Orly will be two years old (!!) on Sunday, Oct 22. All she wants for her birthday — besides the traditional ice cream treat and the weekend she will spend playing with her best friends of course — is to be the big sister again.
I got back from my vacation and picked Orly up, then drove out to get Dotty back from her trainer, Glenn. Glenn brought out a small white pony, claiming it was Dotty.
He then showed off how nicely this behemoth walked at heel, did a sit stay, and politely sat to ask to go inside (no loud barking). Definitely not Dotty.
The pony was wearing Dotty’s collar and had a bag of Dotty’s food, though, and she seemed very happy to see me, so I loaded her into the car. She seemed excited about being home and finding her toys, and happily reunited with Orly.
But … Dotty is a puppy. This is a dog.
…Or not. By the next morning, the Dotty pony was in full puppy mode, twirling and bouncing along on our walk, stealing Orly’s toys, racing in circles in the back yard, and generally being Dotty.
One thing seems to have stuck from Dotty’s time with Glenn (thank goodness!): The newer, larger Dotty hasn’t demand barked at all since she got home!
The big puppy is here to stay (for a while, anyhow), and Orly is now the older sister but not the bigger sister. Harumph. It’s enough to make a girl go eat more ice cream.
I’m going to try out a biweekly publishing schedule for a few months.
(By biweekly, I mean every two weeks, though I know that some people use biweekly to mean semiweekly or twice a week.)
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Orly and Dotty are practicing their berry-gathering skills: The transplanted raspberries (well, some of them) produced a minuscule late-summer crop. The girls gleefully discovered this bounty a few days ago and quickly demolished the handful of berries, mostly under-ripe. Patience and delayed gratification are not their strengths … Though persistence is. They check and recheck for new or missed berries several times a day. Several times an hour if I let them.
When not searching for berries — and the occasional fallen apple from the neighbors’ tree — Dotty is energetically pouncing on every floating leaf and fallen stick, which makes her play time in the yard, and even more so, our walks … interesting.
I’m trying hard to break her habit of zooming off after each moving object and, of course, coming to a jarring hard stop at the end of the leash. Turns out that many dog trainers’ insistence that when dogs self-correct like that they learn not to bolt on the leash is hilarious … and wholly false, at least in Dotty’s case.
She does love to carry things in her mouth on our walks, which may be a useful skill in her service dog work. Especially if she’s partnered with someone who loves sticks and candy wrappers. (Or maybe I need to work on broadening Dotty’s interests.)
As the trees turn, I look at all those leaves and wonder whether Dotty would settle for mall walking for a few weeks. My arms just can’t take it!
I take comfort from the memory that Orly went through a similar distracted phase, pouncing on leaves and taking off in every direction while on leash; it wasn’t even very long ago. And she’s now a wonderful walking companion.
As Dotty leaps and pounces and twirls through fall, I try to savor this phase — even as I wish for it to end.
Not fair! Orly sulks and refuses to greet us when we return.
This morning it was even worse: Dotty got to go to the river and have her photo taken, a process which involves many treats. Orly again stayed home. Dotty came back happy and mud-covered, reeking of the good treats. NOT FAIR.
Orly got her own special walk afterward, while Dotty stayed home (in her crate with a chew toy). Orly seemed mollified after that and is again sweetly cuddling with her “little” sister (they are now the same size … a phenomenon that won’t last a full week before the little sister overtakes the big sister).
Oddly enough, though, Orly’s sense of fairness is unperturbed when Orly gets to go off hiking — and Dotty is the one left behind. Each time, Dotty rushes to greet the Missoula Dog Mom, hoping that today will be the day — she is sure it’s coming — that she gets to go. She wouldn’t even mind if Orly also went. She just wants to go!
Nope, not today. Orly swishes her tail grandly as she exits, leaving sad Dotty home with boring old Mom and her many meetings.
Dotty’s loud demands, more frequent while Orly is out — requests for food, attention, outside time, inside time, cuddles — may be a cry for justice. Her sense of fairness, like Orly’s, seems to mostly consist of a keen awareness of the times she’s on the receiving end of injustice.
And to give both girls their due, they treat each other fairly. They take turns “winning” tug games and wrestling matches and being the chaser vs. the chasee in the yard. They share toys, amicably chew beef bones next to one another, and let each other eat in peace. As I well know, that is not always the case, even with the most loving doggy siblings.
Perhaps calm acceptance of unequal treatment is a question of maturity, temperament, and time; it’s certainly the case that not all humans get there as children or teens ( … or ever).
Dotty is going through a Phase. It might be adolescence. If it is, I hope it ends as quickly as it started.
She’s all claws and paws and teeth.
Everything goes into the mouth. Sticks, leaves, trash she finds on our walks … people’s hands if they reach out to pet her … toys, non-toys, food, non-food. Everything.
And she’s started pawing at people to ask for petting. Constantly.
And jump! Dotty had been doing SO well with her sit-to-be-petted greeting. She was such a sweet girl. But now? It’s like a different dog.
Orly went through a truly obnoxious phase on her way to being a Very Good Girl who rarely jumps (unless she’s trying to get onto the bed and your nose happens to be in the way …). I’m hoping that Dotty shows the same growth and maturity… soon.
During her “tween” and adolescent period Orly was hyper-aware of every moving leaf, blade of grass, bird or squirrel, and of course, human encountered on walks. Dotty is as well, but where Orly pounced and passed things by, Dotty stops and tries to pick up whatever catches her attention.
Both want to meet any and all humans and positively swoon over small children.
There are signs of growth already, though. Dotty willingly gets both into and out of the car, for example, and, just a couple days ago, I saw her go down the stairs without a single “bunny hop” of her two back legs together.
She’s tall and leggy, almost as tall as Orly, but her body still needs to lengthen and fill out before she stops looking puppyish. That moment will come soon. Maybe too soon!
I was dog-sitting for two wonderful pups, one of whom insisted that he absolutely had to go out at 3 am. We all went out. Dogs did what dogs do, and we stood there for a few minutes marveling at the stars. I did, at least. My friends live well outside of Missoula and can actually see stars. It was a beautiful clear night, if a bit cold.
I was settling back into bed when Orly asked to come up for a cuddle. I leaned over to pet her and said she could come up. Usually, she needs to be told a few times and I need to move over and show her her spot, convincing her that I really want to cuddle with her.
Not this time.
I don’t think the word “yes” was out of my mouth before she leapt. Full speed ahead, just inches from my nose.
There was quite a bit of blood.
While I was dealing with that, Orly settled in on the bed — nice of me to warm it for her — and went to sleep. My friends’ dogs settled on their beds and returned to sleep as well. Only sweet Dotty came to check on me and keep me company while I iced my nose.
Orly doesn’t actually take boxing lessons. Turns out she does not need them, either. And I’m pondering the benefits of a dogless bed …
Dotty, at about 5 months old, is almost as big as Orly!
I’m taking a vacation! There won’t be a new Thinking Dog post next week. Happy Labor day!
I wanted to leave you with some photos showing how Orly’s little sister has grown … and grown, and grown. I am sure that she’ll be bigger than Orly before she is 6 months old!
I was working on getting her out of the car, practicing with the little stairs, safely inside our garage, and making no progress. Orly was happily demonstrating what to do and how to eat the cookies she got as a reward. Dotty was pacing on the seat, unwilling to get down into the foot space or to jump down to the little stairs from the seat.
I sat next to her, looking at the foot space. Even with the front seat moved all the way forward, the space is small. And dark. I wasn’t all that surprised that Dotty didn’t want to jump down there.
I thought about what Glenn, our trainer, says when a puppy is resisting something: Change the picture.
I reached behind the back seat and grabbed a light green towel from the handy dog stuff box that lives in the car. I placed it invitingly on the floor in the foot space, and got out of the car.
I sweetened the deal with a bribe: A small, but delicious (to Dotty) treat on the floor. Orly showed immediate interest. I banished her to the back yard.
I replaced the pilfered treat and added one on the steps for good measure.
Dotty very cautiously reached a paw down, leaned wayyyy over, and managed to get the treat. Encouraged, the brought another paw down then her back end. Yay Dotty!
She stuck her nose out the door, decided, ‘nope,’ and hopped back onto the seat.
The second time, she jumped down pretty quickly, though, and then put her nose out … followed by a tentative paw. And another paw. Then, all at once, she was out of the car! And devouring a jackpot of treats.
The next day, she tried again — at a park this time. She got out, back in, and even got out again at home. She’s done it several times since, and is less reliant on the edible encouragement each time — but she still gets a treat at the end. She’s definitely getting more confident. All thanks to the magic of a light-green towel … and a willingness to change the picture.
Dotty does not like getting into the car. She hates (and strongly resists) getting out of the car.
This is a problem when, say, we need to go to the vet or to training class, as it would be with any pup. But as a service-dog-in-training, Dotty simply goes more places than most dogs — and she needs to get used to getting in and out of all kinds of vehicles.
When I trained young service dog puppies, long ago, we took them on field trips in a minivan. We had a folding ramp that they walked up and down to get in and out of the van, where they rode in sturdy crates.
I have a Forester, and the dogs ride in the back seat. Getting in and out requires either a big jump onto the seat 0r, preferably, two smaller jumps — one into the passenger foot space, and then from there onto the seat.
Orly learned quickly (from Cali) how to do all of this, and we never had an issue getting her in or out of the car.
Dotty has learned a lot from Orly … but not this. Despite watching Orly get in and out of the car dozens (maybe hundreds) of times. Treats aren’t helping either.
So I bought her some steps. The ramps I saw for sale were too long to be usable either in my narrow driveway or when parking in a parking lot with only a foot or two between cars. They are also often too wide to use at a passenger side door. But these little steps fit.
They’re plastic and sturdy enough to support a much larger dog than Dotty is (at the moment), but they can move if the dog jumps too enthusiastically. I hold them in place with a foot. Orly doesn’t mind the movement. Dotty… does.
(You may remember, though, that Dotty was not eager to use regular steps … the solid kind that are inside the house … especially the ones going down.)
Orly figured it out immediately and eagerly showed Dotty how to bound up and down, in and out. Dotty wanted nothing to do with these steps, not even with our top-rated treats.
We moved to the basement and practiced going up and down the steps to get on and off the TV sofa, the only furniture Dotty is allowed on. She caught on pretty fast, with the help of some yummy treats.
We moved to the deck. Orly again demoed quite enthusiastically.
Dotty grudgingly tried (treats definitely helped here)… survived … tried a few more times. Seemed comfortable enough.
Back to the car. She went in. Progress!
But that was it. Dotty did her usual lie down refusal to even consider getting out.
Orly bounded in and out a few more times, showing off her ability and confidence — and making a big deal out of gobbling her treat rewards.
Unmoved, Dotty turned her back on us and lay down even harder, if that’s even possible.
We went to training class, where Glenn, our trainer, helped all the dogs go in and out of his minivan using stairs very similar to ours. And a ramp. Dotty did both. She even seemed to like the ramp.
Back to the Forester. She got in, no problem. I coaxed her off the back seat and she — miracle — climbed down the steps and out of the car!
Once.
Climbed back in and did the hard lie-down. Dared me to try to get her out.
We drove home and … that was it. She was done. Not gonna get out.
I did my usual — picked her up and lifted her out. All almost-40-pounds of her. I cannot keep doing this.
We’ll see who wins this battle. My money is on Dotty, which will present quite a conundrum if she gets any bigger.
Even at the tender age of not-quite-2, Orly is taking her role as the steward of family culture seriously.
Last week, while we were dog-sitting for Orly and Dotty’s new best friends (Stella and Cruiser), Orly thought to leverage an opportunity to hand down Hogle Golden Retriever Culture and Wisdom: She taught Dotty how to pick raspberries.
Berry picking is a revered part of the culture of all Hogle goldens. Jana created this family talent as a young puppy in Israel. She started with strawberries, very quickly learning that the red, sweet-smelling ones tasted better than the green, hard ones. Thus began a daily competition for the finest berries. I usually lost.
Strawberry season in the Israeli garden fed into blackberry season. Jana perfected the art of plucking the ripest, sweetest berries — while avoiding the thorns. We made a deal: Anything above her nose height belonged to me. Anything lower belonged to her.
That deal survived a move to the US, and endured through blueberry picking in Massachusetts. Jana conveyed the cultural knowledge to Cali in California, ensuring it would continue through the next generation — now with raspberries.
Cali perfected raspberry picking over several summers in Montana, teaching the art to young Orly. In one glorious summer, just a year ago, Cali and Orly gorged on raspberries and blackberries. They got a little carried away, though, and might have … destroyed the raspberry bushes in the process.
Never mind. Following some landscaping work, new berry bushes will be ready to fill dog tummies by summer 2024.
Imagine Orly’s delight, then, to discover raspberry bushes at Stella and Cruiser’s house!
Not being goldens, Stella and Cruiser had no idea of their good fortune.
Orly took Dotty firmly in paw, led her to the patch, and … Dotty was a star student, picking up on the technique right away, thus ensuring that the cultural tradition would extend to a fourth generation.
Dotty even remembered and was able to apply her new skill in a different environment: Several days after we got home, Dotty remembered that there were raspberry bushes next to the river trail, and immediately headed to them, nosed around, picked and devoured the few remaining berries.
While it used to be controversial to say that non-humans shared culture in their social groups, Jane Goodall identified dozens of shared and taught behaviors among chimpanzees that, she pointed out, constituted culture. Now, many researchers agree that agree that culture “involves a collective adoption and transmission of one or more behaviors among a group” or a pattern of “knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations” — and that multiple animal species demonstrate cultural knowledge and sharing.
The pony was wearing Dotty’s collar and had a bag of Dotty’s food, though, and she seemed very happy to see me, so I loaded her into the car. She seemed excited about being home and finding her toys, and happily reunited with Orly.
