A failure in communication
Penny is a very strange dog.
In my time I have known many dogs and am familiar with their general needs, habits and personalities. However I have never met one quite like Penny. She has a unique and rather strange personality.
Possibly her strangest quirk is a complete indifference to people, other animals and birds. If for example we are walking through the village and encounter another dog or two, generally they will show a lot of interest in Penny and may even bark at her. She will possibly glance in their direction but otherwise they mightn’t as well exist. She will just carry on with her nose in the air.
There is a cat called Boots who belongs to a neighbour. He’s a cheeky little bugger and will sometimes appear at the garden doors and stare in at us. He treats our garden as his own and he is more than welcome. The other night Penny asked to go out. Boots was sitting there on the lawn and the two of them stared at each other for a moment or two and then Penny went about her business completely ignoring a cat in her territory.
She has a strange habit of talking. If she wants something she’ll walk up to me purposefully and then start snapping at me. This is like a silent bark as she maintains steady eye contact. Sometimes I snap back and we can have long conversations this way. I haven’t a clue what’s being said however. Most of the time she’s asking for something, like food or to be let out or for me to fetch her favourite blanket so she can lie on the floor beside me. The latter is the easiest to guess because if she wants tit she’ll snap and paw the ground as well.
Last night she started the snapping lark. I had fed her and her dish of dry food [which she uses for snacking] was full. She had her blanket on the floor by me and she had just been out. There was nothing she could want but she persisted on standing at my knees, staring me straight in the eyes and snapping. I haven’t a clue what she wanted but it was something important. Then she would break off and go trotting around the house, examining every corner, nook and cranny, even going into the bathroom and checking behind the toilet and into the shower. And then back to the snapping again.
I never discovered what she wanted so it will remain a mystery.
I have to go down to the village later. I may bring her along so we can see a lot of people and dogs which she can ignore. The only time she’ll show interest will be in seeing how much chicken she can scrounge in the coffee shop.
I love that dog for her loyalty and trust.
But I would love to know what goes on in her head at times.
Has she hidden something, like a toy or a bone, and can’t find it?
Our Lily loves those rawhide bones, and reacts very oddly when given one, as she goes everywhere in the house, pretending to hide it, then pretending she’s found it, then eventually settling down to devour it!
But I get the long unblinking stare just like you, and it’s just gorgeous…
It’s another of her “features” – she isn’t interested in toys or balls or anything like that. I used to try her out by throwing balls but she never showed any interest whatsoever. She had been given toys but they are all thrown out of her bed if we make the mistake of tidying them. She is almost the complete opposite to our previous dog who could spend endless hours chasing tennis balls or hiding tasty bits of food under cushions.
Penny is one seriously lovely dog. Glad to see a photo of her…
She is a very difficult animal to photograph. She is camera shy to the point of paranoia, and will duck and run at the mere sight of a camera so the one above is a rarity. I have loads of photographs of her but only when she’s asleep!