Is It True that Two Dogs Entertain Each Other?

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I hear it said all the time that two dogs entertain each other, but that is not the case with Fudge and Vern.  I have never seen my two nudge each other to go play outside or work on a puzzle indoors.  Instead it seems, when they get bored, they might feed off the other’s energy, but mostly they double team me and follow me around like I am in charge of activities.  Most days, I don’t need a clock in the house to know it is getting around to walk time, because they box me in when I am moving about the house and make everything harder and even the simplest thing like going to the bathroom becomes a spectator sport. 

 

My two dogs seem to have worked out a system as to who is in charge and it can change on an “as need” basis.  Vern seems to be in charge of when Fudge can enter the car to go on walks and most days, you will find me screaming for him to let her be as we try to get to the car.  When Vern knows we are going to the park, his excitement usually manifests as a defensive player whose main purpose is to keep Fudge from the goal line.  It starts the minute he exits the house as he turns to let Fudge know she is going to have to work hard to get into the car.  Sometimes, Fudge won’t even leave the safety of the house, but rather turns to me as if to say, “could we just shut the door and forget about this walk?” I used to try and intervene on her behalf, but more times than not, as I am fighting to hold Vern to let her pass, she gives him a look as she leaps away to let him know she might enjoy being chased.  At this point, I just start praying that they take their chase away from the vicinity of my legs. Vern is good for a couple of passes around the yard and through the bushes and then he likes to jump in the van and turn to block Fudge’s entry into the van.  Fudge will immediately start circling the van with a prancy little flounce in her step and they both like when I start opening other doors to see if we can sneak Fudge in.  If that doesn’t work, she has to go in sideways and offer up her neck to Vern for one quick attack before he is off to the front of the van to see if he can locate any Kleenex or napkins to eat.  This happens every single day and if this is two dogs entertaining each other, then yes, it does happen.

 

Well, payback can be a real you know what, because Fudge does some of this same stuff in the house to Vern. This summer we lost our cat to illness. Our cat stayed downstairs in the family room and never came upstairs where the dogs were located.  We blocked off the basement with a Rubbermaid lid and the dogs were not allowed down there. We thought eventually they would work it out, but the cat wanted nothing to do with two Doodles and since Vern has a mild fixation on anything feline and would do this crazy-eyed, hypnotic stare at her, I can’t say I blamed Princess. The cat is now gone and Fudge understands this, but not Vern.  We have removed the Rubbermaid lid, but they both still wait at the top of the steps until I say it is ok for them to go downstairs and then they race down the steps.  Fudge just likes the race, but Vern is convinced the faster he goes the better to surprise the cat. Hayley said the other night he was in her room all night with his head under her bed looking for the cat.  We had the carpet professionally cleaned, vacuumed every nook and cranny, but Vern is still convinced that cat has the world’s best hiding place and it is up to him to flush her out.  I am not saying Vern is not smart, but I am pretty sure the cat is up there somewhere saying to some other cat, “that’s the one I’ve been telling you about!”  Meanwhile, since we started letting them down there, if Fudge beats Vern down the steps, she likes to turn around and wait for him in what can only be described as a “try to get by me and live” look. The combination of her look and stance stops Vern in his tracks, which is like a large road block for any human trying to get down the steps behind him.  One of these days they are going to find me at the bottom of the steps, covered in the dirty laundry I was trying to take to the washer, and two dogs still playing “Red Rover, Red Rover, Can Vern go over, around, or through Fudge?” If this is how two dogs entertain each other, then yes, I stand corrected and my dogs can entertain each other.

 

My daughter, Megan, used to have sleepovers at our house and never involved me in any way.  I liked her sleepovers.  The girls stayed in her room, came out occasionally for a snack, and other than me yelling “is everyone ok?’ every now and then to make sure they were still in her room and hadn’t shimmied down her window on her bed sheets, they didn’t bother me.  Then there was Hayley.  She would have a friend over and within two minutes they would find me and announce that they were bored and ask what there was to do.  I used to respond, “we could drive your friend home.” This is more like Fudge and Vern.  I am not ashamed to admit that I used to try and bribe her NOT to have a sleepover.  She had one friend that I don’t know if she ever talked and within a minute of her coming over, Hayley would find me to tell me that the girl wasn’t talking.  I used to wish I could thump her upside the head and say, “duh, she hasn’t talked on the last four sleepovers.  Get a clue.” Unfortunately, the girl could see and hear and I didn't want the one thing she finally spoke up and said to be, "Hayley, let's call the Child Abuse Hotline and report your mother." Another time, at the babysitters, Hayley and a different friend were caught in the bathroom with matches and I lectured her all the way home about the hazards of playing with matches.  She quietly listened and I thought I was making an impact, right up until the time she turned to me and said quite indignantly, “mom, it wasn’t even matches.  It was a lighter!” She said it in such a way that clearly implied she thought any sane person ought to be able to see the difference and now that I could see that she didn’t really break any rules, I should just let it go. That didn’t happen.

 

Fudge and Vern are a lot like Hayley and her little firebug friend in the bathroom.  They need supervision.  Fudge is a rule breaker and also knows how to just walk on the edge when it comes to listening.  For instance, some days when I call her to come inside, she walks towards me so slowly that I expect to hear a loud beeping noise come from her behind in case the slowness pulls her into reverse.  Technically, she does come, but wants me to know it is on her terms.  She is also a master at manipulating Vern into doing her bidding.  It reminds me of the ventriloquist doll Megan wanted one year for Christmas, although John and I spent a long time in the store trying to figure out from her list what she meant by a duddy doll.  Turns out she meant dummy doll, which seems especially funny since she didn’t know how to spell it correctly.  Maybe I will point that out to her sometime when she is spouting off about the way my mind works and never in a good way.  Anyway, Fudge can be a real puppet master and Vern is so eager to please, that it is usually him I find digging a hole big enough to bury a horse in after some chipmunk that Fudge politely pointed out to him.  I have come around the corner after mowing a small section of grass to find a path of destruction along our stone wall that makes the demolition of the Berlin Wall look like small potatoes.  Always, Vern is in full throttle as Fudge steps back and looks at me as if she is not sure how any of this happened, but it is Vern’s fault. Vern is so happy that he is involved in something fun that nothing like a human shrieking and cussing is going to bring him down from his high.

 

So, when I hear that two dogs entertain themselves, I will agree that sometimes they really do, but in my case, more times than not, it just so happens that one chocolate one thinks up trouble and the other one follows along eagerly.  Usually, however, they both just look to me to come up with something to do, similar to Hayley and her mime artist friend.  Now, there are people in my family who say it is my own fault and the dogs behave differently when I am not around, but I have learned to ignore those people long ago. I really do love having two dogs and their differences, but every once in awhile I wish I would find them playing a game of chess.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Too Funny Laurie!  I would say Charlie has become accustomed to having a "little" brother (who is physically bigger than he is)!  Charlie still prefers to play ball with us, but occasionally Beau will get Charlie to play with him!  I sometimes take care of a goldendoodle just so Beau has a "real" play date. At these times, Charlie stays totally away from them and can usually be found in my husband's office sleeping, unless of course he wakes up and thinks one of the playing doodles needs straightening out!  Then he comes out to show them who is the boss.  The first time here, the GD followed Charlie everywhere trying to get him to play and of course that was futile, so he then started playing with Beau and they have been best buds since! It is similar to children I would say and that is probably a good thing!