The End of the Journey

     Over the past weeks of observing Franky and Pirate very closely I have learned many new things. But as the seasons have passed I have started to notice many more new changes in both of them. Many of the changes that I have noticed is the way they are acting, it seems that they are starting to get frustrated and sad.
      I found and online article by Sarah Fulcher that talks all about different reasons why a dog can develop different behaviors. One reason that caught my eye was when she said the fallowing  "Dogs need physical exercise to be happy, and on-leash walks around the block are not usually sufficient"(Fulcher Sarah). After finding out that dogs need to exercise to be happy it hit me that I haven't taken Franky and Pirate out on walks for almost a week. The main reason is due to the cold weather and the lack of time.
     I thought I had pin pointed the reason why Franky and Pirates attitude were changing. But one Saturday while I was home I let both of them outside to the backyard because the weather was pretty warm, when I heard Franky start to whine and bark " I heard Franky yelling like a mad men, when I went outside I saw Franky standing next to the fence. When I got closer I saw the whole then I heard Pirate"(Field notes Valente). Yes indeed Pirate had dug a hole under the fence to my neighbors yard. Fortunately when called him he came back and I don't think my neighbors were home. I decided to cover the hole so he couldn't get back to my neighbors yard.
      After this happened I decided to do some research on why Pirate did that because he was neutered when he was eight months old. I thought his search to make puppies was over for him. Them I found this "  Although he might already be influenced by raging hormones, the proximity of the fairer sex usually takes those feelings to even more intense levels"(Millburn Naomi). My neighbors had only moved in next door for about four months and they brought two female dogs. It may be a possibility that her dogs are not neutered, so when her dogs went into heat they may have triggered some hormones in Franky and Pirate even if they are already neutered. Driving there instincts to take hold of them and make them dig a hole to my neighbors yard.
     After closely observing both of them for weeks, I now feel like I have a deeper understanding of there own unique behaviors' and I can now more easily see when something is wrong with them , and thus knowing how to make and keep them more happy. In the end I feel this project has brought me closer to them and has helped me become a better owner and friend.

Citations

 



Fulcher, Sarah. "Ten Reasons Your Dog May Develop Behavior Problems." Ten Reasons Your Dog May Develop Behavior Problems. 2 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. http://www.clickertraining.com/node/4384.

 

Millburn, Naomi. "What Behavioral Changes Happen to a Male Dog Around a Female Dog in Heat?" Dog Care. 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. <http://dogcare.dailypuppy.com/behavioral-changes-happen-male-dog-around-female-dog-heat-5467.html>.



Yin-Yang

      One late afternoon while I was doing my daily observation I saw that Franky and Pirate were sleeping as usual. But once I started looking more closely the way they were laying right next to each other they reminded me of the Yin and Yang symbol. I started to think more and more about Yin-Yang so I  and decided to do some research to see what this symbol really represents .
    After doing some research I discovered a new way of looking at Yin-Yang because previously whenever someone mentioned Yin and Yang for the most part I always thought  of good and evil and how they keep each other balanced. But as stated in the page "Yin Yang is associated with male and female, shady and sunlight, and is also associated with Mood and Character"(Personal Tao)  I also learned that Yin Yang is not always balanced like we sometimes believe "The balance of Yin Yang can be skewed due to outside forces"(Personal Tao). After gathering and learning all this new information about Yin Yang, i started to make various connections between my dogs and this symbol.
    

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnabeelafsar.files.wordpress.com%2F2014%2F01%2Fyinyang.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnabeelafsar.com%2F2014%2F01%2F27%2Fthe-4-pillars-of-mysticism%2F&h=2000&w=2000&tbnid=WKZQgOQggttv3M%3A&zoom=1&docid=xrA8onsyp_In0M&ei=aKpyVO78JMaeyASog4HIDQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CB8QMygBMAE&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=613&page=1&start=0&ndsp=18
     
       The first and most obvious connection between  Franky and Pirate to Yin Yang  is that Pirate has a shaggy, white, curly coat while on the other side of spectrum Franky has a smooth, shiny, and dark black coat. Another way that Franky and Pirate reminded me of Yin-Yang is there personalities.
      Pirate is the calm, careful, and submissive one of the two,but at times I feel Pirate is too submissive for his own good. This becomes really clear when its time for them to eat, if I don't watch them Franky will usually steal and deny Pirate out of food, Pirate usually takes his time and is very patient eating while Franky just Gobles anything in site instantly. This is why I think Pirate reflects the Yin which is the white part.
      On the other hand Franky is the complete opposite of Pirate, that's why Franky is symbolized by Yang the dark side of the two. Franky's mood and appearance is completely  opposite to pirates characteristics, Franky is more energetic, bold, and stubborn. Franky's Yang side is very apparent and it shows, especially  when Franky starts to bully Pirate, or when there playing and Franky gets to rough and makes Pirate cry.
       Finally Yin-Yang is not just about Good and bad. Yin-Yang's most important philosophy is all about how they both consist together to bring balance. Although Franky and Pirate are complete opposites they have developed a strong bond and are always together and if I ever separate them they both start crying until they are back together.
       In the end although they are complete opposites, they have developed a strong bond with one another they are like brothers. They get along so well because they are a pack, and like a Wolf Pack they stick by each other, fallowing each other every where, and unfortunately when one causes a ruckus the other one is sure to fallow. In the end they both know that Franky is Alpha or the leader while Pirate is the next in command.. But the most important thing is that they are part of my Pack and they are part of my Family.

Citation

"What Is Yin Yang?" Personal Tao. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. 

<http://personaltao.com/teachings/questions/what-is-yin-yang/>.

"The 4 Pillars of Mysticism." Nabeel Afsar. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. <http://nabeelafsar.com/2014/01/27/the-4-pillars-of-mysticism/>.

Change

        At the start of this blog I mentioned I had two dogs Franky and pirate as you recall I said that I would only be focusing on Franky. This post is named Change because from now on this will now be a blog about both of my dogs Franky and Pirate. Why wait until now? The answer is that I have owned Pirate the longest in fact I've had him since he was a puppy, thus I felt that I knew him more than Franky who I have only owned for about 6 months. I decided to include Pirate now  because, for one it felt wrong to just include Franky and not Pirate it was as if I was choosing one over the other when I love both of them equally. Another reason is that there always together so just including Franky is like only giving you someone half a pizza when they paid for a whole pizza. This is why I have decided that from now on this blog will have both Franky and Pirate.
       First of all Pirate is a one and half year old Poodle/terrier mix, he is very calm and quiet compared to Franky, Pirates coat is a white curly coat. I have had Pirate the longest ive raised him sinced he was a puppy. I think pirate has always been more calm and resesive because he was the runt of his litter, so he was alot smaller then the rest of his brothers and sisters. We decided to name him Pirate because his eyes are different colors the right eye is brownish while his left eye is blue.
    
      As the weather starts to get alot colder I have noticed how both Franky and Pirate have started to adapt to this new more chilly cold weather. Recently Franky and Pirate have started to do this weird thing when I take them outside in the cold morning. Usually every morning when I take themb outside in the early mornings they usually just go around the various bushes marking there territory. But since the morning's have gotten colder they both get cold and try to get warm by laying down a big rock, they spend a good eleven minutes just basking in the sun just like lizards.
        Once I take them back inside if they are still cold they go to the heater pannels on the floors and just lay there getting warm from the hot air coming from the heater. Another activity that they have had to adapt to is the lack of walks. Since the weather has started to get colder and i have started doing a winter sport i dont have much time to take them out on walks as much as i did when i was still warm out. In conclusion as the weather is changing Franky and Pirate have learn to adapt and take advantage of many tools like the heater.
 
           

   
    
   

 

Lazy Saturday

Today I decided to do my observation rather early, I observed Franky around eleven o'clock in the morning. Most of the observing Franky was Franky sleeping. Occasionally he would awaken from his deep everlasting slumber because of the television or the sound of the phone ringing, occasionally he would wake himself up with his own snoring. But after a while he would find himself overcome with sleepiness and go lay down somewhere to sleep. As he slept I started to look at his peculiar coat more closely. Franky's coat is comprised of a mix of blacks, whites, and brown stripes. If you look at Franky's back you can see a dark gloomy black coat with brown stripes running through out it. Meanwhile if the front you can see a contrast of white and black. The whites run from his face to his belly and all the way to his feet, I think it makes look like Franky  is wearing a tuxedo. Eventually after watching Franky do nothing but sleep I started to get bored and I myself joined him in the wonderful and relaxing realm that is sleep.



Oh Franky

10/10/14
   As the weather started to warm up again I decided to take Franky to the park. We went to the Virginia Lake were we took a walk around the lake. Every bush he saw he felt an urge to mark it as his own, every person he saw he wanted to be pampered and loved by them, and unfortunately every duck he saw he had to chase and challenge them because he thought the lake was his property. So I had to keep him on a tight leash, but along the walk I did start to notice that the amount of ducks and goose in the lake had dropped from the last time I came in summer. I think that either some of them migrated or maybe the water quality is really bad because I kept hearing about the water pollution in the lake. Finally after the walk I preceded to take Franky to the dog park area. I took him there with the assumption that Franky would take the chance to play and make new friends. But the opposite occurred as soon as we walked through the gates he proceeded to go pick a fight with the other dogs. So I had  to leash him and leave. This came as a surprise because Franky had never fought with any dog at the park before. I don't know what could of triggered this but after this incident it makes me double think about taking Franky out to park again for while  till I can be sure he wont start picking fights with other dogs.

The Beginning

   Ever heard the phrase "Dog, men's best friend" of course you have, for thousands of years dogs have been regarded as men's loyal companion, friend, and family. But have you ever stopped and wondered  what makes them such great companions. I myself have two dogs of my own and while  watching nature shows on wolves I start to think and wonder how different is our modern dogs to wild wolves then  questions start to pop up . One of those is if a dog is domesticated them why must it mark its territory like a wolf ? Why must it still act upon instinct? Although I have many unanswered questions I feel that this Nature project will not just help me learn more about my own dog but also on the species of dog itself. Finally out of the two dogs I have I will be focusing on Franky he is a 3 year old Boston Terrier, I decided to focus on him specifically because I've only been with him 1 year and thus feel like I have yet to uncover his full potential and character. Another reason I want to focus on Franky is that he is very stubborn and has some obedience problems, I am planning on not just observing Franky but bonding and trying to teach him some new things.


First Entry
9/25/14

Today while watching Fraky eat his food I stopped and started to wonder how was it that Franky ate so damn fast compared to my other dog I mean I must have taken him about 1 minute to clear out his dish while it took Pirate my poodle about twice as much. I started to think of a possible explanation. Maybe Franky was really hungry today but then again this happens daily. Maybe his just fat but then again Franky only weighs 2 more pounds then Pirate. So then the logical answer would be that his half dog half pig right? Nope, after researching I found out that the answer is Franky's smushed face that wrinkly, pig looking, noise making, cute face has its purpose and its not just to make him look adorable. It turns out that dogs like franky who have a smushed face are called Brachycephalic dogs this includes Bulldogs, Boxers, and Boston Terriers. So how does this help Franky eat faster the answer is that having a smushed face means more air can get through the nasal cavity in other words more air more food without stopping to catch there breath.