Small Joys

[Dempsy's Mom]

One of the many small joys: feeding Dempsy by hand. He is so gentle and untrusting. Yes, untrusting. Just now I had a small piece of bacon. Dempsy is at my feet while I am cooking, as always, I bend over with this gorgeous little piece of bacon and, as usual, Dempsy needs to sniff it, takes his sweet time to open his mouth, and he ever so gently takes it from me - I can just barely feel his little tongue touch my fingertips. He just calmly knaws it down. He never begs, just feels it's his duty to be on hand in case mom needs some sampling done. Such a gentle little man. I love to feed him by hand and watch his little routine.

[Liz in PA]

Sounds familiar...

Hogan can hear cheese being unwrapped or grated from anywhere in the house. He'll come running and sit patiently at the edge of the counter for the small taste he knows I'll toss to him. Will he catch it? NO! It has to hit the floor and get sniffed first! I don't recall that I ever "tricked" him!

[hheldorfer]

Buffy does the same thing - sniffs the treat as if she was a little restaurant critic sampling wine. Sheesh!

[bradl]

It is a small joy, you are so right. There is just something ineffably charming about that gentle, soft nibble as they take a treat from your hand. Haggis had a very soft mouth and Dundee does too. Not much time wasted on snuffling it first though

[sanford]

Ditto for hearing the cheese being unwrapped. (Even when fast asleep!), and coming running. Sniffing it first just to be sure, as I offer a piece, ending with the gentlest brush of Ruffy's lips and tongue... This is the best part of all. It's so sweet that I'm always tempted to give him another piece, and I often do!

[lindasue]

Pegi doesn't even wait for cheese to be unwrapped - as soon as she hears the lunch meat drawer in the frig open she's there! She knows where the cheese is....

[josie&holly]

Holly is another one who likes to check that the cheese is suitable for me to eat so therefore has to have a sample from my fingers first!!

[Zekey's Mom]

Gavin is VERY wary when I hand feed him. He'll beg, but then when I give him a treat, he gingerly takes it with his teeth, looking down his nose at it so I can see the whites of his eyes. In his mind I know he's saying "I think this is a yummy treat, but on the other hand you may be trying to poison me. Best to proceed with caution..."

[Hillscreek]

Well, it's a joy to give Angus treat now.

Till very recently it was snatch and grab. After many, many lessons about taking it gently from between my finger and thumb, one day he got the message. Now his sweet little lips close over the treat so nicely and gently. He never takes time to check it out though the greedy little !

It's like so many things - you think they are going to resist for ever and then all of a sudden flip, a switch goes on and the change happens.

[Dempsy's Mom]

Isn't that funny. Looks like most of our cairns, with the exception of Angus, take treats from their owners with caution. Do you suppose they think that we would try to get even with them for their nasty little antics. For all we do for them you would think they would trust us. I wonder what we need to do to earn their trust? Lets see: carry him up & down steps, change swimming pool, refill water & feed bowl, wash peepee pads, take pictures, play with them, take them on walks, on gator rides, to the dog park, to the vets, groom them, fill treat jar, talk with them endlessly, keep a watchful eye to their needs at all times ...... yeah, it's no wonder they don't trust us. I mean you do to much for a pup and it is a little suspicious. Beware Demps - you never know when I may turn on you and poison your food.

[Kathryn]

Nope - just cannot relate to any of the dogs described here! Oh for a dog with a soft mouth. Allie is not really short for alligator - but it could be...and we regularly refer to T Bone as "Jaws." Both pounce on food as though it is their last chance to eat. Ever.

The painful food snatch was one of the first of T Bone's bad habits that we talked to the trainer about when we first got him. And he truly is much better. Though now, if we make him wait too long until it is clear he won't snap, he drools horribly just looking at and waiting for a treat. He was definitely a junkyard dog in his early wandering days before he went into a shelter as a stray and we adopted him.

They both have this philosophy: eat first, and then hope not to regret it later. Remember, T was the one who ate a poisonous mushroom last fall when we were in Scotland; only the dog sitter's quick reactions saved him. And just last week Allie ate part of a dead bird in the back yard before I could get it from her, and spent the night vomiting wing feathers.

Discerning in their tastes? Careful about what they eat? Not these dogs...

[Dempsy's Mom]

Ok - now there are 3 exceptions. Cute: Allie short for Allie-gator

[Ivy & Lucy's Mom]

Nope, Ivy will grab the food as quickly as she can too-fingers in the way, she doesn't much care. I always have to tell her to BE NICE and then she takes it gently but if I forget to remind her, it's like a shark is at the end of my fingers. I'm not sure why I have to tell her each time-I think she pretends to forget...

[bradl]

Yep, Stella and Echo are often sharks too. They can be reminded "easy, easy" but natural tendency is to grab first and ask questions later.

[Dempsy's Mom]

All right. Throw that theory out the window. I guess there are just as many sharky cairns as cautious cairns. It was a nice dream that all of our cairns were soft mouthed.

[Sam I Am]

We always have to remind Jock to "Be nice" except for bananas. For some reason bananas can be treated with complete disdain or being politely spat out

[utgaard]

Loki is a grabber, especially if cheese is involved. Zeus, who spent some time on the streets before we adopted him, usually both sniffs and licks before gently taking the treat from your fingers. They are strange dogs sometimes.

[DemiSheep]

Attila will calmly take food from the hand. Tessa on the flip side is a take-it-quick kinda girl. I believe because she's such a young puppy. If we give Attila and Tessa both a biscuit Attila will chew his up within 2 seconds and Tessa drops crumbs all over the place and Attila gladly helps cleanup. She'll snap a biscuit out of your hand and run away and will even hold it in her mouth checking to see if Attila is coming and then she'll start chewing it when she feels safe.

(null)

[_whits_]

Addie's another one who's does not trust what I offer her. It doesn't matter if she's spent the last 20 minutes begging and pleading for what I'm eating. The second I actually offer her some, she stares at it, then she sniffs it, then she looks away, then she sniffs it again and if it passes her test, she'll gently take it from my hand. Like she's the one doing me a favour.

[Idaho Cairns]

Sammi is my "sniffer" and Bonnie the "snatcher". It is hard to get Bonnie to slow down enough to take the morsel by hand but if we take our time she is good. Both are excellent taking food from a fork.

Today was a treat day for them--this morning both had huge helpings of watermelon which they love on hot days and this evening both had a taste of Dad's Gyro sandwich with Feta cheese--now that aromatic combination brought out the real "animal" in them.

Did I mention that my girls seem to have cast iron stomachs?

[Dempsy's Mom]

I like that: a sniffer or a snatcher - perfect description.

[pindrop]

Layla will also take things gently but she does this crazy dance when it is a morsel of cookie - she growls at it first, then shakes her head, growls some more and when we get tired of holding it out and drop it on a surface, she will scoot it up and run off with it and throw it up in the air and finally eat it.

Crazy dog!

[Lynn in TN]

I can throw Kelly anything and she will catch it, unless it is something she doesn't recognize when it is flying through the air. Then she just watches it hit the floor and sniffs. She loves just about everything including vienna sausages with jalapeños. She begs my oldest son for those. Of course I won't let him give her much of those and I always have a touch of milk ready for her to drink afterwards, it stops the burn. I guess she has an iron stomach and mouth. The only time she will take our fingers off is if another dog is around. Even then she has a soft mouth most of the time, but we do have to be a little more careful when another dog is involved.

[kjwarnold]

I'm late to this conversation, but Kirby is just like Dempsey. Soft mouth but untrusting. Gotta sniff it first in case Mom is trying to sneak something icky in. Packy, on the other hand, is a shark. He figures, hey, I like it all!

[Newman]

Lol, you guys got some TAMED cairns! Fonzy will bite off my finger.... LOL

I usually throw it in the air or something, or hide my fingers behind my knuckles and let him take a bit out of the top of my hand instead of my Actually finger, for safety... but yeah

Edited August 18, 2012 by Newman