Dobermann Pinschers – Family Members
Let’s look at the way a Kong is tackled by three Fort Doberdalians. Scroll your mouse over each picture to get the 411 on each step.
First we have Lilian. She is a flinger.
Taylor is a contemplative Kong destuffer.
Then there’s Raven. Her method is so complicated that we will have to cover it another day when she’s in the mood to share her secrets of Kong destuffing.
Today, Ginger enjoyed a good sun bath when I came home at lunch. She is feeling better and smiling again.
I am grateful for this. Ginger’s one of the sugar kind of Dobies who’s so sweet she appreciates everything and thensome.
Tonight I had the clicker out for teaching downs. Raven’s getting along very well with “down,” and she is trying hard to understand “stay,” but that lack of doing anything but being still is a hard concept for Raven to grasp. But she’s trying.
Of course, only Raven could jam her tooth in between my thumb and its nail hard enough to cause me pain that hasn’t stopped since. I was giving her a treat! I don’t think I mention enough what a babe she is. She has brains, she just shifts from 1st to 4th without consideration to 2nd and 3rd.
Taylor is very smart, too. So much so that when I wasn’t clicking, she grabbed the clicker, which was attached to a sliding elastic dealio on my waste band, and pulled on it for me to get busy clicking!
I’m beginning to wonder if I should kiss the frog on my window. He’s faithful, I’ll give him that. He hasn’t left my window sill since we met and he has a steady job. Every night he’s on the window bringing home the “bacon.”
Just as important, he knows about my dogs and isn’t jealous of them. I’ll think about it.
I stated yesterday that Pippin over-estimates her limitations and animal prowess, which leads her to have her own shelf in the medicine cabinet filled with Pippin bandages, antibiotic creams, anti-inflammatories, and the like.
Here is an example of Pippin’s over-inflated self-image at work. It’s as if she thinks she’s a super Dobie. She is body slamming Annie as Annie is coming in for a landing as she jumps off the table. The light bulb over Pippin’s head isn’t too bright about things like this!
Pippin body slams everyone. She body slams Luigi, and he’s the biggest kid on the block. Lucky for her, he’s tolerant. Ollie’s not so tolerant, and Pippin found out yesterday that Aussies do not appreciate body slamming. It’s not even in their vocabulary. But jumping out from under a body slammer and nipping the snoot belonging to said slammer is!
Pippin chooses to relax in one of the spots voted most like to get trampled while sun bathing.
She’s a pip!
This was what Taylor’s crate looked like up until this morning.
Last night, I forgot to latch Taylor’s crate before bed. Evidently, she figured this out, and got busy relocating her household to a preferred spot in the house – the Dobie sofa. Taylor used all crevices of the Dobie sofa to stuff her belongings into. Taylor’s belongings used to be shared belongings amongst the FDSP.
We are working on teaching Taylor some new rules, but for now, we humor her. She was spayed by a shelter a week ago today with a full belly of puppies. She may be using the toys as a replacement for her litter. Here she is adding one of Leissl’s favorites to her collection.
This is what Taylor looked like when I stood by her crate and told her to go in her room, which she has been doing for a week up until now. Now her room has changed locations, it seems.
“I am in my room.”
This is what Taylor’s crate looked like this morning. I pulled her green blankey out to wash and put down a new one, but none of the toys were disturbed…
Quite a difference in furnishings from light’s-out last night!
This is the beautiful pastel sky at Fort Doberdale on Friday, the 18th of April.
Another beautiful and colorful sight is Taylor, who is as good a paw crosser as any Dobie I’ve ever met.