Raising the alarm

nobody@flickr.com (Flint-Hill (away)) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:45:48 -0700

A young couple pushes a babbling baby around in a stroller down on the county road 200 yards away.

Mouse says that babies are larval chicken thieves, and Mouse is never wrong about chicken thieives.

Letting down her guard

nobody@flickr.com (Flint-Hill (away)) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:09:53 -0700

Flint-Hill (away) posted a photo:

Dogs tend to guard bones and other objects that they value. Every dog training book I've read has a section on modifying guarding behavior.

When we hand our dogs their bones, each takes off to her corner to protect it from the others. None of our three girls has growled at us over bones, but let one walk into another's vicinity and the snarling commences.

Rabbit has been the growliest of the three. She really didn't even want to be in the same room with another dog when she had a new bone. It's probably her history of abuse as well as "small dog syndrome". You usually expect the smallest dog to be the most ardent defender of her treasures. Fair enough, I think.

After I had taken Mouse (and her bone) out to the pasture a couple of weeks ago, we gave Fidget and Rabbit theirs. As expected, each dog retreated to her private corner.

Then an odd thing happened. A minute or two later, Rabbit came back into the room with her bone, walked over next to Fidget, dropped down and began chewing it. After two years, she evidently came to the conclusion -- a correct one, as it turned out -- that Fidget wasn't going to steal her bone. Since then, they lie next to each other chewing their bones peaceably.

It's nice to watch the two of them side by side. Given the chance, even an abused seven-year-old dog has the capacity to grow and trust,

Uploads from Flint-Hill (away), tagged guarding

Raising the alarm

Letting down her guard