Christmas with Dogs

Actually, our dogs pretty well missed out on Christmas. My husband, son and I went out yesterday, which was Christmas Day, and again today. We didn't give our four dogs anything special for Christmas and they certainly don't know enough to feel they've missed out on anything.

Of course, dogs have no idea about the Christian tradition, and they certainly don't shop. Our dogs did get fed, let out and let back in again as possible. They were all locked away when we went out, Lah Dee, our male Pharaoh Hound was shut in our bedroom, Nena, our female schnauzer was locked in a crate, and Ananka and Missy, our two female Pharaoh Hounds were locked in another crate.

I'd love it if we could leave all of our dogs loose together in the house, with easy access to the yard. Sadly, that isn't possible for us. Lah Dee digs holes in the back yard, and when he was put in the dog run this morning he began barking non-stop. He was not a happy puppy, so he came back inside.

We can't have Nena loose with either of the other two girls, because they're currently enemies. I hope they may one day become friends again, but they're certainly nowhere near that time yet.

We could have left Ananaka and Missy together in the back yard. These two are mother and daughter, and they are friends. Ananka has a higher position in our pack, and Missy is perfectly happy with that.

To add a further bit of interest to our pack situation, Missy is in an interesting condition, to put it delicately. She's been in season for over a fortnight, and judging by the way Lah Dee's acting, she's probably ovulated now. Lah Dee's been pining for her, and not eating much of his dinner, for the past couple of days.

Once Missy's back to normal, then the three Pharaoh Hounds will be able to be loose together in the house, and perhaps with Nena too. The dogs all act better together inside than outside. I'm glad about this, but we still have to keep watch on them. These creatures are dogs, and they have their own pack rules. If the people in the house get involved, then it won't be a good thing. So we keep them where they can all be happy and not have to fight to work out the hierarchy. 

This of course has nothing much to do with Christmas. We offer our dogs love and goodwill though, and that certainly is a Christmas thing. I hope you've had a Merry Christmas!

Dogs are All Back to Normal

Back to normal does not necessarily mean it's all good. Around our little piece of the Earth, 'normal' means we don't let La De play with Kharis (Pharaoh Hound), and we don't let Nena (Schnauzer) play with Ananka (PH).

If we did let them play, I think only our vet would be happy, because he'd get more business from us. Girls will be girls and boys will be boys. That's the way it is. In any pack, there is a hierarchy and our dogs are a pack. We are just not willing to pay the cost in heartache, pain and money for the natural result of just letting the dogs sort it all out.

If our dogs were a pack of wild animals, out in Nature, then the young male (La De PH) would have left home, maybe to come back when he'd grown bigger, and he then would have challenged his father Kharis. The oldest girl, Rangler (Sch) may have stayed with the pack as a kind of aunt, or she may have been left behind. She is nearly thirteen years old, which means she could still have three or more years of life left, but out in the wild, who knows?

Ananka, as the most dominant girl may have had a huge fight with Nena and sorted out the question of who was alpha girl for now. But it may have continued simmering below the surface, ready to boil again at the least sign, as it is here now.

It's difficult to know really because having a real job to do in the wild can lead to truces which make it easier for the pack to catch the prey to feed them all. So Ananka and Nena may have ended up being great allies, and both been respectful of the other.

Any younger dogs, especially when they are puppies, are usually treated well by all members of the pack, which is certainly how it works here. All of the dogs love the puppies, but we have to keep watch so that nobody gets hurt. Sometimes adults play too rough, and when the pups are salable and cute and cuddly creatures, we don't want any of them getting hurt.

It's fascinating watching the dogs, seeing how they interact. I just wish they could do it without barking!