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!

The Reason Why Bitches are Called Bitches

I really should know better, but yet again ourdogs have proved they are not always sweet and lovely.

Yesterday I was inside and I left all of the four dogs we have outside. I'd been out with them earlier and they were all friendly with each other - one adult male pharaoh hound (Lah Dee, two adult female pharaoh hounds ( Ananka and Missy) and one adult female schnauzer (Nena).

Ananka is the mother of the other two pharaoh hounds and Nena is the oldest dog. All seemed fine and then I heard a huge snarling and crashing around and Lah Dee who was in the back dog run was barking like a mad thing. I rushed outside to see Nena had Ananka by the side of her head just below her ear.

I got the whip we have in the laundry for obtaining a little respect at times like this, encouraged Nena and Ananka to break up the fight and then put Nena inside. My heart was beating fast and I was trembling a little. I'm not sure what started the fight,but I know that I'll try not to let it happen again.

It may be that Nena is coming into season which always changes the pack dynamics around, or it may be that the full moon was rising up in the sky. Anyway, whatever the reason, I have learned my lesson now - don't leave those two girls out together!