...as I generally do when using Niles (Niles is, you will recall, my darling laptop); watching Bingo demolishing (and eating) a tennis ball.
He is being very careful about this; gently and precisely ripping green bit after green bit off before sampling the taste delights each bit has to offer. I know, as I watch this, that I should stop him; that eating the green stuff off the top of a tennis ball isn't a particularly healthy thing for a dog to be ingesting, but....I don't know, it's just so much fun to watch; he is being so meticulous about it. It was exactly the same when he received a cracker - an cardboard tube from inside a roll of lavatory paper wrapped in decorative paper - stuffed with dog biscuits last Christmas: he spent over an hour surgically removing tiny strip after tiny strip of paper and cardboard and sticky tape (the latter of which the unhelpful people who made the damn thing had used an inordinate amount) until was able to reach a layer of treats with his tongue which he would then happily munch on before beginning the whole process again. It's just...I don't know, the thought he puts into these things is astounding. He seems to be able to work almost anything out, and quickly too. Too quickly, at times. He's regularly one step, or even two steps ahead of me; the pack leader and member of a supposedly dominant species.
And yet, that said, this same genius will try to eat wasps. Or chase a squirrel and run straight into a tree. Or a cat, into a wall. Or in the case of one memorable outing, all three of the above; in quick succession.
=shakes head=
I swear, if that dog wasn't typically really stupid in other areas (as men tend to be; no offense but they are), his methodical way of thinking and high intelligence combined together would scare the knickers off of me...
...Ooh, ah, OK. He has now given up eating teeny bits of green stuff and is now ripping at the rubber.
Time to intervene, I think.
Fast.
EDITED TO ADD:
...and now the tennis ball has been removed, he is sulking in the corner, brooding over the unfairness of it all.
Poor doggy. What a mean Mommy he has.
My Bones will pout when I have to take something from her. . . or heavens forbid have to scold her for something. Every night when I settle in to bed to read, she jumps down, gets a bone and then jumps back up and snuggles next to me.
ReplyDeleteBingo doesn't mind much about me scolding him. It just seems to glance over the top of him with minimal effect, or even if there is an effect, it's over with and forgotten about within two minutes or so.
ReplyDeleteOnce, when I got really angry with him - I can't remember what for - I pointed my finger at him as I scolded him for extra emphasis and after looking at it for a few seconds he licked it and wagged his tail.
Yep. I'm the boss alright. =nods=
He's never been a 'cuddly' dog, really, at bedtime or otherwise. He likes being fussed and stroked - to a point. Sometimes you get the feeling that he is merely tolerating it because he knows that it makes you happy - and quite a lot of the time he likes sitting or lying quite close to you, but rarely does he actually lie ON TOP OF you (the way his brother does) and actively cuddle you. Unless of course something has upset him (or you) and he is looking for comfort, but even then it lasts for maybe half an hour or so before he gets down and curls up or stretches out somewhere else. Same with the sitting/lying next to you or at your feet (he does very much like lying across feet, actually); it's never for long. He likes his space.
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