Tag Archives: Puppy Behaviour

Brutus’s First Trip to the Beach

Posted on by
1

 

Image

‘Are we there yet?’

Our trip to the beach on Saturday sort of went well except that Brutus shouted to anyone that would listen and anyone that wouldn’t that he was being murdered and tortured and how on earth could the other dogs enjoy running into the ocean with such passion?

Rocky was severely pissed off because he wanted to go swimming but we didn’t let him as he needs one of us to go in with him. He is such a strong swimmer he can out swim us and normally has to be dragged back to shore screaming and kicking in a full blown kelpie temper tantrum.

‘This is your fault I can’t go swimming, I am going to bash you for this!’ Rocky sneered at Brutus who was trembling at the sound of the Corellas in the trees above him.

(sounds of a dirty evil human laugh)

‘What the hell was that?’ I asked Abdel – seriously, this laugh was evil and very loud.

‘Parrots’ Abdel replied and nodded towards the tree where this white cockatoo was on a low branch and sure enough was laughing loudly. Another one in the tree was shouting ‘hello’ repeatedly, I can only assume they were once pets or extremely imprinted with human contact.

Still it was somewhat amusing hearing parrots laugh and say ‘Hello’ to you.

‘Bloody hell – a talking bird, that is so not normal!’ Brutus cried.

‘Bloody hell, a talking dog!’ The Corella shouted to his mate in the next tree.

‘Oi, long legs! Whatcha doin’?’ One of the parrots shouted to Brutus.

Brutus looked up and sighted a Corella smoking a fag from his branch – and that bit is true, you ask Abdel.

‘Yeah, I am talkin’ to you’ The Corella said in a strong Aussie accent.

Brutus looked up in shock and then at Rocky for support. ‘Don’t look so surprised, all animals can talk’ Rocky said; momentarily breaking out of his ‘I want the ocean’ kind of trance.

We carried on walking, well I say that, it was quite hard as Brutus suddenly found his legs too big for him and kept tripping up over his huge paws.

‘Who on earth gave me these legs and paws, they just don’t fit!’ Brutus said fretfully as he tried so hard to walk normally like Rocky does.

It is however, quite funny leash training a puppy, Brutus follows Rocky’s lead and Rocky becomes a bit ‘special needs’ when he gets to the beach as he lives for the ocean.

‘Must get into the ocean, must get into the ocean, where is my tennis ball, must get into the ocean’ The little black kelpie dog said in almost robotic fashion while dragging Abdel across the pavement.

Then he started sideways prancing like a badly coordinated racehorse and tripping over his legs. When he finally composed himself and realised that the parrots were not going to kill him, he decided that having everyone look at him and smile at him because he looked cute was actually quite nice.

‘Are you here to see me? Oh how kind of you’ Brutus said happily to everyone that looked at him. His long clumsy legs and large paws kept tripping him up which made people laugh and one guy even went up to him and gave him a kiss and a cuddle. Mind you, he appeared off his face on dope judging by the smell coming from his van but still, he showered Brutus with hugs and kisses which made Brutus truly believe that everyone was on the beach purely for him.

When we got to the beach Brutus looked totally horrified and terrified at the same time. The waves crashed onto the beach, lots of other dogs happily ran into the ocean, barking and chasing toys.

‘Oh let me swim!’ Rocky pleaded and when we told him he couldn’t on this occasion, he launched into a stream of abusive words that included ‘Turd legs’ and ‘Twattage’ – which is very rude indeed even for Rocky.

‘Tsunami, we are all going to be swept away!’ Brutus shouted hysterically as a wave came near his paws.

‘Bloody girl dog, look at ya!’ A large bull Arab sniggered and then came too close to Brutus and sniffed his arse which angered Rocky somewhat.

‘First time on the beach?’ A Labradoodle bitch asked Rocky whilst nodding in the direction of Brutus.

Rocky sighed and said yes, it was his first time on the beach and he was embarrassing the hell out of him.

We managed to walk up and down the beach once before Brutus threw himself on the sand and refused to walk any more on grounds that the waves were sent to sweep him away and make him sink to the bottom of the ocean to swim with the fishes – he had seen the film ‘Godfather’, or was it ‘Dogfather’? Either way, he wanted to get away from the water and pronto.

A reluctant Rocky was dragged away from the ocean leaving his doggy friends looking on in dismay that he wouldnt be staying to swim with them.

‘Call me!’ Mouthed the bull Arab to Rocky and did the phone gesture with his paws – you know the one I mean, humans do it as well.

Shrugging his shoulders, Rocky smiled apologetically and said to the Labradoodle ‘See you next week?’

The Labradoodle blew him a kiss and said that yes, she would see him next week but only if obedience class was cancelled.

We all made our way to South Beach cafe where Brutus made friends with a whippet bitch called Poppy. He was really quite taken in with the skinny little dog with a snout so pointy it could almost be a weapon, and washed her ears for her and did some ‘puppy munching’ by the side of her mouth and she in turn, loved him back.

It all got too much for Rocky, the frustration of not being able to swim and everything and when Brutus put a paw on Rockys back which he does all the time at home, Rocky snapped and really told the little pup off and actually displayed teeth.

‘Do not show me up in front of my mates!’ Rocky snarled at Brutus who blushed and his head creased into a worried frown. Sighing in a way that only a reprimanded dog can, Brutus sank to the floor and made eyes at Poppy to try and get sympathy – Poppy looked back and pulled an expression that told Brutus ‘Putting ones paw on another dogs back in public is not cool’

The South Beach canine crew were quite interested to see Rocky’s new brother and agreed that whilst he is far too young to bother with, he could make for an interesting friend when he is older but only if he gets over his girly fear of water.

(Don’t tell Rocky I told you but Rocky used to have a fear of water – even the smallest amount and now he is the finest swimmer South of the River).

When we got home Brutus was exhausted and went straight to his crate to sleep. Later on when I fed the dogs, I heard him talking to Rocky.

Image

Rocky and Brutus discuss their fears

‘Rocky, I shall never be brave enough to go in the water’

Rocky who was half asleep on his bed took a deep breath and replied ‘You will one day I promise’.

‘Rocky’ Brutus asked again.

‘Yes Brutus’ Rocky was being ever so patient with him.

‘I bet you don’t know what it is like to be scared of water’ Brutus said, his voice wobbled, he was going to cry. So many new things, so many naughty things that were easier to do than behaving, so many distractions and so much to learn, he was thoroughly overwhelmed by life itself.

The shiny black kelpie (beetle dog) glanced at Brutus thoughtfully. Little did Brutus know that when Rocky came to us with a damaged hip caused by someone kicking him, plus he came to us with a phobia of water that was so severe that it could only be explained by someone punishing him and scaring him so badly using water that Rocky couldnt even have the stuff near him.

‘Yeah, I know what it is like to be scared and I know what it is like to not be scared if that makes sense’ Rocky said quietly.

Brutus stared at Rocky and placed his head on his front paws to sleep.

‘Yep, that makes perfect sense’ Brutus replied.

And with that, both dogs went to sleep.

Happy Easter everyone.

Samantha Rose (C) Copyright 2013

Brutus – a bit of stuffing goes a long way….

Posted on by
Reply

Image

Rocky and Brutus – the look of innocence (not!)

Cass who is Brutus’s foster Mum bought him and Easter present yesterday, a large round purple furry ‘thing’ although I am not sure what it is, but Brutus loves it.

Rocky has been exhibiting signs of jealousy in the past few days, stealing Brutus’s toys from his mouth – Brutus does not chew his furry toys, he treasures them and God bless, he has not discovered the joys of ripping open a toy and spreading it round the garden – well not counting the canvas bone.

I suspect that Rocky is still upset about his beloved canvas bone being ripped apart although he played the majority part in that crime.

Which is why I think Rocky did what he did this morning and in doing what he did, he has unleashed the monster in Brutus.

6am this morning I heard Brutus yelling ‘Get up and feed me or I will crap the bed!’

So I got up, let the boys out, went back to bed for half an hour and then let Brutus back in for his breakfast – everything going swimmingly.

Kept Brutus in for half an hour or so to digest his meal and then said to Abdel ‘I am going to give Brutus his purple furry thing in the garden to play with to stop him digging – he loves that toy’

‘Are you sure?’ Said Abdel, he was half asleep.

‘Yes I am sure’ I replied firmly, Brutus loved that toy – what could possibly go wrong?

I left Brutus carrying the purple furry thing proudly round the garden looking so happy, I even got in my car with a smile on my face at the sight of the cute puppy with the purple furry thing in his mouth.

Fast forward to 8.16am when Abdel called, the conversation went something like this:

‘You know that purple furry thing you gave Brutus?’ Abdel asked, I told him yes, I did.

‘Well it is now all over the garden, everywhere and you know who did it?’ Abdel asked.

Image

It’s snowing – lots of fluff!

He went on to tell me that by the time he went out to check on them, the damage was done and it was Rocky that grabbed it from Brutus and apparently yelled ‘Come on you big girl, I can show you what to really do with a stuffed toy!’ and Brutus hung on to it while Rocky flung him round the garden, the two dogs joyously ran around with a bit of the purple thing in their mouths.

Stuffing was everywhere, Rocky had managed to grab the purple thing and was pulling its entrails out and Abdel who was sniggering from the laundry room window yelled out ‘Rocky, what do you think you are doing?’

Abdel told me that Rocky actually looked embarrassed that he had been caught out and had tried to blame Brutus about the whole affair.

Image

Rocky denies all involvement despite being caught with stuffing in his mouth!

‘Brutus did it, it wasn’t me!’ Rocky stuttered and then launched into insulting Brutus saying that he wasn’t a proper kelpie and called him names like ‘Derro dog’ and my personal favourite ‘Turd legs’.

There was no denying it, Rocky and Brutus both had a mouthful of stuffing, the purple thing was all over the garden and more to the point, Brutus has now discovered that instead of lovingly snuggling up to his soft toys at night, they are far more fun when they have been disemboweled and spread around the garden.

The evidence was there for all to see, Rocky is the main culprit although is remaining tight lipped on the situation until he speaks to his lawyer – AKA Sunny the red heeler from down the road and Brutus is claiming to be under the age of responsibility.

ImageDon’t blame me, I am young and innocent!

So none of you laugh please, this is so not funny – whoever would have thought that a large purple thing would have gone quite so far.

Over and out.

Samantha Rose (C) Copyright 2013

Brutus and Rocky in ‘snow’ incident!

Posted on by
Reply

ImageI don’t quite know what happened last night, I can only relay what I heard the dogs talking about but the evidence was clear for all to see.

The boys had a fine old time in the garden urinating on one another, sniffing each others bottoms, I heard sounds of growling and found Rocky on his back and Brutus ‘killing him’ and then the tables were turned when Rocky got Brutus’s entire head in his mouth and he was chowing down on him.

‘Rocky spit him out now!’ I yelled to him.

Rocky looked sheepish and spat a rather damp Brutus out, Brutus come running up to me wagging his super long tail which obviously gets in the way and then grabbed his tail and started chasing it like a special needs dog.

Telling him to stop chasing his tail as that is a rather bad habit for any dog to get in to, I distracted him with the canvas orange bone – big mistake, that is all I am saying – huge mistake!.

The evening went rather swimmingly as both dogs enjoyed burning off energy outside and it was lovely to watch them playing together and interacting, a bit like my very own wildlife show in my garden.

Fast forward to Abdel coming home from work.  As it is getting cold at night, Brutus is not liking being outside.  I thought of getting him a dog coat but he has threatened to shit on it, piss on it and failing that, eat it so that is out of the question.

Abdel was laughing at Brutus with his handlebar ears sticking out and his nose pressed up against the fly screen.  Rocky was nowhere to be seen but on closer inspection, I spotted him on the grass wagging his tail with his head down focusing on something on the grass.  What on earth had happened? – I hadn’t seen him look so happy since the possum incident but the least said about that the better.

Going out to check on the dogs, I saw white stuffing – everywhere, and by white I mean that white fluffy stuff that is used to stuff mattresses and toys.

‘What the hell?’ I said in disbelief and wondered where it could have possibly come from.  I checked Rocky’s mattress which was still in tact and in his kennel and that was there.

Abdel followed me out and said ‘what on earth is that?’

None of us knew so we asked Brutus.

‘Brutus – what is this?’ I demanded, the little brown dog put his head down and said ‘I don’t know’, then he looked up at me and said  ‘What are your thoughts?’

Then I saw Rocky with white foam all over his mouth and he was standing by the orange canvas bone which I might add was one of his favorite toys that he had owned since a puppy.  I knew he would not have instigated its destruction but once the foam was released, he would have positively relished in it.  Just ask Rocky what he and Winston the kelpie did to Winston’s bed over Christmas.

‘Rocky, what have you done?’ I yelled – the black kelpie dog looked at me with the white fluff stuck to his teeth/chin/mouth and pulled a non committal type expression.

‘You’ve been a naughty bastard!’ Gordon yelled from the laundry room window. Brutus sniggered as he loved it when Gordon swore in his ginger voice.

‘Don’t ask me, I know nothing.  Those bastard German Shepherd dogs broke into the garden, tied us up with gaffer tape and then spread this white shit around the garden and smeared it on our mouths so we would get the blame’ Rocky launched into an almost hysterical fever pitch explanation of the pretend German Shepherds that are responsible for canine naughtiness all over the world and blame ordinary household pets for bad stuff that their owners discover.

‘Rocky I know that you are lying now step away from that mess because I have to clean it up and at 10.30pm at night, I could do without it’ I sighed and then set about picking up copious amounts of white fluff from a fake lawn and I stress the words ‘fake lawn’ because try picking up white fluff from it, it’s bloody hard and akin to picking up diarrhoea.

‘Yippee! snow!, it’s snowing!’ Brutus squeaked and then set about jumping as though he had springs in his hind legs, and then started to try and run off with bits of fluff in his mouth whilst yelling ‘You were right Rocky, this is such fun!’

‘Bloody dobbing bastard!’ Rocky hissed to Brutus and vowed to bash him later.

It took a while to pick up the mess and the garden still looks like a war zone with the chewed camp bed and the stone collection by the door but hey ho, the puppy years don’t last forever do they? Although Rocky said that his have come back since the arrival of Brutus but I am hoping he is joking on that score.

I put Brutus to bed with his supper and tucked him in to his crate, made sure Rocky was on his mattress and turned out the lights.  As I walked off I could hear Brutus talking to Rocky.

‘Rocky’ Brutus tried to whisper but not very successfully.

‘Piss off, you dobbed me in and that is the cardinal Kelpie Tenth Commandment – thou shalt not dob in another dog for doing damage’  Rocky said sounding annoyed.

‘But Rocky…..’Brutus asked again.

Sighing, Rocky snapped ‘What!’

Brutus pressed his head against the crate and gazed at the little kelpie curled up on his cushion, he could just see Rocky’s huge ears making a shadow on the wall.

‘Tell me about the time you ripped the mattress up’ Brutus said excitedly – he loved a bedtime story.

(silence)

Rocky rolled over to be closer to Brutus’s crate and took a deep breath ‘Alright then’  He replied.

And I could barely hear after that but I could just make out Rocky saying ‘Once upon a time, I had this mattress…..’

But before he could finish his story, you could just hear some gentle puppy snores coming from the crate.  Brutus was fast asleep next to his stuffed elephant.

Rocky gazed at Brutus sleeping and looked at him kindly ‘Another time lad, another time’

And that was all I heard.

Happy Friday everyone.

Samantha Rose (C) Copyright 2013