Normally, the dog doesn't like squeek toys, but Milady found one that he'll play with. It's a little monkey, and he'll have either it or his ball nearby. He seems to tolerate it all right, but I'm not sure what his motivation might be. Not that it's ever wise to assign motivation to a dog. Dogs, like monkeys, are fairly simple creatures.
Here, Milady was playing with the dog, exciting him by holding the monkey out of his reach. She dropped it and he headed for it, to reclaim it. The dog doesn't possess much, but he's possessive of his stuff. His food dish, his ball, and his monkey. He knows where all three are, all the time. There's probably a lesson there for all of us.
Yep, keep the minimum stuff, and keep track of it all :-)
ReplyDeleteI've been told that dogs and cats seem to like squeaky toys because they are hardwired predators and squeaky toys mimic dieing prey.
ReplyDeleteMy Bella, a 60# 13 month old pit bull bitch will shake her current favorite toy like crazy for a minute or two. Afterward she'll lay on the couch with it for half an hour softly squeaking it, then she sleeps for an hour or two. In the back yard she sometimes catches the odd mole. She kills those with two or three quick, very severe shakes then pops 'em down like a cheesy poof. Pretty much the same for any squirrel with an attention deficit. Possums, raccoons and cats merit no attention whatever, dunno why.
Gotta brag on her. Last summer she was playing with my neighbor's toddler, a three year old girl. The girl's Uncle wanted to pick her up, but Bella wasn't having any of it, she didn't know him. She got between the little girl and her Uncle and stood there crouching, teeth bared, ears back, voicing that deep chest growl that makes every hair I own stand straight out. I called Bella, she came to me, so I calmed her down and introduced the Uncle. After that she was just a wiggly puppy to him, licking his hand, wanting her ears scratched.
Decently socialized pits are like that, they seem to be genetically predisposed to protect little kids.
Gerry N.