2010 -- Bingo: Time For a New Dog
2010 -- Bingo: Time For a New Dog
18 February -- The New Dog -- Bingo/SlimI cheat here. I shall refer to Bingo as a "dog" because "Border Collie" becomes redundant and uses too many letters.
I have a new puppy. He is a puppy. I obtained him from
Susanne at the "Halfway ToHome" adoption center. Adopting a puppy is no
longer a matter of plopping down $35 and walking away with your new
dog. Susanne, the owner of Halfway ToHome, makes sure that you
and the dog get along and that you will provide a good home. You
sign a contract and commit to being a good master. Good master
includes health issues such as shots. Behavior issues such
as obedience training. Quality food. Types of control
and discipline. When you leave with your new pet you have
committed to being that good master. You watch her care for her
25 animals and know that they are already being shown the love that any
animal deserves.
I left for home with my new dog at my side. He is a 10-month old Border Collie. A real border collie. I searched the web for Border Collies and this one came out on top. The included papers document that the dog is up to date on shots and has been castrated. I can cross the border with him and these papers.
I can tell you a little about him from what I see, what Susanne told me, and how he behaves.
Physically he is very thin, almost fragile. Her name for him
is "Slim" and it says so on all of his papers. Susanne also
listed Slim as an Australian Shepherd. She
obviously was
taken with him as much as myself. He has the eyes of an
Ausie -- both
are very bright blue. Typical of an Ausie, with the
slanting forehead, his eyes look like they are too big for their
sockets. As you can see from the picture, he is a basic white
with a large black overcoat. Very white.
Very black. Standard Border colors. He is obviously very much still a puppy --
although he has a good set of brand new teeth. I hope he does not
object to having them brushed.
I am sure Susanne did not have him long as his picture is on the web
and he is a handsome dog. His paws are large so I know he has
yet to grow. He eats like there is no tomorrow. Two cups at least three times a day. I do not
buy by brand name. I have bought some Costco puppy chow
(chicken/rice -- no corn). He loves it. I have some Costco
premium and some Costco lamb and rice left from my old dog. I
shall mix the feedings so that I do not end up with old food. I
have renamed Slim to Bingo. I have had him one day and he already
responds to the new name.
His skin is very dry and I shall give him a bath this week with a
moisturizing dog shampoo. I know from experience that dry skin is
easy to come by in the desert. He is a happy dog. I needed
a happy dog. I need a happy dog. He is a digger and a
chewer. I think that digging will not be a great problem.
Chewing may be a problem. He will chew on you or your clothes or
cardboard or whatever. He seems to like chew toys when I cover
them with peanut butter. Chew treats are ignored.
He is well behaved but pathologically shy. He does not obey
well but this is more I think from fear than from being disobedient in
nature. He really wants to obey. Apparently his previous owners mistreated
him. This shows up in several ways. He has a knot on his
tail that may be from having it broken. I am not a broken tail
authority. He is sensitive on his left rib cage. Petting
him there will get your hand a nibble. He understands "No"
and stops doing whatever he is doing immediately. The problem is
that he will stop when you say "no" for any reason -- even when in
conversation with someone else. On the other hand this response,
immediate response, may someday save his life. It will save my clothes.
He comes happily in absolute non-threatening situations. If I
sit down, he comes when called. If I am standing he comes but
stays out of reach. He dislikes stairs and climbing into the
car. I must lift him bodily up the RV stairs or into the
car. He shows that he wants to obey but for some reason is
fearful of it. In a week or so I think that his faith in me will
be established.. We can go from there. After multiple attempts he has come close to climbing into the RV.
He is such a loving animal that I must protect myself. He
wants to be hugged and wants to return hugs. His claws need to be
clipped as can be seen from some marks on my face. He is a good
watch dog and barks at all strange things and people. I hope he
learns more discretion in this area.
My previous puppy was so small when I got him that I could let him
run loose and always catch him. This dog is old enough and big
enough that he shall be kept on the lot or leashed for several months
until we both have confidence in each other. And when he
has gained a little more mass. At least I know he will not be
fathering any puppies: he has been castrated as are all dogs adopted from shelters. The local inbred Mexican short-haried
brown dogs would look strange with bright blue eyes. I look
forward to playing fetch with Bingo on the beach. Maybe Easter. After Easter -- when the tourists go home.
My often deferred vacation may come in just another month if we work
out our relationship. I am not sure what he would do now if
I left home with him or without him.
I understand that when a man gets divorced that it is likely that he
will remarry if the first marriage was good and mostly likely not
remarry if the first marriage was bad. I fit that mold. I
feel that I am honoring my first dog by getting a new dog as soon as I
am able. I was afraid that I would get a dog too similar to my
first that I would always begrudge the new dog for not being able to
live up to the first one. This dog is so different from my old
dog that I believe that that shall not be an issue. Moreover I
think we had had a relationship that was always balancing alpha-dog and
control. We were both challenged with our relationship.
This dog seems to want to be more of a good dog than a challenge.
I needed the rest and I need to know that the loss of first dog was the
opportunity for a more relaxed relationship.
I have committed to more shots. Heart worm. Susanne
wanted anti-snake venom shots but I think this is only because I
mentioned snakes. Her adoption house was miles into the Mojave
desert and so she knows about snakes. I mentioned that we have
snakes here also and this sent out warning flags to her. Although
I have been shown a coral snake by a friend in town and I have heard
about rattle snakes, in 10
years I have never seen a rattle snake. The anti-snake venom shot does not protect against coral
snake venom. Nothing does.
Bingo stays under the RV as did my previous dog. There are several reasons for this. It is in the shade and
the desert sun even in February is very hot for a black dog. The
RV is quite large and offers the dog protection. The dog can hear my activity and feels a closeness that
he can feel no other place. When I open the door, he is already
waiting for me so I know he listens to my movements.
He has a very foul smelling body gas. I noticed that at
Susanne's and on the way home. It is two days later and the gas
is better but still there. I shall give him an anti-worm pill to
see if that helps. I have inspected his shit and see nothing
wrong with it. The bad gas may be a nervous reaction or a
reaction to his previous food. I am not a dog gas expert. I
shall ask the vet if he still has the gas next week.
Although Bingo has trotted around the lot to learn his new home, I
never saw him run. Last evening I saw him run and I threw one of
the old toys for him: a cloth doll. He fetched it immediately but
did not want to release it. I think that that will improve.
He is a great dog for me as he needs a level of control and accepts
it from me. When I threw the doll multiple times, he just waited as he
did not see where it went.
We have survived the second day together here at home.
Progress: one step forward and one back. He now seems afraid to
come to me at all but he frolics in the yard with the toy doll.
He looks so funny with his spindly legs compared to my other dog.
I thought my other dog had skinny back legs but this dog is tall with
four spindly legs. He looks like he could break. But he is
playing. This is a good sign. He has the segmented food
bowl so he cannot gobble his food down but must work for each
kibble. I think he gets frustrated with this but he has also
stopped eating quite so much. This dog in two days has gone through 10
pounds of a 20 pound bag of puppy dog food! And he has played
fetch by bringing the doll back to me -- once. He runs around with it and
he does not drop it but he understands the concept.
At least he has moved his spot to poop from under the
clotheslines. If I can convince him to go behind the house, we
are all set. I took him to the RV park today. I want him to meet
and be befriended by my friends so that maybe if he only meets a lot of
friendly people he will stop being so frightened.
A man tells me that the people around the block are selling puppies
that resemble my old dog. He said that they are too young to
leave their mother but they are all beautiful and all sold.
Americans do not understand. In a town where the dogs are mostly
ugly and inbred, having a dog as pretty as my old dog means beautiful
puppies. None of my neighbors wanted him neutered. I could
not handle a dog that looked like my old one but was not as smart or
as independent as he was. I could not have handled his
twin. Right now I need to be loved.
Bingo is very dependent. He is a
digger and a chewer and may never learn to fetch well but he is a
loving and caring dog. Right now that counts for more than you
can know. There are people out here who like me. Some a
lot. No one will miss me if I am gone either from here or from the
world. My old dog obviously cared for me very much. He
loved me. He had become my dog and it showed. We were
inseparable.
Bingo already loves me and right now he shows that he loves me
totally. He crawls into my arms and cuddles me, As afraid
of me and everything around him and everybody he sees, he crawls into
my arms and cuddles me. Every time. And it has been only
two days. He needs the love the same way that I need the
love. Right now and by holding on. So Bingo will prance and
run and soon will have the confidence that no one is going to hurt him
no matter what he does.
He does not come when called now because he has obviously been
taught that to come when called may get him hurt. But I patiently
just keep calling him until his need to be cuddled exceeds his fear of
being hit. Then he cuddles and sits between my legs and chews on
my hands. The chewing is a sign of affection but I let him know
it hurts and he lets up. He sits up with his front legs on my
knees and then with his paws on my shoulders and cuddles his long nose
and neck against my face. A dog with a long snout and no forehead
is really strange. It is sort of like being cuddled by a
fuzzy snake. But then before it gets to that point, I have to duck
those big paws and the sharp claws. I could go on but you get the
point.
The fear that he has of me is that I shall put him in the car or,
worse, inside the motorhome. Those fears I cannot help. He
will just have to get past them. Monday we go for a long ride to
the city. Halfway there he will fear that he has another 10 hour
ride like the ride here. It won't be the same: it will be
worse. He will be left alone for longer periods of time.
Since he is
the purpose of the trip, I cannot leave him home.
Liz wants me to stop at her house to see her computer. It
sounds like it is in bad shape. I need to find that 20 foot tie
down cable.
Interesting day. One of the other shelters called referring to
my application to them. I was interviewed and it came out how
much I loved my dog but I think that they expect more discipline and
more obedience than Dido showed. I am very verbose but not always
able to communicate well. My dog and I were more like partners
than master dog. I was always afraid that cracking down on
discipline would curtail his independence and sense of humor. He
would do what he was told but on his own terms and sometimes in an
unexpected manner. Like a small child, he enjoyed pushing his
limits. In any case, this may not be in my favor in the
interview. I hope I qualify as having a second dog would
certainly make life more interesting.
Bingo stayed in the car the entire day. On the way north I took him out a few times but he was not interested in pooping or peeing. He took care of that as soon as he was free at home. We stopped at PetSmart and got a new tag and collar and treats. I picked up an obedience class schedule and figure sometime next month would be a good starting point. I want to make sure that Bingo has relaxed into his new home and master before we start the class.
Interestingly I encountered a man there who breeds Borders.
He could not explain the blue eyes but said that Bingo was definitely a
Border and not an Ausie. The giveaway was the tail, the sharp
coloring, and the behavior while I tried on new collars.. I
wonder what another breed would have done. Bingo did not run off
in all directions while I tried several collars. He just sat
patiently waiting for me to stop this silly game.
From PetSmart we went to Sam's Club. No worry about
heat. It looked like it was about to rain. It did so a
little later. And it was about 60 degrees. Cold.
Bingo really likes lying in the back area of the Ranger. You
could not make Dido go there: the front passenger seat was his and he
did not share well. Then to Walmart and then the barber.
Each time I returned, Bingo got one of his new liver treats. He
really likes them. After the barber we headed home. We
stopped at the vet in San Luis.
Bingo got his new chip and we filled out the papers. I think
the chip injection frightened him but he is too proud to show it.
He was just sullen for a while. In the meantime, the vet also
stated that Bingo was a Border. He showed me several pictures of
Borders and Ausies. End of discussion: Bingo is a definitely a Border Collie.
This means that I have another challenge in front of me. I
am up to the challenge and am excited about it. I am also very
happy that there is nothing about Bingo that reminds me of my old
dog. We had better plan that vacation as soon as I can get my
ducks in order. Spending full time with my new dog will give us a
chance to bond.
This morning I let Bingo out and a couple hours later I also went
out. 43 degrees. Cold. My brand new gallon bottle of
car wash soap lay on the ground almost empty with the top lying near
it. Now I must lock up all of the bottles of anything. Some
liquids would kill him.
Wow. We are in for a long road here. Maybe the obedience
classes will help. I doubt it. I never hit my dog as
punishment. Neither with my hand nor with anything else.
Today I threw a ball that came too close too Bingo's head while he was
running. The instant look of fear let me know that he had had
things thrown in anger at him before. Bingo already understands
"No". He shall need to learn "Mine" and "Yours". Ands honor
the meaning of all three. He already knows "Come". He needs
to learn "Go" and "Stop". We shall need a large bottle of treats
very soon.
This is going to be a real challenge. Sort of like kids.
Before you have any, you have the rules down pat. Then you have a
child and you discover that the rules reorder to form a bonding
partnership. The child's personality is a key ingredient.
You think again you have it down pat. Then the second child comes
and you realize that the rule book does not exist and that you start
a new bonding partnership with a new personality. This goes
for dogs too. This dog is definitely an Alpha dog. He
thinks he is always in command. He knows the commands. Dido
eventually came when called, in his own time. Bingo hears "come"
and stops at some distance and basically says "No". He stands
there alertly, ears perked, tail up and wagging, the smile on his
face. But he does not approach close enough to be touched and
will jump back if I move. If I am sitting in a particular chair,
he comes up on the right side and wants to be cuddled.
He will not enter the car or the RV if I am already waiting for him
there. He will enter on the first request if I am standing
somewhere alongside. Unlike Dido who presume the Alpha attitude
when his head was higher than mine, this dog presumes the Alpha
attitude wherever he is. To day I held back his food bowl until
he came. In fact, I had to put it away so that he saw that he
would be hungry until he came.
He is really intelligent. He does not eat my food in the car
even when I leave him. He is learning mine and his well but I am
not sure he respects mine. His vocabulary is growing
rapidly. He knows "come", "here", "up", "down", "sit", "no", and
more. He just may not decide to do them. He wants to chew
on me and my clothes and he knows that he is not supposed to do
this. When I say "no", he switches to licking me. But I
always must say "no".
In the car, he makes no attempt to leave unless I have the leash in
hand. On the leash, he obeys commands instantly. But then
he has learned that running at full speed off the end of the leash will
almost break his neck.
I can understand why someone not used to such an animal would take
to violence against it. I knew when my father hit me that I had
won the argument. I think Bingo learned that when he was struck
that he had won. He may be timid and fearful of being struck but
he knows what he wants. And I think the fear is rapidly
defusing. The dog will obey when he has respect for the person
issuing the commands. Respect is not earned, deserved, nor
required. Respect is freely given. My goal is to obtain
Bingo's respect and I had better do this soon.
Ticks start early. I found several on him today. Some
very tiny. Bingo gets his first flea and tick bath today and then
a dose of Frontline.
Alpha Dog. All of the things I have written add up to Alpha dog. His cuddles place his eyes at my eye level. Alpha. His not coming is an alpha thing. His jumping into the RV or Ranger when I am outside is an alpha thing. He dominates other dogs -- even those larger than he is. Understanding his motivation means that I adjust my behavior in a different direction. He will learn that in this family, I am the alpha dog. I am always on top. I always go first. I always eat first. His biting is stopped instantly. etc.
Coyotes? And what is it with the coyotes? Just one time the coyotes
come over the hill and howl and my dog howls instead of
barks? Dido did this and now Bingo does too.
The very first thing that I noticed about Bingo is his running in
circles chasing his tail when I arrived at Halfway ToHome. He
always runs in circles at the end of his leash while walking.
Always to the right. He chases his tail: always to
the right. He runs toward me with his body slightly to the
right. The vet says that his eyes are good --
biologically. That is, good retinas, good lenses, good corneas,
and they respond to light.
A Mexican friend tells me that she heard on the Discovery Channel
that dogs that run in circles are blind in one eye. The more I
watch Bingo, the more that this may be true. He may not be blind
but this may be the problem.
He always approaches me while I am sitting from my right side.
He is afraid to approach me front on but I think that this is for a
different reason.
Bingo favors the adult lamb and rice food over the puppy
kibbles. I think he likes the larger size as they are more easily
obtained from the segmented bowl. Bingo was called "Slim" for a
reason: he was skinny. He has filled out well and is not skinny
any more. He has started reducing his food consumption.
Castration interferes with your body's knowing when you have eaten
enough, castrated dogs tend to get fat. The web pages deny this
but they are wrong. This a problem even in men who get their
tubes cut. Castration has even a stronger effect. I need to
watch Bingo's diet: he is not fat but he might eat enough to get
fat if I am not careful.
I want to take him up to the Grand Canyon this week to try out traveling with him.
We have not yet left for the Canyon but that is because I still need
to get to Yuma for a shopping trip prior to a vacation.
We had an interesting experience last night. A local family
invited me to dinner: civiche. One house, three families.
An unknown number of children, all girls. As we approached, one
girl picked up a very large stick and beat off one of their dogs who
had come to meet Bingo. It only took once. The big dog
yelped and left. When I sat at the table, the same girl took
Bingo's leash to take him away from the table. Bingo ran into the
house, got tangled in his leash, and cowered and whimpered in a
corner. The more the girl tried, the more tangled he got.
The families know better than to hit my dog -- but my dog does not know
that. I went over to Bingo, petted him, untangled his leash and
brought him over to my chair where he sat peacefully while I ate.
On the way to the table, he walked between my legs as he did the first
day I had him. He was happy to leave.
Bingo may come to realize that when he is with me that he shall
never be hit -- but if he goes anywhere without me, getting hit with a
stick is highly probable. To the Mexicans here, a person who
loves his dog is an anomaly. I have come to understand that for
Bingo, the memory of abuse is permanent.
We went to Yuma today. We left at 3 am to beat the rush across
the San Luis border. No such luck. THe line was already
back to 20th street. I consider anything longer than 7th too long
but ALgodones is closed that early and with Daylight Savings Time, at
least another hour before it pened.
Another trip to Yuma without my Bingo. Everything goes faster
but I like the company -- even if he rides in the back. In
another month the heat will become a problem. I stopped at
Staples and bought a book on Border Collies. Obviously the author
knows much about the breed. The book covers everything from breed
history to breed behavior (good and bad) to growth and health.
My new book makes me want to cry. My old dog was so obviously
a proto-typical Border Collie that the book could have been written
about him. My new dog, Bingo, is more of a mix as he does not
have the "ducking" behavior that seems to be part of the Border's
herding technique. His body is not quite the right shape as his
hidquarters seems too high and thin. The bright blue eyes are
also the givaway.
Bingo does have many of the less agreeable Border puppy
tendencies. He nips at heels. In fact he chews on
everything other than chew toys. When my old dog "eyed" you, you
knew that his brain was full-speed analyzing. When my new dog
"eyes" me, I have no idea what is going on inside but I think
that we will learn about each other quickly.
I returned home and, as usual, I had to call him to discover where he was hiding. My old dog would hear the car and be waiting for me at the nearest corner of the lot. Once he came out, he was happy to see me. I think he sleeps very soundly.
Four things seem important to Bingo:
That's right: eating is third. If I pet him, he stops eating
until I am finished. If I get out of the chair before he is
finished, he runs for a toy. He obviously needs more of my time
than he is getting.
The book describes all of this behavior very well. It also
contains a DVD disk for training. I bought second book on
training. I think we shall attempt another few months of my own
training before I attempt classes. Why? Bingo seems so
responsive to learning. Not as ouright obedience, but as
increasing levels of trust. Every day I see progress and every
day there is progress that I do not see. In one month, Bingo has
becomes such a loving and faithful dog that I know that the original
owners had no idea of the gift that they possessed.
Classes. $95 for 8 weeks at Staples (with discount).
But. I am not sure that they teach what I want to teach and so
must speak to one of their instructors. I need Bingo to learn his
commands in Spanish. I need the instructor (me, for now) to
understand that a Border Collie is not a dog to blindly do what he is
told. The commands that I need may not be standard. For
example, "come" has three variants:
| Command | Action | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Aqui | To my hand | I want to touch you or attach/remove your leash |
| Cerca | To my side | There is a car coming and I want you at my side so that you are not killed and the car driver can know it is safe to pass by. |
| Dentro | Inside |
This is inside the lot fence or an office or a house. |
Bingo's vocabulary is extensive. His willingness to obey is the
problem. It is a standard problem for Border Collies. The
scale from independence to obedience is long and filled with pot
holes. But to come or to stay on command is a requirement.
Bingo already knows up, down, sit, lie, wait, stay, come. no bite, no, yes, squeak, ball, and doll. The list grow daily.
I think he was not able to run free before. He really enjoys
running. Most dogs do. But Bongo has an agility problem: if
he tries to turn to quickly, his rear end skids out and he lands on his
chest. Maybe he is not used to the sand but I think it is more
that he has not had the experience. Border Collies are known for
their agility in running and thinking.
Bingo already plays games with his toys (mostly his doll). He
does not fetch well. But he will return close, not too close, put
his doll down and walk away. As soon as I move to get the doll,
heturns, gets the doll and looks at me like: "Why are you so slow?".
Bingo showed off today. While I went for a package, I left him
on leash with a friend. The friend immediately started giving
Bingo commands (in Spanish). Bingo ignored his commands but
watched him intently. When I returned, and my friend asked when
Bingo would learn Spanish, I told Bingo to sit (in Spanish), Bigno
immedietly sat. I asked him to come and he came to my
feet.. Everybody laughed. Bingo knows that he is my
dog. Bingo no longer knows English.
You will read more as I write more but I could go on forever.
We went to the beach today for the first time. Bingo had a
blast. I think just the thought of so much water in one place was
overwhelming to him. He ran around in his usual circles going
from sand to water, deeper and deeper until he discovered that he had
to worry about not getting his feet on the ground. But we were
there for quite long enough for him to learn about the ocean. It
was an exceptionally calm day so waves were not an issue. Next
time he may not be so lucky. Next time getting him into the car
may be easier if he thinks that he will get to play on the beach.
He also made this trip in the car on the front seat as I had the back
packed so full that he almost hurt himself trying to get there.