Best of Scout ::: Dog Head through the Kitty Door

::: Originally published February 2009

Guilty as charged! The kitty door lives on the bathroom door and when one of my humans goes in there, I want to be in there too! It doesn’t matter where I am in the house or what I’m doing, if I hear one of them go into the loo, I am THERE!

As I’ve written before, I’ve lived with cats.

Both Fatboy and Littleman (pictured) are now in whatever represents kitty heaven (catnip and forbidden furniture?). But when they lived here with us, we’d all be in that bathroom, if allowed, when the humans were doing the doo.

Now, I know if you’re reading this, you want to know why. What is the fascination? And for both cats and dogs to exhibit the same behavior, it’s a bit mind-boggling. Well, I’ve got nothing for you, sisters and brothers. If you think you have the reason why, I’d love to hear it. Or if you are guilty of shoving your way into the loo, I’d love to hear your motivation.

You’ll have to excuse me for now. I must click down the hall to stick my nose through that little flap to say hellooooooo.

No Self Control

Does a dog have any self control? That’s a good question and I’m not sure if I know the answer.

Let’s examine food in relation to self control. I’m pretty well-behaved, so they tell me. I’ve seen other dogs constantly scrounging for food and I don’t do that. I would if I could, but the scrounger has been trained out of me by my family. Another training technique they used was making me wait for my meals. Oh, the sweet torture! Shoes on the Floor would give me the command to sit, put food in my bowl and make me wait about fifteen excruciating seconds (full of drool, need and want) before saying the magic word, “Okay.”

I guess that training has set me up to behave pretty well around food. Doesn’t mean I’m not opportunistic… read on, my sisters.

A-Dog used to do a lot of baking B.C. and I was not much interested in the end result. Although that chocolate smell is dee-vine! In the baking process, sometimes it makes sense to bring butter to room temperature, which means it needs to sit out for a couple hours. And in that couple hours, I may catch a whiff of said butter about 1,874 times. I don’t think it’s a question of self control when there is torture involved.

The score? Scout the Dog 2 — Sticks of Butter 0.

Then there was the Onion Kulcha – oy! Unfortunately, onions are toxic for dogs. But I am a self-confessed bread hound. Love the stuff. I find it hard to resist under regular circumstances, but the fragrant Indian bread, makes my nose dance. Left unattended, I made that flat loaf all mine. The confusion and panic that ensued may have been funny, if not for the call to Doggie Poison Control and the words induce vomiting. I’ll spare you the details, but “better in than out” has a whole new meaning for me now.

I guess from these examples of behavior that self control is a human trait and we dogs still rely on instinct. Makes us charming and disarming, yes? And that photo above? I had just eaten a sandwich off the counter. Will they never learn?

Anatomy of a Bark

I am the author today on Scout’s blog to give my perspective on when our girl started barking.

Scout did not bark for the first nine months of her life. We were amazed by her silence. Even as a puppy, she was a very quiet dog. She did a little whimpering her first night with us in her crate, but once she figured out the “rules,” we didn’t hear another sound until her excited noises came loud and clear before release.

At the onset of her barking, many events collided in our lives as a family. We moved from a condo to a house in my second trimester of my first pregnancy. We opted for an electronic fence to keep Scout safe in our yard, as the street can be used as a cross-through. So, new house, new yard, new perimeter that could not be broken and a little bambino on the way to protect.


The first time I remember her barking was after I brought our newborn home. There was lots of traffic: people, cars, packages, the poor UPS man… I remember thinking, “Who is this dog?” I was so tired, you might have convinced me that she was an impostor. We eventually figured out the collision of events above might be the cause.

Or she was simply just old enough to find her bark.

Scout still doesn’t bark often. She is mostly a silent communicator – her body language speaks loud and clear. She sets herself up right in front of you and stares you down with those golden eyes. And she only does this when her need is great… food, water, doing some business.

But when she barks, she is one scary hairball. I appreciate her protection when I’m home alone or just with the boys. Scout’s deep, throaty bark is something to behold from such a sweet girl.

And I know he probably doesn’t read this blog, but I’m sending out a big apology to our UPS man. Somewhere, somehow he knows that she’s just doing her job.

Dog Smooches

In the dog world, is there anything that gets a better reaction?

I brought up the subject of Dog Smooches on Facebook the other day. Humans have very strong feelings about being smooched by those of us with furry britches.

Why do we smooch? We have different reasons in different situations. If we get excited or you’re excited and part of your body is within reach, we’ll throw you a lick or two.

If your face is anywhere near our face, we must lick. When your face is near ours, it’s a special occasion… like bringing out the good dishes for company. Your human faces are so often far away from ours, we just can’t help ourselves.

I’ve heard some say that we lick as a sign of submissive behavior, acknowledging dominance to the human or dog we’re licking. I’m not so sure about that one. If I’m being submissive, getting my face near the dominant being is not something I’ll be willing to do.

Let’s just assume the smooches are love, as evidenced below.
Some assumptions are good, right?


Photo Credits:
1. Dog Kiss, 2. A dog kiss, 3. Dog Kiss, 4. Dog kiss., 5. dog kiss b, 6. Dog Kisses Baby, 7. My Dog Gives Good Kisses, 8. dog kiss, 9. Dog Kiss

Pillows and Garbage

I have a confession…

I suffer from separation anxiety. I’m not proud of it, but my little mental problem does manifest itself in a couple very specific ways.

When my humans leave, they usually close the master bedroom door. I can’t open doors yet (although I do hit them with my nose when I want them opened.) But if I have access to the master bedroom when I’ve been left alone, my go-to destinations are pillows and garbage.

Not just any garbage, but the little can in the bathroom. No scrap is left untouched… it’s quite the scene when the humans come home.

The other manifestation of my anxiety is a little more disturbing and I hesitate to admit it. Plus, all the wackos on this here internet don’t make it easy to be honest about some behaviors. (My Foot-licker! post is a little too popular in some searches, if you get my meaning.)

Okay, here it goes: I jump on the big bed and hump the pillows. There I said it (or wrote it) and that’s all I’m going to say about it. Admitting it is the first step, right?

Anyway, some dogs have separation anxiety and some dogs just misbehave. You can tell if it’s true separation anxiety, if your dog exhibits her destructive behavior within the first 20 minutes of your departure. I think I check that master bedroom door as soon as I hear the car drive away without me in it.

In my case, simply closing the door will prevent me from compromising pillows and inhaling bath tissues. Two good suggestions for keeping your dog happy when she’s home alone are these: keep her tired and/or keep her busy. I’m sure you can figure out the tired part. To keep her busy, maybe supply a Kong or something similar that can hide a treat and make her work for her reward.

Please don’t judge me… everybody’s got “a thing” – this is mine.

Well, golly, I feel SO much better now.

New Feature – Dogs Without Blogs

I created a mission statement.

Now, before you roll your eyes… (I’m writing to you, humans, as dogs don’t roll their eyes)

My mission statement is simple:


With a little nod to Salt-n-Pepa, I’m reaching out to my fellow dogs and asking about you. If you’re interested in writing about yourself or if you humans want to write about your dogs, email me: Scout at riverdogprints dot com. I will send you a list of questions and ask for an adorable picture of you. Then, you’ll be featured right here on the old dog blog.

Why am I doing this? Well, I’ve thought a lot about this little blog and I’d like to write more posts. Problem is, how much can you write about yourself? If you’re a complex human, probably quite a bit (and probably more than you should.) Dogs live pretty simply by choice, so interesting posts about my life come sporadically. But I want to keep the blog about dogs, who we are and how we operate.

If you think you’re not interesting enough, you’re wrong! Send me an email, I’ll send you the questions and you’ll see how interesting you can be.

Terror on the Trail

Don’t I look vicious? Grrrrrrr.
Probably more freaky than vicious…

I usually love walking the trails around where we live, but today, whew! We mostly walk trails where humans take us dogs off our leashes. When we meet other dogs, we socialize. Simple concept.

We see a small dog running down the trail to greet us. There are introductions of the doggie kind. Then, his big dog brother lopes on down. More intros – all good. When their human joins us, all H-E-double-hockey-sticks broke loose. The little dog barks what seems like orders to the big dog and big dog attacks. It’s an intimidation strike, teeth bared, but no intent to bite… yet. Their human reprimands, as I snuggle myself in the human tunnel of mine, between both his legs with my tail in assault mode. The human apologized for her dogs, even gave me a little pat on the head and they were on their way.

It was pretty much out of sight, out of mind for me. I heard A-Dog say that the little dog reminded her of the cartoon dog with a hat and cigar, barking orders to his big, dopey dog friend. I don’t know about that, but I do know that dogs can be unpredictable to humans. We don’t always act sweet and want our heads rubbed. And when you’ve got more than one, you must be wary of the dynamic. Those behaviors live deep in our furry genes. Woof!

Snow Dog 2009*

Is there anything better than sticking your snout in snow? Eating snow on the run is pretty good too…

Here in the Northeast, we dogs rock with the changing seasons. We dig more from fall to spring, because WE CAN! There are leaves and snow separating us from the precious ground, so we get a pass on the “No dig!” command.

Anytime I can shove my face into something soft and get a big whiff is a good time. Snout in snow makes me sneeze – love that. And gobbling snow on the run is just another pleasure I can’t pass up. On a winter walk, the air is dry, so I hydrate. It’s what great athletes do :)

One caveat – if your dog is older and eats snow obsessively, you might want to make a trip to the V-E-T (I have to spell it for those sensitive dogs out there.) It could be a sign of a health problem.

But if your dog is just as quirky, and dare I say, lovable as I am, Let them eat snow!

*This post was originally published in December 2008.

Can you please get my toy?

A good portion of my workouts are outside in our yard. I play with balls and different retrievable objects, but my absolute favorite, is the water Kong. It looks like a long, tennis ball and is attached to a braided string for throwing. It can frequently get caught in a tree, as seen below. We communicate very well together and A-Dog is a good lady!

Pack Order – Scout Sandwich Anyone?

Humans don’t get it. When you sit or lay on the floor, you are now in dog territory. You’re fair game to sit on and get your long overdue face bath. You are also considered to be lower in the pack order.

A-Dog rarely sits on the floor, but Shoes-on-the-Floor, Little-Feet and Preemie-Feet, all spend quality playing time there. I don’t pay attention to the little ones, until Shoes plunks himself down on the carpet. Then I am compelled to get between him and whomever he’s playing with at the time. ::see photo above :) I am illustrating our pack order here.

I am allowed to lay on the furniture and, heaven forbid, sleep on the bed. But I do follow the pack rules. When A-Dog gets in bed for the night, I get off the bed and go to my chair. When the mornings get chilly, I move from my chair to the bed, but I almost always sleep on Shoes’s side. I’m respecting my leader. Pack leaders eat first, get the best food, sleep where they want and can wither you with a look. They sound bossy, yes, but if there was no leader, guaranteed there would be mayhem.

As you can see from the photo, I consider myself to be third in line. I’m letting that little guy on the left know that he is fifth and he and Shoes should remember that fact. I’m not aggressive about it, except for the destruction of the block tower. But the tears dry and the shouts fade and I am still THIRD! Booyakasha baby!