Postcards from a Dog

Gudrun, my Doberman puppy, has a rope to chew and play. One of those knotted affairs advertised as a teeth flosser.

I in the meantime am teaching her the names of her various toys. You know the drill, teach a second language early. Kids make it look easy. They don’t even speak the native language yet when they start to babble in a second one. Same theory for dogs. Learn to speak “People” even though you don’t have “Dog” down pat yet.

However – “where’s the rope?” “bring me the rope” just gets me an inquisitive look. I can tell Gudrun is trying to figure out what I want, but it just does not click. So I decided to call the rope not a rope but a “Knotty”.

Ever noticed that dogs like some words more than others? Try “Knotty”. It’s a winner! Or maybe she already knows “Nutty”. Cause that’s what I get when I ask for the Knotty. She goes bananas. The Rips. If you ever owned a dog, you know The Rips. Your dog races about, tail tugged, up on stuff, down from stuff, up the hall, down the hall, slide around the corners. Tongue hanging out. Spittle flying. Biggest dog grin imaginable.

That’s what the Knotty does. Or the mere mentioning of the word.

Read an interesting book a while back. Wished I had the memory to recall the author or title. But in short, a man adopts an Australian Shepherd. Takes him for training because he does act every which way but a smart Australian Shepherd. The trainer notices that the dog seems to have an aversion to his name. The trainer suggests a name change. Much discussion ensues. How you can’t just change a name in midstream, the effect it would have etc. Until someone points out that adopted dogs routinely get new names and are perfectly ok with that. So the dog gets a name change and all is well.

This just goes to show the tolerance dogs have for the human way. We can change their names and they adjust. We stare lovingly into their eyes. They take it as it is meant, even though in dog language a direct eyeball stare means a lot of things – love not being one of them. They tolerate hugs, another no-no in dog language. Ever see how a dog reacts when another dog gets up above him? Not kindly.

Suppose “Knotty” had not been such an instant hit, I probably could have renamed that rope weekly, and Gudrun would just have rolled her eyes and gone along with my follies.

Do read “The other end of the leash” by Patricia McConnell if you only have time for one book on dogs.