Growth

The growth in Harley has been astonishing. It's hard to believe that she is the same puppy who's ears were once bigger than her entire body. I feel as if it were only yesterday that I did my first observation of her. I've first handedly seen the changes in Harley physically and mentally. 


                                                      My picture of Harley then and now 

"The walk, the bark, the mentality in general is very different then from the first day I set my eyes upon her. She's stronger now, bigger, louder, smarter, the whole package. She's learned a lot, not how to sit or roll over but what I call doggie street smarts. She knows when its time for breakfast, how to open her kennel, and that laying by the fire or on the heating pad is vey comfortable (field notes 11\16)

Its crazy to think that just two months ago I could hold tiny delicate Harley in both of my hands, now not only does she not fit, she fights back and wants me to put her down. I want to hold and protect her forever. I still feel weary when she goes outside to the spider-infested backyard. Is this what parents feel? If so, I'm sorry Ma and Pa because this feeling sucks.

The beauty of parenthood... 

Out of all of the lessons my little Harlers has taught me, this one is high on the insightful list. In the adolescence of life, emotions are an endless roller coaster with parents. Arguing pointlessly for days on end, but for what? Parents are a child's first best friend, and I don't want to loose that connection. That connection is very special and could possibly be the only thing there during hard times, so the next time mom says do the dishes, do the dishes.

Shedding into a New Light

Oh fall, what a wonderful time of the year... to get all of my nice objects furry. My dogs are starting to shed again, great. It's everywhere, on my blankets, all over my black leggings and even on my precious teddy bear. I can't help but be a little annoyed with all of the little tan-- black hairs, and the hair rollers aren't helping.

Why are my dogs shedding? According to Gina Spadafori, "Dogs typically lose their winter coats in the spring, when it's replaced by a shorter, lighter summer coat. In the fall, this cycle is reversed -- the summer coat is shed to make room for heavy, protective fur for winter" (Spadafori). 

Shedding is profound in a way. Dogs shed semiannually, constantly getting rid of their aged selves. We could learn a lot from this. Personally, if something happens to me, I hold onto it, the memories replaying in the back of my mind like a recored on repeat. If we shed the aged or faulty issues like our furry counterparts, how much happier would we become? Imagine the peace and serenity we all would have if we took a moment to vanguish our troubles. Shedding the past and opening the door to step into a new light of the world would drastically change the society we live in today. The hate and ugliness of the world would have no effect on us because we would be happy...



                                                                  
                                                              Work Cited
Spadagori, Gina. "Dogs Shed Vigorously in Autumn Too." Veterinary Partner. N.p. 6 Oct. 2003. Web. 1 Nov. 2014

Anonymous...

I lie belly-up
In the sunshine, happier than
You ever will be.

Today I sniffed
Many dog butts—I celebrate
By kissing your face.

I sound the alarm!
Paperboy—come to kill us all —
Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!

I sound the alarm!
Garbage man—come to kill us all —
Look! Look! Look! Look! Look!

I lift my leg and
Whiz on each bush. Hello, Spot—
Sniff this and weep.

I Hate my choke chain—
Look, world, they strangle me! Ack
Ack Ack Ack Ack Ack!

Sleeping here, my chin
On your foot—no greater bliss—well,I
Maybe catching cats.

Look in my eyes and
Deny it. No human could
Love you as much as I do.

Anonymous

"When I awake, I view upon my bed three sleeping animals. I stretch--the tip of my feet touching a damp patch on my precious bed, the aftermath of making an angry puppy sleep in my room. Strangely, I'm not upset. Comparably to how I'd normally react, I was actually pretty calm. As I lay in my room, I think of a poem I found yesterday and I recognize the loving innocence of these dogs that I call family." Field Notes 10/24.

As I write this blog, I've observed not only a change in my dogs, but in myself as well. From analyzing insightful poems to viewing the purity of my four-legged family members, I have become more gracious and appreciative towards them. I have begun to feel the love they have for me, the love that I was too foolish to appreciate. I'm starting to notice all the little things Nani, Stitch, and Harley do for my family and me. I used to think that the constant growling or barking at strangers and the nasty licks were annoying, now I recognize the warmth and protectiveness in these actions. This epiphany only began about a week or so ago when I came across the poem above, absolutely falling in love with it. I searched and searched for the author and title, going as far as googling every line in the poem, only to find myself. As I read, I saw myself observing my dogs and how I thought they would think. The last stanza,"Look in my eyes and Deny it. No human could Love you as much as I do" (Dog Quotations). This opened my eyes and all these memories flashed through my mind, as if I were about to die. The love protectively surround me like I was wrapped in a blanket during a storm. 

Fast forward back to that morning. "I'm not going to wake them or scream and I'm not going to punish them for my now dirty bed," I write. "I'm going to cherish these moments. I have three kind, warm-hearted animals that surround me, ready to protect me from an intruder.  I have three beautiful animals that will chase after me only to end in them licking my face. I have three amazing dogs that will do anything for me." 

I know that one day I'm going to wake up and they're not going to be there laying at my feet, so I cherish these memories and endless love. I am so grateful and blessed for these furry members to be apart of my family.

Work Cited

Dog Quotations. N.p. n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

The View of a Dog

So the other day, while observing Harley, my brother got out a laser pointer and started to mess around with it. I thought nothing of it, until I was surprised to see that Harley had taken an interest in the mysterious red dot. It was peculiar to watch her follow the dot wherever it went, trying to chew and scratch at it. She even went for my toes when Dylan, my brother, flashed the laser onto me. 

I was so interested by this because I'd never seen this before. Well, that was a lie. I've seen cats chase around laser pointers, but I was curious why Harley had chased the dot. My other dogs, Nani and Stitch had never done that before, actually that day, Dylan had tried to flash the laser towards them and they couldn't have cared less about it. Also, I grew up thinking that dogs were colorblind, so I wondered why Harley was so intrigued by something she could barley see. I was as curious about this just as Harley was about the dot. So I had to do some research on this phenomenon. I was surprised to learn that dogs and cats are not colorblind, however, the colors that they see are less distinct than the colors humans see. According to Science Made Fun, humans have three cones in their eyes; red, blue, and green. These cones send the images to our brains that help us distinguish colors. Live Science says that dogs are either missing a third cone or it just doesn't work. The image below is the color spectrum of a dog and a human.

                                             

                                      (Color Spectrum of Humans & Dogs by Science Made Fun)

I'm not going to lie, this kind of blew my mind. I mean I went through my entire life thinking dogs only saw in black and white, so I never questioned anything. Harley could see the dot after all.  Science Made Fun also mentions that scientists test this theory by rewarding dogs with treats if they pick a certain color. It's important for us to know how smart our dogs actually are. Some people believe that dogs are nothing but animals who poop on the floor and retrieve a stick or ball if thrown at them, but dogs are so much more than a "mutt." Dogs are brave, kindhearted, and so intelligent and if we treat them otherwise, what does that make us? Dogs are man's best friend and we should give them a little credit. 

Science Made Fun left a link to a cool little Youtube video about colorblindness. It's a quick test to see if you could be colorblind. If you would like to check it out here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oADLENgvo4I

Works Cited

Palermo, Elizabeth. "Are Dogs Colorblind?" Live Science, N.p. 27 Jun. 2014. Web. Oct 17 2014.

Science Made Fun! "How Can We Know if an Animal is Colorblind?" Science Made Fun, N.p. 3 May 2012. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.

The New Dog

The New Dog 

Into the gravity of my life,

the serious ceremonies

of polish and paper

and pen, has come

this manic animal

whose innocent disruptions

make nonsense

of my old simplicities--

as if I needed him

to prove again that after

all the careful planning,

anything can happen.

The New Dog by Linda Pastan

This poem, I really loved a lot. It's really profound and relatable to me. 

In the poem, Pastan writes about the beautiful hectic life of a dog owner. My favorite line, "this manic animal whose innocent disruptions make nonsense of my old simplicities--" I don't know why, but this line means something to me. Pastan coveys to the reader how her animal is making her old problems seem like a piece of cake..... and I completely get it. I go to school and worry. Whether it's about school work, grades, or approaching college, I'm worrying. And then I go home. Everyday I'm greeted by three doggie faces ready to play. I'm also greeted by the ripped up toilet paper and a pile of dog poop-- great. And when they go outside I'm worrying about my dogs. "Please don't be a black widow out there," I think to myself. Even when we eat something they can't have, I'm constantly worrying and it's not about school. As I type this, I realize how easy they make my school problems seem. 

Becoming Daring

"She's growing some balls. Barking at a dog that's four times the size of her. I don't think Harley knows who she's messing with."  Field Notes 10/5.

Oh Harley. 

My parents say that Harley has little dog syndrome. She's compensating her size with attitude. We've all seen this before. You know, that chihuahua that barks ferociously at you on the way to school. Laughing at it because it thinks it can do serious damage if let out of the tiny fenced off lawn. It's halarious.

According to "Small Dog Syndrome," small dogs have earned the reputation of being yappy, snappy, jealous, protective, wary of strangers (Syndrome). It's completely true, well at least with my dogs. See I live on a street where people pass through frequently and whenever these strangers walk by my house, the tiny growls begin. My dogs, as little as they are, are being protective of my family. Protective and yappy just like the chihuahua on the way to school and as "Small Dog Syndrome" stated. My chihuahua Stitch, seen in the photo below, is also quite jealous but I'll get into that on my next blog. 

             My photo Harley & Stitch

    (Stitch on the left & Harley on the right)

The picture above is of two of my three dogs, Stitch and Harley. Harley was trying to fight with Stitch who is obviously bigger then her. Harley exemplifys a how little dog trys to act like they're all big and bad. It's ironic. While trying to make others afraid of her, she's actually making herself adorable in the process.

This is how I see little dogs from my personal experience, but I'm curious about what you think. Please leave your experiences with small dogs and how they compare to mine in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Adjusting

As humans, we adjust to change, actaully anything living adjusts to change. Adjusting is natural. With adjustment comes exploration. We explore to get a feel of new surroundings. This is exactly what Harley has been doing for the past three weeks.

                  A photo of Harley

From just being born to moving into a new house, she has had a whole new frightening yet exciting world to explore. I've noticed a few things she has done while adjusting. 

Wandering and searching, I observe Harley as she explores every nook and cranny of my house. Just like humans, she is learning what and how the things around her live. "Nani, Stitch, and Harley are all playing together. They're running around the house chasing each other, well Nani and Stitch are, Harley follows behind in the back." Field Notes 9/15

That day Harley noticed how my other dogs play, so she, adjusting to her new home, wanted to try. Just like a new kid at school. They follow others to get a feel of things. We aren't really different from animals. 

While Harley explores, she adjusts, whether this be by playing or watching. Harley is getting a good feel of her new home and family. This has been so adorable to watch and I'm so excited to see how she starts to grow.