Monday, May 22, 2006

How to Win Friends and Influence Dogs

These are the sure fire ways to make a dog love you, unless we are talking about a Lab, because they just love everyone on principal.

The ‘Ear Nuggy’

Unlike when your big brother grabbed your head and rubbed his knuckle into your skull, dogs really like getting an ear nuggy. You fold their ears closed and rub the inside of their ear with the outer flap of their ear. This will get you good grunty sounds and maybe even a wild rear leg thumping. Wild Rear Leg Thumping is the pinnacle of “Yes, that is the spot!” in dog communication.

The Collar Scratch

This works with most dogs, they really do like to have their whole neck scratched. But if you have a dog with a band collar, not a chain one, they just love this. Move the collar out of its permanent dent and give a good scratch all the way around their necks. You will have a friend and a job for life.

Rub the Fuzzy Butt

That is what I call it, but I actually scratch their backs at the base of the tail. I thought just Labs loved this, but it does seem to have a universal appeal whether the butt in question is tiny or big. Affection for have their tails scratch leads to some pretty funny behaviors. There are the “I really want this, but I don’t want to be rude” dogs. These guys bend themselves into a ‘U’ trying to continue to look at me while still aiming their rears at me. And then there are the “I don’t care if it is rude, I know what I want” dogs. They just back right up to me whenever I am sitting down.

Go head and try it out. Like I said “a friend and a job for life”.

2 comments:

Sharon Fernleaf said...

I haven't tried the Ear Nuggy, but I can vouch for the other two. Dogs will follow you wherever you go!

Roxie, Sammy, Andy and Shermie said...

Yeah! Maybe Mom will do these more often since you have told her how much we like them. She scratches for a while and then goes to do something else. Did we tell her she could stop??

Roxie, Sammy & Andy