Natalie Culver

Was trying to get Nicholas dressed & Obike thought he'd help test the functionality of a few of the baby toys.

First, the teething ring - O made sure it's good to chew on, check.

Second, the stuffed toy baby rattle - O made sure it still rattled, check. (This was cute to me, Nicholas is about same length as Obike right now).

After each I had to pry baby toy away from Obike. He's 11& a half, but he still gets frisky in fall! (Although he is putting on his fuzzy winter coat & perhaps getting a few too many midnight dog treat snackies...)

Jackie Dering

Some guy stopped us on our walk and asked what breed our dogs were. Not liking his demeanor we said they were just dogs. He assured me they were part Shiba probably crossed with Doberman.

I thanked him.

Tamara Allen

Watched a show tonight and a scene from Puccini opera came on - a lovely man sang - Tippy immediately popped her head out from under the blanket, and stared at the television, head tilted, with a drunken little smile on her face. Apparently she learned a little Italian when she was a wee pup from Susan before she came to live with us.

Barbara Reisinger

I have grass snobs. They really seem to only chow down on Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’. Spring growth is preferred, of course, but they will munch throughout summer on it. Then they ruin the "good thing" with a good retching and move on with their day. My grass is left a little less ornamental.

Katie Campbell - Some grass is obviously "tastier" than others, and young shoots are preferred. I have suspected that there is something in it that is either delicious or needed with the spring shoots... (I see it in stool and sometimes upset stomach - but not always to either end). But I can count on the "mowing" ceasing once the surviving shoots are mature.

Mia Löwbeer - Mine all eat grass, some more than others. They are really like cows in the spring, the new grass is such a delicacy.
Here on the island they eat a lot of grass, roots etc. If they need to puke there are two kinds of grass they favour.

Lisa Marshall - Mine eat grass. More away from home than at home. Seem to prefer a broad leafed variery...don't have a clue what it is but they always find it on show grounds for example. They go out after the backyard is freshly mown and eat that grass

Andrea Stone

But then I started thinking of all the tiny, but potentially significant changes we have made over the years that just come naturally now and that we don't even notice:

No exterior doors left hanging open - the big one.
Gates always closed - another biggie.
Off leash outside of a safe, enclosed area is pretty much a no-no.
Secure fencing.
Purses and suitcases closed, put up or behind closed doors.
Shoes, socks, etc picked up and put away.
Bedroom door closed (lest we risk exposed shoes, socks, etc.)
Paper products kept out of reach. We have our first TP shredder.
Food not left within grabbing distance.
Step waste cans never contain food and are always turned with the step against the wall.
No uncovered waste cans.
If it might appeal to a dog and you like it, don't leave it out and unsupervised. It's your own fault if you do.
Weird things appeal to dogs under 1 year - be aware.
WORK YOUR RECALL.

These things are nothing to us. They are easy, simple adjustments we have made in order to share our lives with this wonderful breed. Most of these things I imagine you would need to do with any inquisitive dog. But the main thing is being aware and proactive. It's your responsibility to help your dog live in a human world and up to human standards. When things go awry, first look in the mirror and ask what was your part.
Anyway....

Annechien Smith

Subject: basenji noses and memories, and specifically "the Polly's".

Some four to five years ago, we walked along a certain stretch of the Canal Lateral, which runs into the Canal de Midi and offers a walk/cycle path from Bordeaux to Marseille, around 650 km according to Michelin. At one of the locks, "the Polly" found several bags of rubbish to eat and roll in. Lovely snack between meals. We had, of course, the usual fun trying to retrieve our basenjis from this feast, and to clean them once we got back.

Well, today we walked towards the same lock, where we had not been since, above event long gone from our brains, but not that of "the Polly". Before we knew it, off she marched, nose in the air or on the ground, and hooray, for her, there was another lot of disgusting or yummy stuff to be indulged.
Anyone else have dogs with this kind of memory for a specific place that otherwise looks like many others? There are lots of locks along this canal, but this one must have some special features we can't see!

Susan Marsicano - I do think their memories are better/perhaps less cluttered than ours, but perhaps just more brilliant. Blush, born in 1973, had a person she loved visiting on Carmine Street in NYC, and many years after he moved out of the area, we were walking on a crossing street, and she pulled me to what had been his stoop. I was thinking, "what the hell is she doing?" And then the memory came back to me. Note that all these stoops look the same.

Kim McNeill - yep, pretty sure Zest! remembers every place she's ever gotten even one piece of kibble.

Uschi Grewe - oh yes, Annechien, ours do!

Annechien Smith - Another unusual behaviour: they know exactly when we are almost home, from wherever we have been, whether we have had to cross the bridge or not. They will get up and look around just before we stop at the gates. More peculiar, they know when we reach Uschi Grewe's Haus, which they only visit on infrequent trips North. We get out of our campingcar and they are wild to visit. Similar with other Dutch friends. In the campingcar, they can look out without getting up, but in the car they are in a crate out of which they cannot see anything without sitting. How do they do that???

Brenda Phillips - My dogs do the same thing - when we turn on the street to my brother's or parent's house, or to the place where we take agility classes!

Susan Marsicano - My city dogs, back in the 70s, went noisy nuts when we crossed a bridge or just got near the city on the way home. I thought they could smell it. :) Ahead to today, my dogs seem to understand what it means when the navigator says "you have reached your destination".

Andrea Stone - Dogs are amazing at noticing and remembering a lot of details that we miss and forget. Delphi checked the same tree every day for a cat she once chased up it. The cat was long gone, of course but months later it was still worth a peek.