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| Sassy does not like the flash, so she tends to look away for photos, even outdoors. |
Our neighborhood knows Sassy quite well. One boy came up to me and asked, "Did your dog lose her leg in Viet Nam or from a horse kicking her?" His grasp of history was a bit off - the answer is - from being kicked by a horse and dropped off to be euthanized. The rescue group had to amputate her leg, and we adopted her after her recovering.
"We see you walk by the kids waiting for the bus each day." Our timing varies quite a bit, but often the kids are waiting for the bus while parents watch from their cars. Sassy greets her favorites and we walk on.
On a good day, even at 7 AM, we will see the sisters going off to school, our landscaper friend on the corner and his brother, the kids waiting for the bus, our helper, and perhaps the Army veteran's parents a few blocks away.
Sassy and I talk during the walk. She loves to communicate. If I want a shorter walk, she freezes and grins like, "You must be kidding." She does not budge. Sometimes I ask, "What do you want? Show me." When she hears "show me," she grins and heads down a new block, often the side streets - new faces, new yards to explore.
Sassy scrounges food at water at several homes, and they welcome her or apologize for not having treats. "We have water at home, Sassy." Many dogs show guilt when caught sneaking a treat for themselves. Sassy grins. Our landscaper friend used to shoo Sassy away from the treats, which had Sassy escaping with a big grin. Now he buys her bags of treats and asks if she needs more.
Our helper's wife likes to have water and a few cat treats there when Sassy comes by for happy barks. Sassy knows that she loves hearing those happy barks, so she obliges with a series of very loud barks.
Quiet alerts, inside the house, are funny. If a friend like Bill walks in the room, the tip of her tail twitches to acknowledge him. She is not supposed to be loud early in the morning, so she flaps her big ears to wake me up for a walk or a trip out back.
Many cats and dogs poke their owners with a paw - for attention or food. Sassy does that and also drags her paw down the antique maple table I have near the computer. This is done in various ways. If she thinks I have neglected her, she drags it while looking at me with disdain and scorn.
If she is being playful and wants a treat, she grins at me. I grin back and nod yes. Then she really grins for her treat.
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| Dani held the pose while I got the camera. Sassy photobombed Dani, and we were all laughing. |
If I am really slack in my staff duties, she rotates her tail and looks at me with varying degrees of disgust. The more upset she is, the faster the tail rotates and the more upset she looks. That makes us burst into laughter, so we cannot help encouraging this. "Where have I failed in my duties, Sass?" I ask about going outside or having supper or getting a treat. Sometimes she just wants lovey time before going to sleep for the night.
If she is saying goodnight, she comes over to me, hugs me, licks my hand, and often holds down my arm while grinning at me. When done with this, she turns to Mrs. I and repeats this. I often say, "She wants three hands petting her and two people admiring her at once." That is exactly what Sassy enjoys, so we do that for a time. She picks up and goes to the bottom of the bed and goes to sleep.
Growling usually means she is very happy, unless disturbed in her sleep. We have to discuss whether I am on her bed or she is on mine. She acknowledges that and makes up for being crabby with me.
"Tuck and roll" means she will roll over by leaning to one side, rolling over on her back. She has the biggest grin on her face because we do this so often. She gets a tummy rub and a lot of laughter.
The German Shepherd side of her is very protective but also quite affectionate. The Cattle Dog nature is unusually chatty. She has something to say all the time, often barking at me to hurry up when I stop to talk to a neighbor on our walks.
"Do you have an appointment somewhere Sassy?"
"Bark!"
"Are we making you late?"
"Bark Bark."
"Then let's go."
She tears off and runs back barking to get me going.
Sassy responds immediately to our emotions. If we are upset by the news, she puts her paw firmly on us, as if to say, "It will be ok."
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| "Let's go to the bank. I get three treats for barking into their PA system." |