// BLOG
Maltese Mind Meld
May 2, 2010
Have you ever heard of a maltese mind meld?It's when two maltese do the same things at the same time.
I had never heard of it, but my business partner is a vet, and he
is the one who pointed it out to me.
Dr. Dressler and I were meeting in my office yesterday, and
"the girls" - Kanga and Tink - were hanging out with us.
They are completely different in personality, but Dr. Dressler
noticed that they do the same things at the same time.
He called it a "doggy mind meld" when they were stretched out, two
feet away from each other, both lying on their left side, snoring
teensy little snores.
I told Molly about it, and she told me that they were "spooning"
on the living room couch a few days ago. Tink was lying on her side,
and Kanga was too, just behind her, with Tink's head snuggled under
her chin.
I can't possibly describe how cute she made it sound. We'll try to take
a picture the next time they do it.
We started looking for other "doggy mind meld" moments, and now
we see that they often turn their heads at the same time, cock
their heads to one side at the same time, or sit down at the same
time.
It's so sweet.
I'm calling it "maltese mind meld."
If you have more than one dog, does yours do it too? Tell me in the comments below. I would love to hear.
Is drinking seawater bad for dogs?
April 29, 2010
Tink took her second trip to the beach this morning, and it was sofun (and funny) that I had to tell you about it.
Before we got her, Tink hadn't been to the beach yet, at all, even though she only lived a few blocks away.
Kanga, of course, thinks the beach is where she should be all the
time. She would stay all day long if she could.
The first time we all went, Tink included, Tink mostly ran around
our ankles. She couldn't seem to figure out how sand works. The sand
on our beach is very soft under the feet. There are almost no shells
or rocks at all, and it's very white and powdery.
Tink lifted her feet up high as she ran, like she wasn't sure she
could trust the sand to not pull her under.
At first, Kanga hung around and watched her. After a few minutes, though, she shook her head and sneezed and ran off to sniff around and run, run, run.
Molly said Kanga said "WhatEVER!"
Well, this morning, on her SECOND trip, Tink behaved very differently.
She ran. She skidded to a stop with a great wave of sand shooting
in front of her (Kanga's favorite trick). She greeted others on the
beach with a sit and a smile and a lot of licks to the hands.
She also did a couple of things we need to watch her for.
For one, she drank seawater. Yuck. Not only is it way to salty, it could also have parasites or impurities in it. Kanga's done that couple of times, and thrown up afterward. We always give a lot of water before we get to the beach so they're not thirsty - and more once we're there - but this morning the little lapping waves that come up in sheets over the sand must have looked irresistible to Tink.
We made our "stop that" noise, which is a kind of eh eh eh eh eh
sound.
She moved away from the water, but she looked like she was
still interested. I'm going to keep an eye on this scamp.
I think she also ate a crab.
I'm not sure... but I saw her poke her nose in a crab hole,
and a minute later she was chewing something. Sigh.
She's a busy, busy dog. Polar opposite of Kanga.
I think the next trip to the beach will be preceded by a longer walk.
She needs to get a little more tired out.
Tink’s new pixie cut
April 28, 2010
of them belong to Maltese (dogs).
Kanga loves her little white friends, but she doesn't look
anything like them. We keep her in super-short cut, and they
all have traditional long, lovely locks.
Our neighbors spend hours each week brushing that long hair.
Kanga spends hours at the beach. When it's time to go home,
she knows she's in for a little shower, but it doesn't take long
and she's dry in minutes.
When it's time to get trimmed up, she prances afterward.
It's hot in Maui year round, so it seems she likes the feeling
of a "light coat."
Tink came to our house with a grooming appointment already set.
Tink has the same groomer that Kanga has, which is convenient.
Lovely, sweet Allyson has been with us for several years. Maui
loved her to pieces. In fact, Allyson helped my sweet dog
pass away. Just days before she left for the Rainbow Bridge,
Allyson came and gave Maui with a loving bath and trim. We weren't
sure Maui would want the session because she was already very
sick, but when she saw Allyson, she wagged her little tail more
than she had in a month.
Anyway, when Tink came to us on Easter, she already had a
grooming appointment set up.
We kept it, of course, and Allyson came by.
Tink now has the signature Jacobson cut. Super short,
sporty, and ready for a roll in the sand!
I'm so grateful to Allyson for taking such good care of all three
of my girls. She's an angel, for sure.
She's given my little Tinkerbell a real pixie cut.
two dogs – twice as much noise?
April 20, 2010
had become until 11 month old Tink arrived at our house.
Tink is still easily startled by noises, and we have many
at our house that she's still getting used to.
The funniest thing is Kanga's reaction.
Let's take the garbage truck, for example. Kanga used to tremble
when she heard the truck. When she was little, she would sound
a huge alarm, letting us know that the big bad truck was outside
and MAKING NOISE!!
Well, now Tink is kicking up a fuss. We live near a hotel, and the
garbage truck comes every morning to pick up the trash. So every
morning so far Tink has woken us all up with a giant bark (we sleep
right through the garbage truck).
Now that Tink is the one raising a ruckus, Kanga seems to have
decided that she must be the big brave girl.
When the truck starts loading up the dumpster, banging lids and
grinding gears, Tink barks her little head off. While Molly or I
work with Tink to calm her down, Kanga looks at us with an expression
that says something like:
"Can you believe what a fuss she's making? How immature."
It's so funny. If she could roll her eyes, she would.
Tink tolerates the noise more each day. Soon she'll sleep right
through it, just like Kanga does, I'm sure.
It's just so cute to see our "little puppy" Kanga acting like
a big sister.
A New Maltese Enters our Life under unfortunate Circumstances
April 5, 2010
Please comment below and welcome her to our family...