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How I started writing about Duke the Dog.

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Contributed by: Leonard Avery on 3/1/2007

After I got Duke the Dog I began to realize how smart he was. He was learning things by leaps and bounds. And doing a lot of leaping and bounding too, come to think of it.

I would sit and watch him play in the yard and wonder what was on a dog's mind. How does he see things in his world. After much thought I decided that a dog's world is very simple. You see, dogs do not lie, they do not cheat and they do not hate. They must have a wonderful world. A dog's world is small and easy to understand. They know some human words and they soon figure out what those words mean.

Such as house. They know that the big box thing that has a door is a house. And anything that is similar to that is also a house. So a garage or a shed is a small house and a car that humans open up a door (like the house has on it) is a moving house. That satisfies their thoughts of those items. A driveway to the garage is just like the street out front. So the street becomes a big long driveway and the side walk is a little thin driveway. And all buildings are houses. Some are small houses and some are big houses (like the bank) And the humans that are in those "big houses" must live there, because that is what his masters do.

Food is easy for a dog to understand and they know that humans have food too and some of it is very good. They soon learn to sit up and beg for food from their humans and we are too easily suckered into giving them extra food.

Windows is another thing that they can understand so a black box that has glass on the front and humans and animals inside it is a black window box (TV set) and a mirror is another window because a dog can see another dog in the window. All things that humans use look like the sticks that are out in the yard, so a gun is a noise stick and a fork is a small stick that humans eat with. A key is a stick that humans open a door with and tools that their human is using in the small house in the back yard (garage)are sticks too.

When they get a shot at the Vets it feels like a dog has bit them so the woman humans "bit him". A dog doesn't understand needles or medicine. He just goes on what he does understand and puts anything else into the same catagory. The white stuff (snow) is cold and it hurts his feet. So he doesn't like it. and any strange noise sets off his protection (fight or flight syndrome) instincts. Dogs like to be petted and praised and soon know the difference between words like Good Dog and Bad Dog.

Good Dog reinforces their actions and Bad Dog will make them fearful. Their play is also a part of their life and prepares them for situations. When Duke brings his toys for me to toss he is practicing the age old 'dog running down his prey and bringing it back to his family' instinct. I like to reinforce that instinct because dogs need to know what they are and who they are. Making a dog be a human is the worst thing that we could ever do. They should be taught good habits but their basic dog habits and instincts should be kept and reinforced.

All in all it has been a great time living with my little Duke the Dog and I look forward to helping him detail his adventures in this world of dogs and their world of innocence.

Sarge

Leonard Avery is a father, a husband, a teacher, a friend, and a writer.
He writes about life and about living. His stories are humorous and sometimes serious. He tells of adventure and of love. His family is his plot and theme. He was a farm boy, a soldier, a law enforcement officer, a detective, a designer, a teacher, a gunsmith, a junior spy. And from all this he writes his stories.

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Leonard Avery

Northglenn , CO

Leonard Avery has posted 70 stories and 39 comments since joining on 2/16/2006. Leonard Avery 's average story rating is 4.75.

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