Monday, February 11, 2008

Paws for thought














~~Molly. She's wise in mysterious ways. ~~


There's an interesting post by Johnathan Morrow about the 3 writing lessons he learned at dog obedience school, which made me wonder if my very own Molly-dog couldn't teach me a thing or two about Getting On With The Novel.

I once decided in my wisdom, to eat like a dog after reading an article stating people could easily get leaner and fitter if they would only live like more their pooches - which I took to mean eating twice a day and walking a lot, rather than menacing the postman and breaking wind at inopportune moments. (More tea vicar?) Not a bad idea, I thought, typically grasping at straws.

Unfortunately, Molly chose that particular day to eat a tub of Flora, a six-pack of scones (I can see where she was going with this - shame she hadn't mastered the use of a butter-knife) and half a cow-pat as we tromped through fields of mud, before slumping queasily on her bed and glaring at me accusingly. Needless to say, she sicked it all up later on the living-room carpet. Behind an armchair, for maximum convenience. Nothing to be learnt here, I thought, scrubbing away grimly.

On a more constructive note, I have noticed that if Molly wants me to play Throw the Sock, she drops the smelly thing in front of me until I give in and throw it. When she senses tea-time is approaching, she rests her head in my lap and looks tortured until I get up and feed her. When it's time for walkies, she nudges my hand and makes funny noises in her throat until I cry, "alright, alright, I'm coming you furry tyrant!!" In other words, when she wants something, she blooming well persists until she gets it. So I suppose the moral is get rid of the dog ...
Perseverance Pays.

Like you didn't know that already.

17 comments:

CL Taylor said...

Ha! Loved the cowpat punchline! Great post. It made me smile.

FPDuck said...

Ah yes... behind the armchair. It's where they know you won't be able to shove a towel underneath them if you catch them at it.

I once had a Labrador/collie cross who could eat a sock within seconds. Don't even ask how we found the socks later...

She liked to eat blue plastic as well, and passed rather bad habits down to my current dogs. One will eat anything you give him no questions asked, and the other will stick his paw in your tea when he wants a cuppa himself.

Considering that dogs have a sense of smell 9 times greater than that of a normal human, why are they so obsessed with eating (and rolling in) poo of various species?

Cheers,
Mike

Moondreamer said...

This made me giggle, Karen!

Molly sounds so lovely and snuggly, and reminds me of my lercher. He would raid the cupboards or fridge, and anything he couldn't eat in one sitting, he would hide in his bed.

One day, dog came flying downstairs, with youngest daughter in hot pursuit, yelling 'You horrible dog!' She had got into bed and put her foot in a half-eaten tub of margerine.

The only time he was sick though, was when he ate almost a whole tin of Quality Street!

:o)

HelenMWalters said...

Yes, what is it with dogs and cow pats?! It's almost like they want to be as disgusting as possible ...

Marcie Steele said...

Yes, but we love each and every one of them, don't we. I have a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, a beast some might say. He's the biggest baby I've ever had, give me a Jack Russell anyday. He sulks, he's stubborn, he's scared of anything that bangs in the slightest and his face is lopsided because he's had a stroke. But we love him....except when he eats the door in the middle of the night because he's scared of the noise the wind is making!

Lane Mathias said...

I love the 'gratuitous Molly shot'. She is cuter than cute.

Perseverance is right! I wake up every morning to Peggy staring, two inches from my face, quivering and trying to send telepathic 'feed me and I'm going to wet myself' messages. It's impossible to go back to sleep with that level of dog breath on your face. Sensible Teabag on the other hand, has to be dragged out of bed.

Has Molly rolled in foxes poo yet? Only a bath with the finest L'Oreal money can buy will shift it:-)

Annieye said...

Brilliant Karen. Really made me laugh and anyone with dogs will find it oh so true.

Our old springer, Max, and Emily's dog, Taz, weren't too keen on each other for a while. We all went on holiday - us in the caravan and Emily and Lee in their tent. Very early one morning I was out with Max, and Lee was out with Taz. They were both off their leads. We thought they were going to fight, but then realised they were both very interested in something they had found. They both started rolling simultaneously. It was Sheep Poo!

From that moment on they bonded and were always the best of friends.

We still joke over doggy bonding and sheep poo.

Jumbly Girl said...

Reading the comments here I can't believe how many writers have dogs - maybe there is something in it - maybe you are all learning from their perseverance without even knowing it. Me, I have a cat, which is probably why I work in short bursts of foolishness followed by long naps

Jill Steeples said...

Aw, I do like a good doggy post. It's bloomin' algid here too, today!

DAB said...

She looks sooo cute....TFX

Jen said...

Oh, God, why DO they eat cowpats? Sheep poo too, my hound is particularly fond of.

Cant beat a good poo - oops, I mean dog - story ;0)

Karen said...

I see that eating or rolling in poo is a common theme! Among dogs, not the owners. I hope.

What makes me laugh is that Molly occasionally turns her leathery nose up at her dinner, which she's doing at the moment. I mean...she eats POO for heaven's sake. Pedigree Chum must be positively gourmet, in comparison.

What's that all about?

FPDuck said...

I've occasionally known dogs to get bored of eating the same tinned food... And I agree, considering what they willingly eat, it makes no sense.

They frequently get bored of the dried stuff. I remember a few years back, both dogs back then were decidedly casual about getting to their dinner, because they were getting bored of it.

That's when one of the cats, an old brain damaged toothless stray tom by the name of Ally, decided he'd eat their food instead. He thought he was a dog you see, and would come when you whistled, go with the dogs on walks etc.

That made the dogs jump to attention though. They weren't pleased about the cat nicking their dinner.

Cheers,
Mike

Emerging Writer said...

Nice one! What would you learn from domestic cats apart from serial napping? Individuality, superiority, sneakiness? I wish I had a cat right now, we have mice and they're driving me mad.

Karen said...

Mike - We've given up on the dried food, Molly just won't go near it. Perhaps we should try Ally's technique of eating it ourselves...that should get her attention!

emerging writer - We could do with a cat too. We have glis-glis (edible dormice would you believe) living in our walls, and when they're not hibernating, they drive us to distraction.

Unknown said...

Molly is adorable with a sweet 'love me' look. You could always start a Molly Blog ... I have mine on a pet site.
http://petstreet.co.uk/joey will take you to the site.

It's loads of fun and I have links on my blog too!!!

Lesley

eCommerce Solution said...

My friend Martin also has a dog where he got from a friend, he also likes to share whatever new update he is doing for his dog. I like the people who takes care and put value to their pets.