Oh no!

Dahlia's "boyfriend", Douglas, has cancer. It may require a leg amputation, or it may mean he doesn't have much time left. I LOVE Douglas. He's just an awesome dog and Dahlia is always looking for him and so thrilled when she sees him. She does her little submissive dance and whines and talks when she sees him come out of the house (they live across from us). I'm just heartbroken. I hope they can just amputate and he'll have another few years left. Good thoughts are needed for handsome Douglas!

Dogs and creative thinking

I'm reading Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs and this anecdote about a Newfoundland's rather unorthodox solution to a problem she was having, really made me laugh. I thought I'd share it here.

( Excerpt )

This reminds me of Dahlia's solution to my trying to teach her "drop it." I did as the instructor told us. She had a toy in her mouth and I held out a yummy treat and said "drop it." She leaned forward, sniffed the treat I had in my hand, rushed off to the living room, where she dropped her toy, and then came back for the treat. Quite creative!