Episode 110 • Dogs
Be housebroken
Wag its tail
Growl
Leash
Breed
Story
Girlfriend: Babe.
Boyfriend: Yes, honey.
Girlfriend: Don’t you think the dog’s been acting strange today?
Boyfriend: What do you mean?
Girlfriend: Well… first of all… he’s been barking non-stop,
Boyfriend: Yeah, well he’s a dog so…
Girlfriend: Girlfriend: Then half an hour ago he pooped on the carpet.
Boyfriend: Yeah but he’s a puppy. Even if he‘s housebroken, there’ll be accidents…
Girlfriend: Yeah but… when you guys came home, he seemed really uncomfortable. He didn’t wag his tail when he saw me and for a second I could’ve sworn he even growled at me.
Boyfriend: Growl? No way, Cooper’s such a good boy, he would never growl. Come here Cooper, you would never growl at mommy, would you? You’re a good boy, aren’t you? Oh yes, yes, you are. You are such a-
Girlfriend: Honey, when you went to the dog park earlier, did you keep Cooper with you the whole time?
Boyfriend: Yes, of course.
Girlfriend: No, I mean. On a leash. Did you keep him on a leash the whole time?
Boyfriend: Well, no, I let him free to run around and play with the other dogs. Oh, by the way, fun fact. There was this dog that looked just like Cooper. Same breed, same age. I spoke to his owner for a while. Nice guy, he’s from-
Girlfriend: Babe, was this guy’s dog’s name Bruce?
Boyfriend: Yeah, how do you know?
Girlfriend: Look at this dog’s collar. Honey, I think you brought home the wrong dog…
Questions
Wrong dog. All right. A quick disclaimer before we get into the questions. I have never owned a dog, I only have experience with cats. I'm going to try and share what I know. If there are any dog owners out there that are listening to this and you think I'm saying something really stupid, let me know. Hopefully, I won't. I'll try to keep it very generic.
Be housebroken
'Even if he’s housebroken, there’ll be accidents…'
• If a dog is housebroken, will they poop and pee around the house or not?
If a dog is housebroken, no, they won't be pooping and peeing around the house. They will have passed that phase.
• When would you most often need to housebreak a dog? When they’re puppies or later in life?
It's usually puppies that need to be housebroken. Since puppies have never lived in a house, they don't know that they're supposed to only poop and pee outside and not in the house, so they need to be housebroken. They need to be taught where they can go to the bathroom and where they cannot go to the bathroom. Having said that, even older dogs, if they have never lived in a house or in an apartment, they will need to be housebroken because they've never learned, like I said, where to go to the bathroom. Usually, it's puppies. All puppies need to be housebroken.
• How long does it take to housebreak a dog?
Again, never had a dog, I don't know. I'm pretty sure it depends on the dog. I'm guessing a few weeks probably. Yes, that period must not be fun at all. I've had a couple of accidents where my cats pooped where they weren't supposed to, and let me tell you, it was not fun to clean up.
Wag its tail
'He didn’t wag his tail when he saw me…'
• If a dog is wagging its tail, which direction is the tail moving? Up and down or right and left?
If a dog is wagging its tail, that means that it's moving its tail right and left and not just once, it keeps going, right and left, right and left, right and left.
• What does it mean when a dog wags its tail?
Well, usually when dogs wag their tails is because they're really happy, so either you've just come home and they're really happy to see you or maybe you've just told them that you are going to take them to the park or out for a walk or perhaps you've just told them that you're going to feed them. All of these things will make a dog wag its tail.
Growl
'...I could’ve sworn he even growled at me.'
• What sound does a dog make when growling?
If a dog is growling at you, you will probably hear something like [growls]. All right, that is my growling impression. I usually don't growl, so I don't have a lot of experience with that. Actually, I take that back. When I get mad at my boyfriend, I sometimes growl just, yes, not for real, and not when I'm really mad at him, but if he makes fun of me or something, I'll sometimes reply with a [growls], just for fun. Am I weird? Yes, it's probably weird.
• Why do dogs growl?
Well, usually dogs and animals, in general, they growl because they want to intimidate you, so really it's a threat in a way, it's a warning. It's a sign that the dog feels threatened and that it's ready to defend itself.
• Has a dog ever growled at you?
I don't think a dog has ever growled at me. My cat growls, though, at my other cat. Cleo, often growls at JJ when he won't let her be. Sometimes he just wants to pick fights and he'll bite her because he wants to play but she does not want to play, she cannot be bothered and so she will often growl at him, but I don't think she's ever growled at me, so no.
Leash
'Did you keep him on the leash the whole time?'
• What is a leash? The thing that goes around a dog’s neck? Or the piece of string attached to it?
A leash is the piece of string that's attached to the collar, so to the thing that goes around a dog's neck. Yes, it's basically that string.
• What’s the purpose of a leash?
Well, you need to keep your dog on a leash if you don't want them to get away. Not all dogs do that. A lot of dogs will walk right next to their owner, but some dogs do have a tendency to maybe run away or run around. The purpose of a leash is to just make sure that your dog doesn't get away from you.
• Do you think dogs should be kept on a leash?
You know what, obviously, I think that dogs should be let free to run around, especially when they're at the dog park, they got to be, like I said, free to go play, be with the other dogs. But, to be honest with you, and I do not want to sound like Cruella de Ville, but if I'm walking down the street, I don't want some stranger's dog jumping on me. It might be because I'm very short, so any dog that jumps on me will basically knock me over, even a Chihuahua. That's not the point. The point is that it's happened to me before where I was walking, I was on a walk by myself and this dog, actually, I believe the dog was on a leash this time, but anyway, it still came up to me, it jumped on me, then it started licking my hands, and it was just a little bit uncomfortable because then I didn't have anything to clean myself with. My hands were sticky for a good half hour on my walk. Yes, I think maybe it depends on how well behaved your dog is, but just in general, I think it's a good idea to keep dogs on a leash and then let them free in certain spaces.
Breed
'There was this dog that looked just like Cooper. Same breed, same age.'
• What determines the breed of your dog? Its physical/personality traits or its age?
What determines the breed of a dog is, first and foremost, the physical traits. When I say, for example, Chihuahua or German Shepherd, you, in your head, get this picture immediately of a dog that looks a certain way. Usually, all dogs that are the same breed will look pretty much the same. There might be slight differences, but especially with dogs, they will often look exactly the same. It doesn't have anything to do with age. It also has to do a little bit with personality. Depending on the breed, your dog may have certain personality traits. Just to give you an example, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, they're known for being very friendly, very playful. Obviously, each dog has its own personality, but it's true that each breed does have some specific personality traits.
• Can you name some dog breeds?
I'm really bad at this. I think I'm going to google this. All right. Some that I'm seeing here, German Shepherd, Labrador, Husky, Bulldog, Poodle, ooh, Poodle are fun, Pitbull, Chihuahua. These are just some examples of dog breeds.
• What’s your favorite dog breed?
What's your favorite dog breed? I think maybe Labradors. I just think especially when they're puppies, they are the cutest thing ever. To be honest with you, all puppies are cute. It's really hard to pick one, but yes, I think I'm going to go with Labradors.
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