I DO NOT HAVE A DOG
For about half of my life I was afraid of dogs and it took about another ten years for me to tolerate them near me.
About ten years ago while visiting friends I was the recipient of curious looks and sniffs from their two miniature Yorkies. Once they decided that I was friendly and not foe, they took a run across the room and up my shins to circle on my lap before finding a cosy spot to sit and then sleep. I was smitten. I fell in love that day and if I was ever to share my space with a pet it would be a Yorkie. No not the chocolate bar, the breed of dog!
My kinda Yorkie
I do not like cats and don’t want them near me.
There was a discussion on Twitter yesterday about dogs and chocolate. You know the kind of thing … Is chocolate good or bad for dogs? I have heard several discussions on the topic over the years and they have all come to the same conclusion.
Poison by chocolate can occur quickly if your dog had a large amount, but sometimes even small amounts will show signs of poisoning within a few short hours. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea, restlessness and hyperactivity, and he or she might even go to you for help and answers. Symptoms will progressively get worse from restlessness to arrhythmia and other muscle twitching. Frequent urination is common, a direct side affect of the toxin in chocolate.
If you (like me) have a habit of sharing your finger foods with your dog you always have to tell them no when you have any sort of chocolate. Eventually – they will learn to associate the scent as something they just simply can not have – and will usually just leave you alone.
Those quotes came from a very interesting article that you can find here. The last one made me think…. it is all down to how you train your pet/s.
My sister (E) is an animal lover and she has two dogs and 2 cats. Since she lives alone the animals have the run of the house. They walk, jump and sleep on the furniture including the beds. They are around at meal time. E shares titbits of food with them from her plate. They expect the same from visitors and if you ignore them, as I try to do, they jump up like beggers.
They are very noisy yapping barking most of the day. E will break off from talking mid conversation on the phone to speak to the cats & dogs. I have heard her tell the dogs: “It is Grannymar, and if you are a good girl she will bring you Malteesers!” This I ignore since I discovered that choclate & dogs don’t go together.
The last time I stayed the barking was getting me down. We had a general chat about training young animals and she told me she used vinegar to teach them not to ‘piddle’ in the wrong places. It is harmless but dogs do not like the smell of vinegar. I asked it it could be used to teach them not to bark.
E produced a small spray bottle and I half filled it with vinegar and topped it up with water. Everytime the dogs barked I sprayed the vinegar in their direction. After a few sprays I made the sound of the sprayer mechanism as I worked it. By the end of the day they had the idea…. I cupped my hand as if it held the bottle and made the noise… they stopped barking!
Some weeks later I was talking on the phone to E and she was using speaker phone. She told me the dogs were looking everywhere to find me since they could hear my voice. She found it amusing and started to laugh.
The laughter set the dogs barking and their noise drowned out my sister’s voice. I made the noise of the spray bottle and immediately there was silence at the other end of the phone! A week later I did the same thing and once more the dogs went quiet.
To use an old saying of my mother’s…. “It all reflects on the home training”!
Annb said,
March 24, 2009 at 9:26 am
Grannymar you are a genius! You should seriously consider writing a book: ‘101 uses for a bottle of vinegar’……;-) I’d buy it.
Baino said,
March 24, 2009 at 9:35 am
Exactly right. . .training dogs is as important as training children although I refrained from spraying my kids with vinegar. Tempting to do it to shut Adam up occasionally tho . . .*goes to find degging bottle*
steph said,
March 24, 2009 at 9:44 am
Grannymar
You and your vinegar!
Wait till Nancy see this
Grannymar said,
March 24, 2009 at 9:44 am
@Annb - There must be about 101 books already out there about vinegar.
@Baino - Poor Adam! Let me know how it works.
Grannymar said,
March 24, 2009 at 9:49 am
Steph,
Nancy is safely home from her winter in Florida and I am sure she will have something to add once the dust covers are packed away.
Nelly said,
March 24, 2009 at 10:45 am
Can’t wait to try this on Aunt Lizzie’s dog (always lifts leg in my house) thank god for tiled floors!
Grannymar said,
March 24, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Nelly,
I bet that Aunt Lizzie’s dog is male.
elfinamsterdam said,
March 24, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Hmmm… see I like dogs.
But small dogs are noisy beggers and I cant stand it.
Large dogs (especially boxers) I love, but have no room for.
Cats seemed to be the only option, small and quiet so good for apartment living.
With this idea…. perhaps my GF’s plan for a dog isn’t so far fetched.
Will have to think about it.
Elf.
Only note is I hate the smell of vinegar too…. perhaps I am closer to the yorkie dog than the chocolate bar….
rummuser said,
March 24, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Grannymar, I envy you your ability to take ordinary day to day events and make such thoroughly enjoyable posts. I am learning from you. I am not able to get up enough courage to post some of the things that I observe. I shall however try tonight to post about something that has been troubling me and which came to head earlier this evening.
Magpie11 said,
March 24, 2009 at 2:54 pm
True! It is all in the training…children and dogs…I get fed up with my profession being blamed for all the ills of society when we have to combat so much ill discipline from home…..
As for dogs…little ones I do not like….not even my Grandmother’s Cairn Terriers (all called Trudi)….Long haired ones are a liability…I love Staffs!
A good training tool is a loosely rolled newspaper…a tap across the nose with this is as good as a vinegar spray as it makes a noise and does no physical harm.
Must get a Super Soaker (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hasbro-Super-Soaker-XP-270/dp/B00004S831) and fill it with Vinegar to turn on the foxes……
kenju said,
March 24, 2009 at 3:34 pm
If I ever have another dog, I’ll try that. I was never any good at training them, though.
I love cats and I have to say that I have a hard time trusting people who don’t like them. But not you!
Grannymar said,
March 24, 2009 at 5:41 pm
@Elf - My sister’s dogs are Shelties and they seem to constantly cast as well as bark. Large dogs are out for me ’cause I can’t walk far enough to exercise them.
@Ramana - I look forward to reading your post.
@Magpie - Super Soaker! Boys will be boys.
@Judy - My sister’s cats insist on jumping on my knee & sticking their sharp claws into me. At home I am plagued with other peoples cats using my garden as a toilet.
I hope we can stay friends.
Magpie11 said,
March 24, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I doth protest…my mother in law has one to chase away squirrels, magpies and gulls! And she’s 89!
Grannymar said,
March 24, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Magpie - !!!! Your mother in law uses a water pistol to chase you away?
rummuser said,
March 25, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Unfortunately, what I posted yesterday was a post that I had drafted earlier and got published before what I wanted to write could be drafted and saved. Look out for Whinebar Mark III.
Grannymar said,
March 25, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Ramana,
Will do!