying to sneak into our bedroom at night. The wife has banished all the dogs from the bedroom sine Magdalena horked all over carpet one night. That hasn’t stopped Major Tom. Every night as I’m getting the house shut down for the night, he tries to sneak in the bedroom and into the walk-in closet where the washer and dryer are located. He makes it in sometimes (like last night) and sleeps with just his nose sticking out of the door so you can’t really see him. Some nights he gets caught and expelled from the room. At least he’s persistent.
What goofy things do your animals do, my Hordeling? Leave a comment and let me know.
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