Nadi is my Shi-Tzu mix dog that I have had for 10 years now. I got her when she was already around 1 year old and she was already kind of out of the puppy stages. She was already quite well trained when I got her, which was an accident. I just came home from work one day and my girlfriend at the time had acquired a dog without consulting me. At first I was quite upset about this because as someone that has had dogs almost all of his life, I know that this is not a spur of the moment decision and that it lasts a really long time and requires your attention and commitment.
That anger on my part quickly faded into "awwww" because it only took a day or two for me to be hopelessly in love with this little fluff muffin. It helped that she never did anything bad like pee or poop on the floor, nor did she seem to be at all interested in getting in the garbage or chewing up anything that wasn't bought specifically for her.
So here we are 10 years later and Nadi and I kind of have a routine that we go through almost every day.
When we get up in the morning she gets really excited about Yum Yums, which is our word for food. Then after eating them she immediately goes back to sleep despite the fact that she has just been in bed for the past 6-8 hours.
This spot on the sofa is one of her favorite places to sleep. After Dad does a bit of work we go on a walk together that normally also includes me getting some food for myself. My local cheap Vietnamese restaurant doesn't care if you bring your dog in with you so that is exactly what I do.
Today I had Pho, which is basically the national dish of Vietnam. She patiently waits over there and I will give her a piece or two of the meat. Look out, you might lose a finger if you don't know what you are doing.
After that we head back home and I will normally do a bit more work then we head up to the gym. The gym in my building allows dogs or at least they don't ban them because while i never asked permission I have never been reprimanded. It is at this point that she gets her afternoon treaty-pie or chewy chew snack
Once again, she struggles with staying awake because like a lot of smaller breed dogs, she spends a lot of her time indoors and this is just the way her life has been. While I am over pushing up weights she is snoozing away on the cool tile floor
After 90 minutes or so of me doing weights and reading, it is time to head back to the room 7 floors below. Where I will make a choice of doing more work, reading a book, or playing some Playstation. Nadi will always sit quite close to me and then after a certain amount of time something magical happens.
Dogs can't read clocks but they really do have an amazing idea about the approximate time of day. I don't know how they do it but it is pretty amazing. Like clockwork, around 5pm, Nadi will start to touch me with her paws or lean her head on me and if I ignore her long enough she will actually start to whine and even growl. She knows that it is times for "walkies" because this is around the time of day that I have always done it since we have lived in Vietnam.
Sometimes instead of going on a walk I will take her up to the pool instead.
She enjoys this just as much as going on the walk and before anyone asks, no, she does not use the bathroom up here. She is a good girl and knows where that activity is and is not allowed. Most of the other residents here like Nadi and this is good because she will go to greet you if you come to the pool. There is one Russian couple that won't so much as look at her or touch her - perhaps they are Muslim. So when they come up I will pull Nadi over and tell her to stay, which she does. She is a good dog and knows that when I say "stay" that I mean it.
I normally eat dinner quite late and I almost always do so at home.
My stalker will watch me the entire time even though I only give her tiny pieces of chicken or something like that. Of all vegetables the only one she will eat is tomatoes, so if I have some of those she is awarded them as well. Never too much though, I don't need a fat and unhealthy doggo.
If I don't go out to the pub I actually will normally go to bed quite early. It's how I like to live my life. I'm not much of a night owl anymore and since it is so hot in this country it is wise to be up early in the morning to take advantage of the few hours of coolness that still have light involved in the process during that time. So we 'hit the hay' around 9pm every night.
Nadi can tell based on what it is that I am doing such as brushing my teeth or turning lights off that it is bedtime, and by the time I get to the bed she is normally already in her doggie bed that is on my bed.
I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful dog that never makes any problems for me. The awesome thing is that I didn't really do anything to train her to be like this, it just kind of worked out that way. I have only had to discipline her a couple of times in her entire life and a big blessing was that she just kind of seemed to already understand the rules of using the bathroom. This is a process that most dog owners will agree is a tough part of dog ownership.
I got to skip all of that and just focus on the good. I know that everyone thinks that their dog is the best dog, but people who don't own Nadi think that Nadi is the best dog and I agree with them. We spend a lot of time together because I want to, not because I feel like I have to. She is the perfect roommate and she doesn't like change. Our daily routine is something that she understands and gets really excited about.
Most likely it's not nice what I'm going to say, but reading your post reminded me of the scene that took place at the hairdresser last night. There was a young mom with two girls, around 8 and 4. She was almost crying because the two girls were totally out of control. When they left, everyone was relieved. I was thinking thank God they are not mine as I would go crazy. The difference between the two is, yours is a dog and the two young ladies are human, they should be more intelligent. Yet, they were totally out of control.
Consider yourself lucky. However, most likely it's not luck, it's how you've been treating her over the years.
well i think that a lot of people have felt that way about children in public at some point in their lives. Kids act up if parents let them. I often wonder what kind of a kid I was and should ask my mother if I was well-behaved or not.
I am sure that the way that I look after Nadi has a lot to do with why she is so well-behaved for sure, but at the same time I also got lucky that she has such a pleasant demeanor. Other friends of mine have dogs that are just wild but it is at least partly their fault because you have to mold a dog, or a human, to get them to act right.
It is pretty amazing how their internal clocks work. I never would have guessed they could understand the concept of time so well, but man Jovi was the same way. If it was a minute after her dinner time she was all up in your stuff. I sometimes wish she hadn't struggled with the anxiety and everything she did. We gave her a good home, so I know it wasn't anything we did. I guess even for dogs getting left in a crate in the ditch can scar you forever. Okay, I've gotta stop now :) starting to tear up here.
yeah man. I think about you often whenever I write about my dog but I will be right there with you in the ditch of sadness in a couple of years or so. I'm not looking forward to that time. Whenever I take her to the dog hair salon and she is not in my apartment with me for a few hours it dawns on me that one day, every day is going to be like that...
Yeah, it is pretty rough. I don't wish that on anyone to be honest. The quiet is horrible like you say.
Nadi is living the life I want for myself, hahaha. Kidding aside, having a dog best friend within the household is really something to look forward and brightens the mood of the house, dogs are a total joy and we also have our own, never goes out just sleeps at home all day!!!☺︎
Dogs are amazing creatures. She makes my life more difficult and limits what I can do such as it is almost impossible for me to go on vacation but in the end, the sacrifices I make for her are totally worth it.
oh and by the way... I also want that life for myself. Don't have to think and are happy about everything. That would be the best.
Well trained and he day becomes a routine. My dogs know when it is food time and sit patiently by their bowls almost the same time every evening even with the early sunsetting these days.
I bet there is some sort of YouTube study that has been done on the internal clocks of dogs. That's a wormhole I am going to go down later today.
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