2024, animals, Family, home, pets, Uncategorized

Who’s In Charge

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As psychologists, Husband and I are familiar with behavior modification. We are both pretty adept at changing the behaviors of others. It dawned on me yesterday, however, that we have met our match in our Cesky Terrier and the finesse with which he has modified our behaviors and what a creature of habit he is.

Every morning, Kyrill wakes up when Husband’s alarm goes off. He then jumps on me to make sure I know that the alarm went off, and then he waits on the bed in great anticipation for Husband to get dressed and take him for his morning stroll. I stay in bed. When they return, he jumps back into bed with me and won’t get out of bed until I get up. He barks at me if I stay in bed too long and he wants his breakfast. After our breakfast, Husband and I sit in the livingroom and read aloud some short devotionals and drink our coffee. That is the cue for Kyrill to have vicious and vigorous tugs with his Wubbas. He accompanies me anytime I go into the bathroom, and brings the same pink ball with him every time. He tosses it at my feet and expects me to try to grab it no matter what I am doing. I am never fast enough to grab it. Certain whines mean different things. One means he wants a share of the ice in Husband’s glass. Another means he has lost his pink ball, and to please help him find it. Whenever I step out of the bathroom in the morning, ready for the day, I get a glance from him, while he waits in anticipation for me to say “Go outside”, after which he runs to the back door to be let outside.

We go along with all of these and countless other expectations that our dog seems to have for us. Whenever I sit on the sofa he insists he has to sit in my lap. He expects to do the pre-rinse on our ice cream bowls and sits at our feet while we eat. He whines if he thinks we take too long to finish. We don’t cater to his expectation that all socks are his to steal and chew up, however.

Who modifies your behavior? How have animals changed the way you do things and live your life?

27 thoughts on “Who’s In Charge”

  1. Pippin and Kyrill might have been related in some weird way. He did so many of the same things.

    He was so enthusiastic about me getting out of bed, when I wasn’t feeling enthusiastic about it at all. He couldn’t get me outside fast enough, followed by being served his breakfast immediately. Right after his breakfast, he insisted on playing fierce tug. And I still hadn’t done anything for myself except maybe start the coffee maker. He brought me tug toys while I was in the bathroom, thinking it must be time to play. It was hard to draw a line on all of this because he wasn’t happy if things happened in any other order. I was just a servant to him, but I miss him a lot now, and all those little things.

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  2. Our first cat trained us not to feed her in the morning because once she figured she got food after we woke up, she started waking us up earlier and earlier. At first it was batting her paw on the window shade, which doesn’t seem like much but is annoyingly loud at 5 am. If that didn’t work, she’d paw Sandra’s eyes, trying to open them up, I guess. Because she knew that if your eyes were open, you were awake and so might as well feed her.

    After a few weeks of that, we switched to evening feedings.

    For me, negative results are better modifiers than positive results. I guess that’s a human trait–more desirable to avoid pain. But I’m quite set in my ways now, so I’m not looking to do any major improvements other than I wish I could write faster.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  3. I guess it was a certain amount of nagging on the part of friends that finally got me to get a smart phone. But I do usually respond to praise. Tell me I’m doing something good or correctly, and you’ll get more of that.

    One of the frustrating things these days is, Husband has no opinions about anything, including whether food is tasty or not – I think he’s lost some of his sense of taste and maybe smell. So there is no positive feedback. He will tell me if something is just really awful… Since I’m not wild about getting 3 meals on the table daily, anyway, it can be a real drag.

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  4. This morning while I was on the sofa drinking my coffee, Kyrill jumped up beside me and started violently shaking his wubba. It hit my arm, leaving a huge red mark. I was not amused.

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    2. Pippin caused me to spill coffee many times, but he never hurt me with his toys. Once in a while I got my finger caught in his teeth when playing tug. I learned not to hold the toy quite so close to his mouth. He always stopped if I said, “Ow!”

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  5. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I am discovering that my behavior is being modified by husband’s dementia. Things he used to remember are now my responsibility. For example, this morning he was slow to move and get ready for his weekly Men’s Group (they study theology 🥱) which he loves. I was trying to get him to speed up which he does not do easily. I was frustrated, but he finally got out the door in time for his friend to pick him up. But now I have to do more of the work to prepare. It is a big change in my behavior. We were both so independent for years, which worked for us.

    Re: dog behavior. Nurse Phoebe is a great asset. Her inborn herding behavior prompts her to get everyone where she believes they should be. So if Lou is not out of bed when he “should” be out of bed, Phoebe is on the bed yipping at him and nudging him. She is far more effective at getting him to move. But she is a lot cuter, too.

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  6. We think Luna has fully accepted this as her home because about 5AM, if she hears something outside, shes up and barking incessantly until she gets out. Mind you, we’re sound asleep when this happens. Even daughter, sleeping hard, wakes enough to yell from her room.
    We know it’s for the greater good, but still. Do it quietly and let yourself out.
    Course then she’s cold and 5 minutes later barks to get back in.
    And Humphrey needs us to burp him after he takes a drink. He’s taught us that.

    Bailey insists on being petted and will nudge your hand until you do.
    And Humphrey nudges under Kelly’s elbow if she’s sitting at the table. He doesn’t do that to me, maybe I automatically pet him. That’s curious.

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  7. We think Luna has fully accepted this as her home because about 5AM, if she hears something outside, shes up and barking incessantly until she gets out. Mind you, we’re sound asleep when this happens. Even daughter, sleeping hard, wakes enough to yell from her room.
    We know it’s for the greater good, but still. Do it quietly and let yourself out.
    Course then she’s cold and 5 minutes later barks to get back in.

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  8. We think Luna has fully accepted this as her home because about 5AM, if she hears something outside, shes up and barking incessantly until she gets out. Mind you, we’re sound asleep when this happens. Even daughter, sleeping hard, wakes enough to yell from her room.

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  9. My doctor modifies my behavior…temporarily.
    My check-up today went very well. Good readings except for the weight thingy.
    So I’ll eat more veggies and exercise…temporarily.

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  11. Humphrey needs us to burp him after he takes a drink. He’s taught us that.

    Bailey insists on being petted and will nudge your hand until you do.
    And Humphrey nudges under Kelly’s elbow if she’s sitting at the table. He doesn’t do that to me, maybe I automatically pet him. That’s curious.

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  12. Now about The Birds. I’ve always enjoyed birds. These budgies I have, have encouraged deeper research into ornithology. Just yesterday, I did a deep dive into pelicans. There is mythology about pelicans killing their fledglings but resurrecting them with blood obtained by piercing their own breast. Medieval Christians carried the myth forward as representative of Christ’s blood giving life. The images of that have been represented in art and royal herealdry. During WW2, the Irish Red Cross used the depiction to encourage blood donation. The Louisiana state flag and many organizations in that state use the image of a pelican feeding blood to her chick’s.
    This is now my life of birds.

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  13. my dogs and cats have gotten old imagine that the cats almost 20 and the dogs are about 12 and they do have their agendas. We have learned the deal with it but they have also had to learn to deal with it when I was getting up at 1:30 in the morning, they were in heaven because they got to go outside, I am just reminded that I saw that they had pooped in the dining room this morning and I didn’t clean it up because I was in a hurry to get to mayo on some follow up stuff back to the issue at hand. The dogs normally make it until 7 o’clock when either Debbie or I get up but they did enjoy when I was getting up at 1:30 and out the door at three to have that simple break in the middle of the night to get out and use the bathroom and they could easily make it from 3 o’clock until seven without an additional outing. Debbie is going crazy because she sits home all day and the dogs Nala in particular wants to go in and out and it can be a 30 second time. from the time you let her in until she wants to go back out or from the time you let her out until she wants to come back in and she doesn’t mind repeating that over and over and over and whatever the situation is things are gonna have to change around here. Spencer is moving out in six days and the routine of he and Debbie taking the dogs for a walk at 6 o’clock or thereabouts will be done. I’m not home at that time and Debbie will have to do it herself sure it won’t be a problem, but it certainly will be different. Life will be different with just us too in that big old house after Spencer moves out Debbie says when the dogs die, she doesn’t want more and when the cat dies, she doesn’t want another. I’m gonna have to fight her on this cause I’m, a big fan of purring in the house And a wagging tail when I return home

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