Loki has been a great addition to the family. I had dogs growing up, but he's been a dog of a different sort.
For one, he's allowed on furniture. That was a no-no in Nana's house. Loki likes to pop up on the couch.
But he'll take it a step further. He likes to look out the window, so he will hop up and lay in the window!
I swear the dog thinks he's part cat.
He doesn't care if I'm sitting in front of the window either. He will hop up and perch his butt on my shoulder like an oversize parrot. If he wants a better vantage point he may use my chest to climb up into his spot.
I'm usually not sure whether to be annoyed or amused....and thus the behavior has continued.
Loki likes to stay close by. He's happy to sleep on anything I'm writing on.
He'll sprawl out under the table or follow me into the bathroom to make sure I'm okay (Quick smell-check the urine?).
Loki will follow Carrie around, too. He'll sit under her chair in the kitchen and he will especially hang out underfoot if she's cooking!
Carrie had an oops with a bag of shredded cheese...
...and Loki was right there to help clean up! I was picking dried out cheese from his fur that night!
Loki's relationship with Shane is a little different. Neither one of them seem able to walk by the other without doing something to cause noise.
Shane makes noises, stares, and tackles Loki which revs him up and then Loki starts to bark and chase Shane around.
I'm pretty sure they both like it.
I wish they got more of their energy out outside.
Loki's relationship with Bucket and Max is estranged, but he and Happy are buddies.
Loki is getting more comfortable around the horses.
He's still wary (That's good), but he comes into the barn without hesitation (even when horses are in cross-ties).
Part of the reason is he's discovered he likes their food. If anyone's a messy eater, Loki is happy to slip under the gate and help.....as long as they don't notice!
There have been a few scares, but Loki is good about hanging around when we're doing horse chores. He'll come out, run about, frolic, and shows up when called. It's not something we would do in the city, but we have enough land and he likes to stay close enough he doesn't seem to wander off.
Grandma is worried about him running through the garden, though. He normally doesn't seem to know it exists, but if you kneel down to plant something Loki is happy to lay on whatever you're planting. Just so long as you look deep into his eyes and give him all the attention in the world!
We've got to work on that. We didn't plant everything just for him to trod it into the ground whenever we try to care for it.
At least he hasn't shown much interest in eating the plants when our backs our turned.
Loki's actually a finicky eater. Or at least, he's willing to hold out for a better deal. We used to put his food out and he would ignore it for hours. We started to lock him in his cage to eat and he'd flop down and sleep instead.
Part of it was he decided he was done with the brand we bought. We had a big bag left, so he didn't have much choice.
Loki's stalling and my 'thriftiness' led to an odd development: Loki eats at night.
Loki's stalling and my 'thriftiness' led to an odd development: Loki eats at night.
Whenever Loki wouldn't eat his food, we'd either sweeten the deal by adding something like beef stock.......or I'd just leave it in the bowl. Then I'd lock Loki up at night and the food would disappear by morning!
We use a different brand of food now, but the night feeding has stuck. Loki will sometimes skip eating in hopes the deal is sweetened, but he eats at least half the time time now.
You know who really likes his new brand of food? Happy. She will reach in through the cage, drag the bowl over, and sample his meals!
It's a dog's life. I started off annoyed Carrie sprung a dog on me with everything going on, but he's become a welcome addition to the family. It's a good example for God to teach me that my way isn't always the best way.
PS - Loki has a 'special' attachment to pillows.
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