Abi has taken up a few new little habits recently.
She’s decided that she doesn’t want me to be in the living room during the daytime. She wants me to remain in the bedroom when I wake up.
But I have things to do and I don’t want to stay in the bedroom all day.
So Abi stays back in the bedroom and whimpers. She will occasionally come into the living room to make sure I still know she’s upset with me.
Some mornings when I get up, I’m pretty tired. Abi still continues to wake me up every few hours to go out. I put down a pee pad for her. Sometimes she’ll use it; sometimes she won’t.
Abi is not a very predictable dog.
I try to sweet talk her until she jumps up on the couch and lays down next to me for a short time while I pet her. Then she jumps down, runs to the bedroom, and begins the cycle all over again.
In reality, Abi kind of runs things around here. She tells us when to go back to the bedroom in the early evening. And she tells us (Charlie and I) when to get up.
If I don’t get up when she wants me to, she puts her head really close to mine and just stares at me. After awhile she will whine till I open my eyes and begin talking to her.
Charlie Ross:
On the other hand, Charlie is a sweet and easygoing boy. He tends to lay next to me, tongue hanging out, and is a happy little camper.
He does tend to want to go outside a lot. And he barks more than he did when he was younger. Sometimes I wonder if this is a bit of dementia.
They will both be 12 years old come fall. Abi in August and Charlie in September.
Yesterday, I just gave up and gave in to Abi around noon. Once I was in the bedroom with her, she was fine. Abi’s little habits sometimes drive me round the bend.
Charlie just got up and followed along amiably.
When I put their canned food out around noon, she often stands and stares at me. Abi will whine if the food isn’t cut up just so. So I’ll take a spoon and move it around and see if that satisfies her.
Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. So I will keep moving it around and cutting it up differently till she is mollified and will eat it.
Abi is not really a barker. Unless she thinks I’m about to go some place without her. Then she barks like crazy.
I ask myself how I got in the position where a small dog is running my life. But I suppose Abi is just more stubborn than I am and manages to wears me down.
Abi’s Little Habits & Games:
She also has little games she plays with me, whether I want to participate or not. At night she often won’t get in bed with Charlie and me after the lights are out. She will remain on the floor, making all kinds of weird noises.
I will finally say: “Where’s my girl? Where’s Abi?” in this high-pitched singsong voice she likes. She will reply with her funny and quirky sounds. I’ve never heard a dog makes the kinds of sounds Abi makes.
When she stops, I’m supposed to say it again. And again. We go back and forth until she tires of the game and jumps up on the bed with us.
There’s not much going on in my patio garden. My herbs are even starting to look tired and overwhelmed.
August is right around the corner. Which means stifling heat. The true dog days of summer.
However it has been overcast this weekend. I guess since the ground hog saw his shadow, we’re going to have six more weeks of winter.
I’m already over winter and tired of gray days.
Our pets are our babies and rule us. My Lola was a tiny little pit bull mix that was found, with her sister, inside a taped up cardboard box and thrown in a dumpster. I fostered both puppies and used to hold them for hours at a time as I sat in my lazy boy chair. Lola’s sister got adopted, Lola did not until I couldn’t give her up and we adopted her. To this day I can’t sit in that chair since my 50 lb baby wants to come up and sit in my lap! She is the sweetest, most loving, best friend ❤️
What is it about Yorkies? I too have a female Yorkie, Lilli. The antics you describe with Abi have made me laugh so much and remind me of the games Lilli plays with me as well; most particularly, her eating habits. Her dad got her used to him squatting down with her when she was first brought home. He wanted to see how much she was actually eating. Well, he passed away 5 months ago and needless to say, we both miss him very much. My point being, now momma( me ) has to play into her social eating behavior. If I so much as even sigh when its time to get down beside her while she eats, she refuses to eat. I have to say things she likes to hear in order for her to eat and much like you do,…….in the high pitched voice she likes… Ha! Brenda, I believe these girls have us trained the way they want us. Gotta love those pupsters!
Miss Abi is too adorable for words! My 12 pound Chorkie, Molly, wants to rule the roost so badly and once a year will challenge “mom” to be Alpha in the house. She doesn’t win the challenge but she has to give it a shot every year. She will be 11 in the Fall and I can’t imaging my life without her and her quirky little habits. Have a great Monday! Carol
I found myself laughing outloud reading your report on the pupsters, especially Abi, of course. The pet who orders me–and all the other four-leggeds in the house–around the most is the geriatric cat named Rhoda. She MUST eat three or four times a day and meows loudly at me until I give her a little something. She even bosses the dog around, who is about seventy-five pounds to her twelve! Then there is the other cat who is scared of everything, especially Rhoda who is very aggressive toward her. Have to feed her in a separate room or the dog eats her food and she will also eat Rhoda’s food no matter that she’s scared of Rhoda. Crazy! I, too, wonder how I came to be ordered around by these beasts who contribute nothing to their up-keep??
I guess the answer is Love. Companionship. Compassion.
Such a sweet little face! They do somehow wrangle their way round so they rule the roost, don’t they? I have four and they’ve each managed to wrap me around their little fingers in different ways. I sometimes don’t know if I’m coming or going, but oh, the love they give in return!
I have a little yorkie named Abby, too! I have another one, Lily, who is Abby’s mother. They both absolutely run this house! Enjoyed reading about your Abi and Charlie!
I had to laugh at this….my youngest son has been staying with me along with his pit bull who jumped into bed with me at 5 a.m this morning to snuggle, lick my face off and put his enormous head on my neck. So I rolled over. He got OFF the bed, came around to the other side, jumped up and licked my face off again…OK I give up. He wants breakfast. I got up. He wpn.
I think as animals get older, they DO get more quirks. Our 13 year old cat, who has been with us through thick and thin (and many moves) is acting weirder and weirder these days. I really do think maybe she’s getting a bit of dementia or more sensitive to things. Who knows? She may hurt and we don’t know it, or want something and we don’t know what it is. She’s so finicky on her eating… she’ll stand and stare at you as you put her food down, the kind she normally loves, and just look and then walk away. Or she’ll walk around the house meowing in this sad plaintive way, like she’s looking for someone or something. She did lose her brother about a year ago, and I think she does still miss him. They were buddies since birth. She seems more needy too.. follows me around, and wants me to sit down so she can sit on my lap.. almost like she’s whining and telling me “hurry up already.. and sit down… so I can get closer to you”. I love her anyway.. but it does get annoying sometimes.. but I always try to make her feel loved and just accept her traits. I think also she may be getting a little harder to see so maybe that’s why she seems scared of sounds more and strange noises.
LOL- We had a 20 pound Maine Coon cat that ran our lives, too. He was hysterical and I swear he was human in a fur suit. He played games with us regularly and would drive you nuts when HE wanted to play. If it was OUR choice to play he was usually not interested. lol
Great pictures…and we, too, are experiencing MORE winter. ugh..I am tired of it!!! xo Diana
I think that little face is totally hypnotic.
maybe you’re in an Abi Trance and just don’t know it! LOL
Look at those faces!! They are so dear to us.
Your babies make me smile and laugh. I too have a quirky pet and I love her. She makes my living alone less alone! Hugs!
I loved that comment at the end, “But then I don’t make the rules.” That certainly applies to pets and the weather. We only have one cat now, a 15-year-old shy and skittish female, because her brother died in November. He was so friendly and affectionate and we miss him so much, and we think his sister misses him too. She used to follow along and do what he did and now she is doing odd things like using the bathtub instead of the litter box, and sometimes eating every bite of food and other times acting like her food dish is a complete mystery to her. Sometimes she meows in such a sad way like she is missing her brother. We have been trying to decide if we should get another older male cat to be her buddy. We would like an old guy to be our buddy but aren’t sure how she’ll handle it. I think we will wait awhile longer.
Same here,my cats,Bella and Buddy usually start my day between 5-6,she “talks”,he’ll walk up and down on me,I always joked that he’s checking to see if I’m breathing.
Then they get a 1/4 can of Friskies beef with extra gravy (all that they’ll eat),somedays,he looks at it and walks away,go figure.
Brenda,I saw on FB,this guys dog wouldn’t eat the wet food so he started putting it in the microwave and taking it out and she ate it,not even sure he turned it on!
They can be pests but I wouldn’t trade them for the world:)
Lol. The microwave story made me laugh!
Are Abi and Charlie siblings?
Your life with Abi sounds like me and my Dexter. Some nights I do get a full nights sleep but others he wants to sleep with me but can’t seem to settle and ends up lying full length on my pillow. He used to come under the bed clothes with his head on the pillow, this was just fine but now when I lift the bedclothes for him to get in he just stands and looks! He is a very nervous cat and if I drop something which makes a noise he looks at me as if I have hurt him. In the evening when I settle down in my recliner he immediately climbs on top of me and lays on my chest and I am a bit of a fidget and cannot hold this position for long, so them he goes and sits on Simon and gives me a bit of a break! We want to please them but we end up catering to their every need or want! Dexter used to let me sleep until 5-30 before he would come and wake me but now its more like 5-00a.m. I lay there until I can’t stand his baby noises any longer! Having said all this I wouldn’t have it any other way.