La Belle et la Bête

[iamnikchick]

We have Rosie the Dog as a house guest again this weekend. Kate is very happy about this and has been showering the sweet canine girl with attention. One small mishap: Kate left a ziplock bag that had previously contained leftover pizza out where Rosie could get it and this morning I came downstairs to a very guilty-looking dog and shredded plastic

Comments

[jbru]

What we see as a dog's "guilty" look is caused by them attempting to calm us down. I don't have the title handy, but there's a book we've read because of our new puppies by a Scandanavian (I think Norwegian) canine behavior expert that is all about the calming signals dogs use. Her take on things is that dogs are, by nature, conflict-solving beasts and that by learning the calming signals we can keep our canine friends happy and help teach them good behavior.

Next time you need Rosie to calm down, try yawning. It's one of the ways dogs signal each other to relax and works pretty well!

We need to get together on our Viva Piñata addictions! (I've been playing some shooters as well, but I've got to get back to the garden soon!)

[iamnikchick]

Interesting about the "guilty" look, since I got it from her first thing, before I'd even entered the room. I wasn't riled, didn't know she'd done anything (in fact, had to go looking for what she might have done). So, if she was trying to calm me down, she must have anticipated that I was going to get un-calm. Even when I found the plastic bag, I was more worried that she might have eaten the plastic than upset about "bad" behavior... but all seems fine.

Whenever Jenny, Kate and I get together, we talk Viva Piñata. I recently switched to a water garden myself and juggling all that goes along with that.

[hackard]

Westing Game is one of my two or three favorite kids' books of all time. It is a mystery story that plays totally fair with the reader -- if a kid picks up on all the clues (and I do mean ALL the clues), she can solve it before reaching the end. But it's also just as fun to reread and say "Oh, *that's* what that line meant..."

[iamnikchick]

I'm surprised I missed it as a kid. I was a voracious reader in that age 9-12 range but I'd never heard of the book before Hal picked it up for Kate.

Beauty and the Beast

[ktynes]

I love that film. The black and white hue almost shimmer!