Dog Relationships

It is interesting to note how dogs behave together. Every dog treats each dog differently. Guinness is always ecstatically eager to greet everyone in the morning. If we arrive first, he runs to each one as they arrive. If they are there first, he can’t reach them fast enough. Oddly, none of the regulars race to greet Guinness, at least, not with the same exuberance. Fortunately, his feelings are not hurt! Here is Guinness’s routine behavior with each dog:

Lucy, a chocolate lab – If she is playing fetch, he ignores her. But if she runs, he will chase and chase and sometimes lead the chase game.

Riley, a black lab – If we are first on the field, Guinness will race across the park to greet Riley when he appears. They sniff each other a bit. They occasionally will have a brief romp, but not much. Riley and Lucy both know that when I call, “Come!” to Guinness, that means treat time, and they come to me for treats.

Mattie, a border collie – Since she loves to chase cars, Mattie is always on leash, which, I think, causes her to bark at everyone and have a snappy attitude. You can hear her coming before she is in sight. If a dog gets close to her, she would gladly take a bite out of them, so they had better skedaddle quickly. Guinness loves to taunt her. He runs in circle segments just beyond the circumference of her extended leash, causing her to run at the end of her tether in partial circles trying to reach him. If you call that play, he is the only dog that plays with her.

Smartie, an Australian sheepdog – Smartie loves to run and to play fetch. Sometimes Guinness will run with her, but not often. He wants nothing to do with fetch. Smartie will sometimes be vocal in play or dominant in a chase – all normal, happy dog play, but Smartie’s mother thinks she is being bad and throws her ball to move her attention away from Guinness.

Marley, a golden retriever – Marley is a huge golden with a serene face that reminds me of Aslan in the Narnia stories. Marley has some health and allergy issues, plus bad hips. I have not witnessed this, but Marley has been vicious with some dogs, so he is on a leash most of the time. Guinness loves Marley, and Marley seems to enjoy Guinness. Their play consists of head wrestling – trying to roll the other one over. I try to keep Guinness from playing near Marley’s rear end, as I have seen Marley nip at a dog that tries to mount him, causing him hip pain. Riley also enjoys head wrestling with Marley. Perhaps it is Marley who tells the dogs that head wrestling is his favorite method of play.

Burton, a Portuguese water dog – Burton often arrives after the other dogs have left. When that happens, the two of them have a wonderful time running all over the ballfield. If any other dog is present, neither of them pays attention to the other. So if Burton arrives while the other dogs are there, he will play with them but not Guinness. Bumpers are thrown for Burton to retrieve. If Burton is playing that game, Guinness ignores him.

There are a few others who drop by occasionally. Guinness always is eager to meet a new dog or greet an old friend. There is a Wheaton terrier, Seamus, who does not like other dogs, that walks by sometimes. Guinness was slow in learning that this dog did not want to play. Guinness always ran to him hoping to play with this new friend, only to discover that he needed to back away from this beast. Lately, he is beginning to recognize this dog from a distance remembering that the dog does not like him, but he still runs, then walks the last few feet to say hello. At the most recent encounters, Seamus appears to be learning that Guinness is OK after all and is willing to sniff and be sniffed with no repercussions.

Goodbye

Kevin and Karin left this morning. Before going out the door, Kevin hugged and kissed Guinness. (Why didn’t we have a camera ready?) He said, “I love you, Guinness. I’m going to miss you,” and began to cry. On the way to the airport he asked his Mommy, “Can I have a dog?”

I called after they were home and asked Kevin if James (his large cat) was happy to see him. He said, “James is very small.” Compared to Guinness, that is true!

Belated Party

Today we did go to doggie park with loot bags for our friends. Marley arrived first. I gave Sue Marley’s bag of treats. Guinness would not leave her alone! He kept jumping on her to get a treat, so I told her, “Give them back to me and I will give them to you when you leave.” It was the only way she could have some peace! Next, Mattie and Riley came, and finally Smartie. Everyone received their loot bag as they left.

Tonight after dinner, Kevin wanted to watch Little Einsteins and play Legos while the adults talked. He wanted Guinness to come with him, so he dragged Guinness across the house by the collar! Unfortunately, we missed that shot.

They both look like happy boys! Guinness is smiling!

Guinness is Three Years Old!

Poor Guinness. He didn’t have much of a birthday celebration. We didn’t make it to doggie park, only the backyard with Lucy engrossed in fetch while Guinness wandered places he shouldn’t.

Last night he grabbed our dinner leftovers -- half a pizza, half a sandwich, chicken fingers and fries -- a LOT of food! So he didn't need any treats today. I wondered if I should even feed him.

Being Sunday, Grant reclined on the sofa for a snooze. Kevin nestled in the crook of Grampy’s legs. Guinness was lying on the floor beside them (you can see his rump and tail).
All was peaceful and calm until Guinness wanted some action. First he had to kiss his Daddy,

then he licked Kevin too.

Later, I had a chance to cuddle with my boy and Guinness wanting to be a part of it.

We found Kevin here asking to have his picture taken!

Playtime with Kevin and Lucy

Kevin was up very early this morning, so we went out to play with Lucy on the back hill. Kevin loved the two dogs but could not tell them apart. Then he discovered the boulders and spent his time running on the boulders while Guinness watched Lucy play fetch. After we came home, Kevin asked, “Are you sure this is Guinness?” Is this the right dog?”

Daddy's Birthday

Today there was no playtime, as we had to drive to Buffalo to pick up Karin, Steve, and Kevin. Guinness was very excited to see them – especially Kevin! Kevin was happy to see Guinness too, though a bit hesitant at first of this big, crazy dog.

Where's Molly?

Now that ECMW has a real office, Emmett doesn’t stop by the house very often. But he did today. As soon as Guinness saw him, he ran down to Emmett’s car circling it looking for Molly! He loves her even though she dominates him!

Where to Play?

Monday and Tuesday, we met Lucy on the back hill, but Lucy is into playing fetch big time. She has had enough of playing chase with Guinness. Now that spring is springing, she wants fetch. Guinness barks and jumps around her to get her to play and, when that fails, he starts wandering between townhomes and up on neighbor's decks. Then I grab him and we go home. Wednesday and Thursday, we went to doggie park. He was happy to be there, but, without Lucy, the biggest running instigator, he doesn’t do much running.

New Name

Ellen says that Guinness has a new name: Guinnessno! As we approached the backyard today, I had to reprimand him repeatedly, saying, “Guinness, No!” “Guinness, No!”

Funny thing… When I am with little Kevin, when he does something naughty, I inadvertently say, “Guinness, no!” After all, Kevin is a perfect child. He could not possibly do something wrong. So, if he does, it has to be Guinness’s fault, even if Guinness is not present!

Playing with Lucy

Tuesday through Thursday, Ellen wanted to play in the back rather than take a long walk, so the good buddies had a frolicking good time together for three mornings. Each day, after their initial happy running, Guinness disappeared into Lucy’s garage to retrieve her tug toy. It is so funny that he does that! He has developed some fairly clever ploys to keep it away from Lucy. Once in a while, Lucy will show dominance over Guinness by biting at his throat, and he immediately lies down exposing his tummy to surrender. We didn’t see what initiated it, but Thursday morning, Guinness was aggressively running after Lucy. Nothing malicious was happening, but I felt some human intervention was necessary.

The Return to Doggie Park

We were back at doggie park today and found it empty. Soon, Frank and barking Mattie were the first to appear. Guinness ran in circles around them expressing his excitement at seeing them again after two and a half weeks. Next Smartie arrived. Again, he ran in circles around Smartie. Later Brin stopped by briefly, and Guinness ran in circles again. As we were leaving, Burton came on the scene. They had a brief run together, but it was time for us to leave. A service man was going to be at our door in a few minutes. Everyone thought Guinness’s enthusiasm was very cute.

Let Me Run!

Grant had to make an exchange at a store today and took Guinness along in the car. As he removed the product to return, Guinness escaped and ran into the field next door refusing to heed his master’s call. He ran to the back of the lot where there are train tracks. Grant was not happy and very worried as Guinness paid no heed to him at all. Finally Guinness came to another customer. Grant had no treats, so thank heavens for a stranger who likes dogs!

I told Grant that I know exactly why he did that. The first week I was away, Guinness had to stay at the kennel where is had two playtimes and two walks each day. For the next week and a half, he was home with Grant and never walked beyond our property. Guinness was desperate for a run, so took off to give himself some exercise. Poor dog!