Pets Are People ... Right?

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Added: Thu. Nov 15, 2007 11:19am
Posted in: Pets

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I love my animals. I have two dogs, Faegan and Junior, and two cats, Travers and Laila. No children at this point (human children, I mean) so the furry friends get most of the attention in my house.

My dogs *know how to manipulate my love. When I sit on the couch, Faegan gets behind me to put his head on my shoulder. If I try and yell at Junior for some puppy infraction, he flops on his back and gives me his best "sorry Mommy" face. So they obviously understand what I'm saying.

Most of the time, anyway. But like people, these dogs have selective hearing.


They understand:
Dinner Time/Treat Time
Let's Go For a Walk
Get Up On The Bed
Speak
Spin (**I will explain this in a future blog)

They do *not understand:
Sit
Stay
Lay Down
Get Off The Bed
Don't Speak

And today I learned one more phrase they don't understand. Don't roll in the mud.


Pet owners, you know what I'm talking about. You wake up, bleary-eyed and ready for your first cup of coffee. You stumble to the door to let the dogs out then you start getting ready for the day. You come down a few minutes later to let them in ... and they are so dirty, you spend valuable morning minutes cleaning them off, then yourself. That happens to me every day!

At least if it were snow, they would come back wet and clean. Here in Florida, the morning dew and overnight rains mean they come back wet and muddy. Somehow, in the few minutes they get to spend outside, they manage to get the dirt in their ears, in their mouth, between their toes, and every other space you can imagine.

But, because of the afore-mentioned manipulation skills, I can't get too mad. They love playing in the backyard so much, how can I yell at them?

I'm hoping to work out a doggie compromise ... they can play outside and roll in the mud on the weekends ... they need to try and keep it clean Monday through Friday.

I'll let you know how it goes.