Friday, October 30, 2015

I Just Can't Win

I've had beagles since around 1976. Ever since the first I've pledged, "never again." 39-years later you can figure out how well that has worked.

The new guy, Buddy. If you could boil down the essence of all hounds, it'd be him. Everything great, everything mortally infuriating. It's hyper-concentrated inside Buddy.

There's a powerful psychological game in play between any dog and its owner. They (the dogs) worked out the rules (theirs) over the thousands of years we have allowed them to sleep safely beside our hearths. They read us as we could never read ourselves.

Buddy, not yet 2-years old, has a new way of controlling his owner, master, slave. As I'm just getting comfy in my recliner, planning to doze my way through some late evening TV, he does this:



He sits there, unmoving, staring straight at me. He doesn't move, even when I peer over and his gaze catches mine. He just sits there and stares at me until one of us gives in.

He never gives in.

11 comments:

Rural said...

They train us well, dont they Mound.......

zoombats said...

What a great little pup. I had a beagle for 14 years. It's interesting about beagles because they never really settle down for two years and even then it's debatable. The S.P.C.A. is filled with two year old beagles whose owners just gave up. Good things come to those who wait and that's just what you have to do with this breed. Loyalty and love in spades for ever after. It's hard to say who's luckier. It is common knowledge with us that you don't train a beagle a beagle trains you. have fun

Owen Gray said...

A very intelligent dog, Mound.

Dana said...

Great shot. He looks pretty comfortable and stable in that pose.

As much as it hurts when it becomes time to let them go I can't imagine living without dogs.

Unknown said...

I love dogs and your Buddy looks adorable!

The Mound of Sound said...

@ Rural - exactly. His idea of obedience is to eat from the bowl in which I place his food.

@ Zoombats. Yes, people buy them - especially from pet shops - because they're irresistibly cute but they shortly come to realize they've got a hound, a considerably different proposition that a terrier, setter, retriever, etc. They're hounds, not dogs, and they're a handful. The only thing that keeps them alive and fed is the fact that they're so affectionate. Play us like a harp.

@ Owen. Intelligent? In some ways, I suppose. They have the instincts of a grifter.

@ Dana - we do get accustomed to have them around and living without them creates a huge void. We build so much of our routine around them and there's something like 'phantom dog syndrome' after you've had to let one go.

LeDaro said...

Mound, I see my neighbour walking their dog. It is an illusion that the 'owner' is walking the dog. Invariably dog is walking the 'owner' and dog decides where to go - owner just follows.

The Mound of Sound said...

They do know how to get their way, LD.

Latte Swilling West Coaster said...

We have a fuzzy small beast thats shih tzu/maltese/bichon I call her the Empress, she rules her kiingdom like a despot or in recent times our former PM shes an autocrat. She plays us like a harp and gets everything she wants. People don't own dogs, they assimilate us into their packs.

The Mound of Sound said...

One of the world's top canine psychologists is at UBC. He contends that dogs have a genetically transmitted awareness of humans developed over the thousands of years since we first brought them to our fireside. They have an understanding of living with us that we don't share. It is evident when at times they seem able to read our thoughts.

Anonymous said...

He is a Con MP Mound, jezz