The Quiet Dog

Misha is a very quiet dog. He has been with us since May and I have only heard him bark 3 times. Once he whined to join me on a chair. The rest of the time he has been silent.
But he communicates with me constantly. The way he gives a glance, shrugs a shoulder or averts his gaze speaks volumes. I watch him often to learn what kinds of things he is telling me. Perhaps he decided that because I don't speak "Bark" and he does not speak "English" we should rely on a common language- silence.
I think he has made a very wise choice. I speak silence pretty well. My household when I was growing up was very quiet. We spoke at dinner time and when there was something thoughtful to be said. Every evening after dinner the house was quiet. One could do homework or read or think...but no noise. No music, no phones and surely no television was allowed.
Silence has its own repetoire. There are angry silences and thoughtful silences. There are peaceful and loving silences. I grew up reading my family and their silences as one reads a book. My father's silences were because he was thinking, creating, re-working words and his projects. My mother's silences could be soft and encompass me with love. They could also shut me out, it was her silence and I was not to intrude on it. She deserved time to be in her head without any of us in there with her.
Misha's silences are many. He rests happily in silence, he broods silently, he walks and adventures in quiet. His tail tells of his enjoyment in the task at hand.
I love needing to look at him to read his mood. His eyes flash, or caress. His body can twist in delight or can flatten in fear. Our quiet is a language of its own we are using to talk with one another.

And Back to Sleeping...

Sleeping is an integral part of my life. Oh, I know everyone sleeps. But some do not treat it as the art form that it is. Some folks even do it begrudingly "too much to do, too little time" and they soldier on.
My father was always an Olympic sleeper. As kids my brothers and I would tell him we were going to enter him in the Games and he would win, hands down..or eyes closed as it were. He would win the Gold in Olympic Napping.
I , of course have gone through different stages of sleeping as I age. As a child I always took naps and still do when my schedule allows. My naps were 2 or 3 hours, full of dreams and lots of REM sleep. And then I would get my full 9 hours of sleep at night.
Now, I am in bed at 8:00, asleep by 8:30 and up at 5:30. Misha shares my dedication to sleep. He naps after long walks, play time, and all day if it is raining outside. I am sure his sleeping is as restorative as mine. It is not just physical but mental exhaustion that makes sleeping so important to us. When we are awake (Misha and I) we notice everything; blades of grass, sounds of bugs and trucks, kids and cars. We notice squirrles on branches and mice on the run. We are finely tuned and nothing goes by our notice.
So, after some hours we need to rest, to download all the stuff that was uploaded into our brains in our hours of wakefullness. We sleep and upon waking we see a brand new world, full of possibilities and magic. We are ready to explore it once again!

To go or not to go...

Wikipedia states that the "bladder is a hollow, muscular, and distensible organ." Everyone has one. When one is young bladder control is an issue, thus toilet training for people and housetraining for dogs is a must. When talking about getting a dog I got lots of advice like "get a female, they can hold their bladder longer".
Apparently rabbits can be litter box trained and pigs can be housetrained which might make them desirable indoor pets to some. I know people end up with animals that pee in the house. They are often animals who have been rescued who have emotional and physical problems or animals whose owners never really got the knack of how to housetrain. Elderly animals as well as elderly people often have bladder control issues. I have a friend who puts her ancient Pomeranian in a diaper at night. Ridiculous? Well, perhaps not any more than putting your mother in Depends.
So, I got Misha thinking I would need to housetrain him. Perhaps I would keep him just in the kitchen and take him out on a rigid schedule. I was realy to go the whole nine yards. It has been 5 months since he entered our lives and I swear the dog has the bladder of a camel.
I take him out at 7:00 PM to pee and then not again until 6:00 AM. Once he went 15 hours without peeing because it was raining and he did not want to go outside. We should all be so lucky. I imagine his bladder the largest organ in his body. Maybe it is part of his mutt pedigree. He is a 20 lb. dog with a Great Dane bladder!

Misha - Zen Master

I grew up in the 1960's and 1970's so Zen was a concept I knew about quite well. Meditation was taught in small classes, large classes, night school and recreation centers. I was on the outskirts of the hippie generation. I tried to meditate many times but it never quite took hold. My mind could never be tamed and when I did it briefly, I was bored silly and stopped the activity immediately.
But now, with Misha, I have found my answer to meditation. We tiptoed out into our dark backyard at 5:00 this morning. I thought Misha had to pee,thus the trip in the shadowy grey of the yard. We walked stealthily through the wet grass and I realized we were not on a mission to find the perfect tree to pee on...we were looking for bunnies! Misha was on the alert. As we wandered the lawn I began to see the bushes and grasses, vegetable garden and hen house all emerge from the darkness. Misha was totally concentrated on sniffing out his prey. His focus traveled up the leash and to my arm, up my arm and to my brain. I was actually living in the moment.
He must have smelled a rabbit in a big bush because he came to a halt in front of it and sat down. He was focused and alert and quiet and just sitting. He stared in to bush and did not move. I pulled over a garden chair and sat too. I looked the other direction toward the light that was beginning to bring the day. I heard the little bugs and birds making their wake up noises. I found that I was not thinking about anything at all, I was just being there.
The difference for me was that I was not alone or with other humans. I was with Misha and he was not looking to see if I was sitting correctly or breathing correctly. He was intent on his interest and I could be intent on mine.