Friday 9 June 2023

Sticks!

 

Sticks!

Dogs like sticks. They chase them and chew them and carry them, the bigger, the better. Small sticks are a hazard – extricating one from the roof of a dog’s mouth is difficult so we always try to distract them from anything smaller than 10” x 1.5”.

All our dogs have enjoyed retrieving and carrying. The Jack Russells used to work in concert, two going forwards, one going backwards on the same stick with a great deal of noise. 

                Here are Sam (long tail) and his mother, Biddy, at the seaside. Sticks can be found everywhere!

Sam JR collected sticks and would not be parted from them when it was time to go home, Consequently, we accumulated a substantial wood pile.

Our first Dalmatian, Cariadd, specialised in very large sticks, more like tree trunks. She was immensely strong and very intelligent and would always find a way to manoeuvre her telegraph pole through a narrow gap. 

Here Cariadd waits for Barry to toss the 'stick' for her while Bethan watches.

The Labradors are stick merchants of a slightly different cast. They are bred to retrieve and not to give up until they have picked up their quarry. In water, they thrust their noses under the surface to sniff out their objective. 

Dogs can smell underwater and can be trained to locate things in rivers or lakes or other bodies of water. They are sometimes called cadaver dogs and 
will indicate when something or someone is many feet deep in water and
 mud. 

Yesterday, Roxy’s stick disappeared. We don’t know whether it was waterlogged and sank or got tangled in something. Whatever the reason, she could not find it. Eventually, she had to be enticed out of the pond with the promise of ‘biscuits’. Even then, her response was not immediate, but she soon found another stick and all was well in her world again.


14 comments:

  1. I LOVE this post. I am unable to post on my blog, and have tried everything I can think of. Hope to be up and running soon.

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  2. Roxy sure was lucky to find a new stick. How sad to have one drown, lol. What fun all your dogs have had outside.

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  3. Dear Roxy made such an earnest search for her stick. Gilbert tried to help, didn't he? This reminds me so much our Teddy (black Lab and border collie mix). Our walks (5 or 6 dogs) to the pastures and woods always began with Teddy finding a stick to take along. And not just any old stick. She would search out a really fine redwood or spruce root if possible. These were often chunky heavy pieces but Teddy had strong jaws. The stick went everywhere and must not be left behind. She was a darling dog. It was a pleasure to watch Roxy.

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    1. Teddy sounds delightful. They can be very single-minded, particularly the girls.

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  4. Her mother Tess once found a dead fish in the creek bed and carried the fish everywhere with us. On the way home she would craftily hide it and then seize it up again next time. After a few times of this the rotting fish was in sorry shape. Efforts to take it from her were unsuccessful. One day the fish mercifully had vanished. There was rejoicing.

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    1. That is hilarious - the smell must have been wonderful!

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  5. I remember throwing a stick for our German Shepherd when I was very young, he'd gve me a look that said "you threw it, you go get it" and stay right where he was, guarding us kids.

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  6. Clever dog - he knew where his duties lay.

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  7. I love sticks. The bigger the better. You can have a really good tussle with a big stick!
    Toodle-oo!
    Nobby.

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  8. I didn't realize dogs would shake their heads dry while they are still IN the water! And I didn't know they can smell underwater - how does that work without them inhaling water? Gilbert certainly has a lot of energy. lol. Glad Roxy found another stick :)

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    1. P. S. that is one impressive "stick" belonging to Cariadd!

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    2. It hardly seems credible that they can smell underwater, does it?

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