Two posts in two weeks? Unheard of! The other week Bernadette over on the OBay Shelties blog challenged her blogger readers to play the “7 things you may not know about me and my dogs” game and it sounded like fun, so without further ado, here goes!
7 things you may not know about me:
1) I was reading books before I was in kindergarten. I was reading music before I was reading books.
2) I have a BA in music (magna cum laude) – concentration in Jazz Performance and Studies. In retrospect, my guidance counsellor should have been stripped of his license for not talking me into something more practical, but no biggie – I eventually figured it out on my own.
3) I’m also an alumni of the GIA (Gemological Institute of America). I may not have or wear a lot of jewelry, but never let it be said that I don’t know my bling!
4) At one point in my life, I had pet hermit crabs. My first one was Spot (because I didn’t have a dog but I wanted one.) I also remember the two called Martin and Maarten (their names, er, had something to do with their point of origin ;-). ) They were actually kind of interesting. If I had one today I’d probably try to clicker train it to do those Breyer agility obstacles or something.
5) The coolest thing I ever taught one of my furkids was conditioning one of my cats to go into “happy cat” mode on cue. She’s kind of pugnacious – I started click/treating her for ankle rubs and eventually put it on cue. I can still use that cue to pre-empt a catfight. (Technically, I guess what she does is better called “begging mode”, but hey – it works!)
6) I’ve been a vegetarian for most of my life. Many people don’t realize this because I’m not preachy about it.
7) I didn’t have a dog as a kid, I grew up with cats. I can’t imagine not having at least one kitty underfoot!
7 things you may not know about my dogs
(this was tough – I could come up with a LOT more than seven!)
1) Raven sleeps upside down, legs in all directions.
2) At home, the loudest and most ranbunctious of my dogs is … Jayda. Silly, bouncy, dorky and demonstrative – everything she’s NOT in public! She’s always wagging her tail with that big Jayda smile on her face.
3) Jayda also spends a lot of time on her hind legs – a LOT of time. Her default sit is a “sit pretty” unless I remind her to put her front feet down! She can easily go from a sit to a stand and back again, she can walk backwards on two legs … I didn’t set out to teach her this, I think she just likes being tall!
4) Lots of people know about Sally’s singing/tune recognition talents, but few people know that Sally was totally amused by the letter “Z”. I used to have this little game I’d play with her: I’d start by asking if she wanted to go to the Zzzzzoooo? To see the Zzzeebras? There was a lot more but you get the idea. By the time I’d used up every “Z” word I could think of, she’d have the Sheltie version of the ROFLMAO giggles. It was too cute!
5) Bryce makes the funniest yodelling noises when he’s in his crate and feeling unloved. (As if!)
6) For whatever reason, cats are attracted to Raven. I mean, they’re drawn to her like a MAGNET! For her part, Raven’s well behaved around most cats but it creeps her out when they rub up against her.
7) Last but not least, some people know about this, but it’s weird enough to bear repeating…
Bryce has a soulmate. It’s not me, it’s not a dog, it’s not a cat, it’s his ducky, aka the Yucky Ducky – a formerly-white, formerly-squeaky, stuffed duck toy that he’s had for a good 7-8 years. At 12 years old, he still takes it out with him when he goes out to the bathroom. If we’re going anywhere he’ll look all over for it to make sure we don’t leave it home.
It’s been patched multiple times and washing only restores it to a lighter shade of gray – even by dog-person standards it’s nasty, but what can I say? Love is a funny thing!
