I think Angel's "real" name is Cecelia ...

[k9Karen]

"I got up to wash my face,
when I come back to bed someone's taken my place" ..
(With apologies to Paul Simon)
This is what I was up against last night when I went to bed - the furry pillow thief!

[davet]

we catch sassie like tha occaisionly but as soon as she is discovered she slinks off and hides under the dresser...with BJ our old dog we could hear the thud on the floor when we came home....saassi hasn't learned that subetrfuge yet.

[momPaws]

Beautiful dog! Looks like she arranged things to fit her needs..Honey likes to do this, but I kinda got her out of the habit . She loves to put her head on a nice soft pillow, like Angel.
I have a question- have been told that Shelties are barky..but I always hate generalizations about ppl or dogs- since you have 3- do they "talk" a lot??

[TheSkeptic]

Great pics, but why does she jump off and hide? Ours just grumpily move over so we have some room too.

Mompaws. we had two Shelties. Bear only barked when there was good reason.. In fact We could tell from the way she barked who was coming to the door! Children who played with her got one type of bark. Neighbors coming to visit another and strangers still another.

Tippy was similar, but not so distinctive as Bear and she sometimes barked at the "Cobblies."

Our Barkiest dogs are Ivory and Pea Pod. I can 'Almost' understand why some people debark dogs with those two.

Talking is something else. Apache, Kaiser and Prince are prime talkers. When Pea Pod isn't barking she is talking. Pea Pod could no more keep quiet than stop breathing!

Of these only Kaiser has any Sheltie in her and she is not bad for Barking.

One more point.

When a dog is barking,
and nothing is there,
Do not get angry and shout,
The dog sees more than you.
and the barking is to scare away,
The devil who is about!

[k9Karen]

I have a question- have been told that Shelties are barky..but I always hate generalizations about ppl or dogs- since you have 3- do they "talk" a lot??

Shelties are definitely vocal, but not all are barkers. I've had 4 - 2 are barkers (Mickey and Allie). Leah only barked when there was something to bark at - unfortunately, the kids behind us liked to make her bark (she was OK after we moved from that house). She was more of a growler (low, scary growl if she heard anything or there was another dog out there). She would bark at the doorbell. Angel is not a barker at all unless you are a bird, a low-flying plane, or a lawn mower - she has a personal problem with those. She does bark at the doorbell. Mickey used to bark at anything and everything, (especially when he's playing), but was not an outdoor barker unless he could see someone from the yard. He was a talker - constantly letting me know what he was thinking - until the past couple of years as he's gotten so old (he'll be 16 next month). Alllie is extremely vocal and an awful barker. She was born deaf, and I've often wondered if that has something to do with it. She barks at any and everything. I say she barks at ghosts - things we can't see in the house (Skeptic's devil?). She is also quite a talker - expressing her pleasure and displeasure at will.

As you can see, it really depends on the dog. With Mickey, it was a though something short-circuited in his brain when his bark engaged - I could never train him to stop. With Allie, since she can't hear, training is even more difficult. She's a cunning one - she barks up a storm around me, but my husband only has to cut her a look and she shuts up for him (at least for a few seconds).

[k9Karen]

Great pics, but why does she jump off and hide? Ours just grumpily move over so we have some room too.

Angel doesn't hide - she just stays there until it's obvious I'm not going to take "no" for an answer. Then she lets out the most disgusted-sounding sigh and moves. Although it's not unusual for me to wake up and find her "sharing" my pillow at night.

[E's]

Great song from the best era IMO. But also of interest is this:
K9Karen wrote:

Alllie is extremely vocal and an awful barker. She was born deaf, and I've often wondered if that has something to do with it. She barks at any and everything. I say she barks at ghosts - things we can't see in the house (Skeptic's devil?). She is also quite a talker - expressing her pleasure and displeasure at will.

If I can get it to post, here is a pic of His Royal Highness Prince Xanth, now waiting at the Bridge...


Xanth also was born deaf, and one of the many amazing things things about this marvelous cat was that he "spoke his mind" as we called it... besides a loud and frequent meow, he vocalized and clearly showed a range of emotions: disappointment when a toy rolled under the sofa, greetings to humans that were almost human, greetings to other pets that were different for each... he walked on lead outside like a dog, and wasn't afraid of any dog... This whole subject of how a pet's deafness effects behavior fascinates me... Maybe we should make it a topic on a health forum? Anyway, sweet pics of Angel [Cecelia]

[k9Karen]

Beautiful cat. Did he have blue eyes - it's hard to tell from the photo. I'm not a cat person, but I've always heard that white cats with blue eyes were deaf (any truth to that?). It is interesting that, even though they are totally different species, they have that characteristic in common which could be related to their deafness. You're right - an interesting topic for the Health Board. I'll put it over there now.

[momPaws]

E's- beautiful Prince...he sounds like he was a special guy. As my BC mix dog gets older am trying to also teach her 'sign lang.'- but she is way ahead of me. There have been so many times when I would go to do something and she would anticipate what I was about to do. For Eg.- as I come downstairs in the morning I never realized that I stop at the landing, push aside the curtains and look out the window as a routine...well she knows that and sometimes beats me to the window - paws up on the sill. So, if she looses some hearing I guess she already has some cues down pat.