I have read several articles on the internet about dog behavior, trying to understand why my dog does certain things. I’ve come to the conclusion that all dogs are as varied as humans are!
My dog, Rocky, is a very special kind of nut. I have had this not-quite 70# animal since he was a tiny little thing weighing no more than 8 pounds, and at 7 weeks old. From the very first day I picked him up to take him home, he has been a source of delight and at times, consternation. Yes, he has a mind of his own and doesn’t always willingly do what he’s told. At times, you can see by the look on his face that “All right, I’m doing it because I have to not because I want to.”
The latest way in which he’s been making me laugh yet ticking me off is sitting on the console of my SUV while I’m driving and putting his paw on my leg, pressing down ever so slightly. I have yet to decide if he’s trying to drive or if he thinks that putting his paw on my leg (not always close to my knee, in order to operate the gas pedal) will make the car go faster to wherever we’re headed. He does tend to do this more when we’re returning home than when we’re going to the store. I wouldn’t mind so much except the power steering motor is acting up on my car and until the dealer can replicate it, it won’t get fixed. Rocky’s not small, and when the car feels like I’m driving a manual rather than a power steering, well, let’s just say I need room to put my weight into turning the wheel!
When he was younger, I had attemp0ted to learn as much as I possibly could about herding dogs. Herding dogs were developed to control the movement of stock- sheep, cattle, horses, geese, chickens, ducks, etc. The purpose of a herding dog, in addition to controlling movement, is to make it easier to move stock from one location to another- from pasture to pasture or from the range to market. If you’re fortunate enough to have a herding dog, you’re well aware of how independent they are and how much energy they have to burn off! You also know just how intelligent they are, and what delightful senses of humor they have.
Rocky has been a source of laughter more often than not. He has never ceased to amaze me with the things he’s been able to figure out on his own, without any direction from me at all. I had thrown a stick for him, and it ended up in between some logs, where Rocky could not easily get to it. I’ll be darned if Rocky didn’t climb on the logs, rather warily, until he got to the area where the stick had gone down and he was able to reach down with his mouth to pick it up and then clamber (quite fast, I might add) off the logs to the pavement. Agility is a good sport for my boy.
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Originally published on Linda Hansen’s blog. Republished with permission.
Photo courtesy of author.
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