Cat! January 26, 2009

Jasmine ignores cats.  When we’re in the back yard, the feral cats sometimes run across the yard or over the top of the fence, and Jasmine acts as if they don’t exist.  I found three feral kittens back there last year, and she was not in the least bit curious about them.  That changed yesterday.

Jasmine was sitting on the bed as I was working in the bedroom.  All of a sudden, I heard a sharp bark.  My head whipped around and I looked at her intently.  Her ears were up, but she was still laying down, seemingly relaxed.  I turned away and started working again when I heard a couple more barks.  I went to the window, and right outside the slider (but previously out of my line of sight) were two cats…er…making baby cats.

Cats!  Jasmine barked at the cats!  She didn’t like the cats! She barked!

I guess I shouldn’t get so excited about the barking, but I am.  It surprises me that she continues to make progress–even after 1.5 years of being with us.

Right now, she’s on my lap, her nose tucked into the folds of my robe as I type and sip my morning coffee.  What could be more normal than that?

Bark! January 21, 2009

Jasmine is getting much more assertive about what she wants.  With all the hullaballoo around here, I’ve been taking her up on my lap on the couch each time I take a break.  Yesterday, as I finished dinner, Jasmine ran up to me with a happy face and wagging tail.  She did her front hop/pup-squeak, and I knew she wanted to “come up.”  Well, I was eating and I wasn’t about to bring her up.

She did a lap or two around the coffee table as I finished my food and then came back.  This time she actually barked a little bark when she did her front hop.  Now, Jasmine just doesn’t bark.  I often forget that she can.  I asked her if she wanted to come up, and she did her little happy dance.  I brought her up.

Ooops.  Did I just teach Jasmine to bark?  I hope not.  I like a quiet pup.  But I also like the fact that she’s communicating what she wants.

Notice the little pup-squeak.  Oh so cute!

(Non) Barking Dog January 29, 2008

Jasmine generally doesn’t bark.  In fact, I’ve heard her bark less than 10 times.  She barked twice at a big old black Lab at her foster home–once when we first met her, then when we took her back to visit (she just didn’t like that sweet old dog).  She barked once at the neighbor.  She barked when we had that magnitude 5 earthquake.  And more recently, she has barked 3 or 4 times when someone has knocked on the front door or rang the doorbell (including 10 minutes ago, which is what prompted this blog entry).

Jasmine does whine a little.  She whines when she is happy (when I come home from someplace) and when she wants something (attention in the morning).  Other than that, she’s silent except for the ear flapping, the tick tick tick of her nails on the linoleum, the “hooves of thunder” sound she makes as she runs down the hallway, and the jingle jangle jingle of her tags as she trots around the house or rolls around the floor.

Dachshunds can be very barky, so I’m glad that she’s fairly quiet.  I wonder if her recent barking is a further step in her acclimation to our home and her new life.  Maybe she’s getting more territorial…accepting that this is HER home.  Or maybe I’m reading too much into this, and she was just startled by the sudden loud noise.  Regardless, it’s another subtle change, another small sign that she’s making some progress.

She does have a cute little bark.  But then again, I think that practically everything does is cute.