What Dogs are Good for - or, What to do with all this peanut butter

[zil]

So, as I spread the peanut butter around on my toast a while ago, I realized I had too much.  Of course, I didn't want to scrape the excess and the accompanying crumbs into the jar, nor did I want to just throw it out - what a waste, and so, naturally, I thought, too bad the dogs are gone, I could have let them lick the excess off the knife.

This then reminded me that dogs are useful for unexpected things, so I thought we could enjoy a thread on the virtues of dogginess.

• Licking the excess peanut butter off the knife or out of the near-empty jar (the latter has the added benefit of being amusing to watch)
• Teaching one how to love and how to forgive
• Teaching one how to enjoy the quiet company of another
• Keeping bad guys away from the house / car
• Teaching one how to be excited at the most mundane, recurring events
• The look on some people's faces when you open the door and big dog starts woofing at them
  • (We had two dogs, sometimes referred to as "big dog" and "little dog" - little dog was more medium sized, but was not as big, so...)

Please share the joys, virtues, and life lessons you've learned from your pups.

[mordorbund]

I place pets in the "food storage" category, and so far Sisterbund hasn't disbelieved me enough to bring one into the house.

[Sunday21]

Dogs are very useful for getting rid of liver. My mother served the same meal on the same day of the week. Tuesday was liver night. We had aprons with little pockets and as we hated liver we would secrete the liver in the pockets and when convenient give the liver to our beloved dog. The pockets were essential as our mother watched us like a hawk. I grew up watching films produced by the National Fim Board of Eskimos, Nanook of the North,  chewing whale blubber. This is how I feel about eating liver. I loved that dog!

[askandanswer]

2 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

Dogs are very useful for getting rid of liver.

This can't be true. As far as I know, every dog carries a liver around everywhere they go, all the time.

[askandanswer]

8 hours ago, zil said:

Please share the joys, virtues, and life lessons you've learned from your pups.

This issue was discussed on ABC Radio National last Thursday afternoon

How much is that doggy in the window?

• Listen now(Link will open in new window)
• Download audio

Thursday 17 May 2018 5:30PM

IMAGE: (WESTEND61/ GETTY IMAGES)LINK TO LARGER IMAGE.

Australia is a pet mad nation. We spend about 12 billion dollars a year on them, but we also save a lot with health benefits we're only just beginning to understand.

The pet landscape now includes more snakes and reptiles, but it's the dogs that are the real fur babies and consequently costing us a bomb.

Looking at the pet ledger on this week's episode of The Money

[classylady]

3 hours ago, Sunday21 said:

Dogs are very useful for getting rid of liver. My mother served the same meal on the same day of the week. Tuesday was liver night. We had aprons with little pockets and as we hated liver we would secrete the liver in the pockets and when convenient give the liver to our beloved dog. The pockets were essential as our mother watched us like a hawk. I grew up watching films produced by the National Fim Board of Eskimos, Nanook of the North,  chewing whale blubber. This is how I feel about eating liver. I loved that dog!

 Did the same thing.  Except I was an older teen.  My oldest sister (10 years older than me), decided that liver was a good thing to eat during her pregnancy. I was staying at her house for an extended time during the summer and whenever she fixed liver I would discreetly put it in my jeans pocket and then later feed it to her dog. I was very grateful for that dog!

[zil]

Huh.  Meanwhile, I liked liver.  I liked the liver gravy mom made even better.

[askandanswer]

I've never tried my mum's liver. That would be strange.

[JohnsonJones]

-Bird Retrieval

-Hunting

-Herding

-Waking you up at 1 AM in the morning...sometimes.

[Guest]

18 hours ago, zil said:

So, as I spread the peanut butter around on my toast a while ago, I realized I had too much.  Of course, I didn't want to scrape the excess and the accompanying crumbs into the jar, nor did I want to just throw it out - what a waste, and so, naturally, I thought, too bad the dogs are gone, I could have let them lick the excess off the knife.

This then reminded me that dogs are useful for unexpected things, so I thought we could enjoy a thread on the virtues of dogginess.

• Licking the excess peanut butter off the knife or out of the near-empty jar (the latter has the added benefit of being amusing to watch)
• Teaching one how to love and how to forgive
• Teaching one how to enjoy the quiet company of another
• Keeping bad guys away from the house / car
• Teaching one how to be excited at the most mundane, recurring events
• The look on some people's faces when you open the door and big dog starts woofing at them
  • (We had two dogs, sometimes referred to as "big dog" and "little dog" - little dog was more medium sized, but was not as big, so...)

Please share the joys, virtues, and life lessons you've learned from your pups.

I have always enjoyed visiting people with dogs.  They're so much fun to pet and see and play with.

I've always hated having my own dog that I have to clean up after and keep chained up because it will always dig through my garden that was just about ready for harvest.

I echo Jerry Seinfeld -- As we go walking and I'm carrying this bag and scoop with me, I wonder if some alien culture is watching to see who the dominant specie is on this planet.  I think they'd get the wrong impression.

[zil]

6 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

-Waking you up at 1 AM in the morning...sometimes.

Oh, keeping you warm at night - better than covers alone.

[zil]

6 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

Herding

This was the first thing little dog tried to do with me when I took her out in the yard to play the first time - she had some border collie in her.

[Sunday21]

13 hours ago, zil said:

Oh, keeping you warm at night - better than covers alone.

Three Dog Night! 

[anatess2]

@NeuroTypical probably know this.  Dogs are great chicken keepers.

[zil]

2 hours ago, anatess2 said:

@NeuroTypical probably know this.  Dogs are great chicken keepers.

Hmm.  Little dog would have herded them all into a nice contained group, but big dog would have eaten them.

[anatess2]

41 minutes ago, zil said:

Hmm.  Little dog would have herded them all into a nice contained group, but big dog would have eaten them.

Only the bad roosters. 

 

[zil]

6 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Only the bad roosters. 

That might be your wish, but big dog's hunting instinct was as strong as little dog's herding instinct.  I'm pretty sure that if he'd ever been allowed freedom in a hunting situation, he'd have tried to kill his target.

When driving, if one of us (humans) spotted a large animal (generally horse or cow), we'd point it out (as "horsey" or "moo cow" - which terms the dogs learned perfectly), and the dogs would race to the windows to see this creature.

One time, we were driving up in the mountains and spotted a deer out the front windshield.  Big dog got his front paws on the center console between the two front seats, went into "pointer" type pose and wanted to go after that deer so bad he was quivering.

[NeuroTypical]

Yeah, my wife is the chicken person.  Don't take advice from me.  When I was 5, I let the dog in to my sister's coop and they lost a few chickens.  In 2016, idiot turkey flew into my dog's pen and got 'played with' to death.  

Our other dog is a fat little sausage who gets very worried that the giant bird things are going to mug her or vandalize her or something.  If she could work a cell phone she would have reported them to the authorities by now.

Edited May 21, 2018 by NeuroTypical

[anatess2]

6 hours ago, zil said:

That might be your wish, but big dog's hunting instinct was as strong as little dog's herding instinct.  I'm pretty sure that if he'd ever been allowed freedom in a hunting situation, he'd have tried to kill his target.

When driving, if one of us (humans) spotted a large animal (generally horse or cow), we'd point it out (as "horsey" or "moo cow" - which terms the dogs learned perfectly), and the dogs would race to the windows to see this creature.

One time, we were driving up in the mountains and spotted a deer out the front windshield.  Big dog got his front paws on the center console between the two front seats, went into "pointer" type pose and wanted to go after that deer so bad he was quivering.

 

6 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Yeah, my wife is the chicken person.  Don't take advice from me.  When I was 5, I let the dog in to my sister's coop and they lost a few chickens.  In 2016, idiot turkey flew into my dog's pen and got 'played with' to death.  

Our other dog is a fat little sausage who gets very worried that the giant bird things are going to mug her or vandalize her or something.  If she could work a cell phone she would have reported them to the authorities by now.

You need a Great Pyrenees (the white dog in the video).

[zil]

2 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

You need a Great Pyrenees (the white dog in the video).

No.  Chomp was the best (as in celestial best) dog ever.  He probably earned early resurrection.

[LadyGator]

Dogs are great for cuddles, and for company when the other gators are out of town.  

[askandanswer]

Dogs are great gator food for hungry gators