Tricky Thursday Thirteen

13 Tricks, Phrases and Interesting Facts About WensleyDale

1. Woo can stand on her hind feet and twirl like a ballerina. Nothing funnier than a 5o pound bulldog in a tutu!

2. Wensley knows she gets fed twice a day. Even on days when she has had treat after treat she insists on eating at night. We've learned that we can put like a 1/2 cup of IAMS in her bowl and she'll be happy just because she's eaten twice.

3. This dog is a smart one. Just like the kids, she learned to make her presence known when we go to the bank. She knows that if the bank teller sees her she will get two dog bones!

4. When we pretend to make our hand into a gun and say bang she rolls over and plays dead.

5. She can do the easy stuff like high fives, shake, roll over, stay, speak, and kiss.

6. When we say get your baby she will find one of her stuffed animals and bring it to us. And when we tell her to get her toy she gets her squeaky ones and she also knows when we say go get your ball!

7. Being a bulldog she has a hard time giving herself a proper bath. When she sees one of us geting the baby wipes she immediately jumps on the bed and rolls over so we can clean her bottom. Poor thing. And when she is in heat she gets really gassy. She will by sleeping soundly and when she toots she gets up and leaves the room! Smart girl.

8. She tattles on herself. It rarely happens anymore, but if we forget to tell her goodbye she gets a little miffed and finds something to chew up. When we get home she greets us all and is happy to see us, but then she immediately runs back in the house and hides under the end table. That's when we know she did something! Once we find it we hold it up and ask, "Did you do this?" She always looks away from it and ignores us. We die laughing at that point.

9. She tell us she's sorry. When she has done something naughty she avoids us at all costs. If my hubby and I look at each other and say, "She's not even sorry." then she will run over to us and lick us to death as if to say she was sorry.

10. She LOVES to wear her bandanas. She gets all excited when we get them out and runs to us and stands still until we tie it on her. If we take it off she tries to stick her head back in the hole of the bandana. I personally think she feels pretty when she wears them!

11. My kids and I were bored one day and wrote down all the phrases she knew and understood. Our list was well over 100 when we got bored. I never knew dogs were so intelligent before we got her. I've always talked to her like she was a human and sometimes it gets creepy with what she understands.

12. Here are a few examples of the phrases she understood the very first time I said them. You'll understand why I got creeped out and wondered if she was reincarnated or something. But I don't believe in reincarnation so I just got the heebie jeebies instead. When I said these things I didn't yell, I just sorta said them casually.

A. When she was about 2 months old she was laying on my foot and I said scoot back and she moved about six inches away.

B. I used to pick her up and put her in the van. One day she was too heavy and I couldn't lift her anymore. I told her she was going to have to do it herself if she wanted to go. Then it was as if she took a deep breath and she jumped as high as she could. She didn't make it the first time, but she did the second. She also realized that my husband could still lift her and if we went anywhere together she still made him pick her up!

C. There isn't enough room in the hallway for me, my crutches, and her to walk beside me. One day I told her to back up and she did! If I say excuse me, she will step out of the way and let me through first.

D. She is used to going everywhere with us. Seriously. She's been all over the U.S. When we had to go to my father's funeral she was all happy because she could tell we were getting ready to go bye bye. I just looked at her and said, "Not today." She really did understand and she went off and laid under the end table without any begging.

E. She will eat absolutely anything that you drop and one day I accidentally dropped a pill. She of course saw it and instead of yelling NO at her I simply said, "That's not for you." And she didn't even sniff it. I tend to drop my medicine a lot and she just looks at it and leaves it alone. NOTE: I do not leave my medicine on the ground, I have a little grabber that I can pick it up with. She's well behaved, but I would never ever want ot harm her.

F. One afternoon she really wanted some treats. My husband said to her, "You know what to do." All of the sudden she is rolling over, trying to shake, twirling like a ballerina. She was going through all her tricks she had learned!! Needless to say she got severl treats for being so smart.

13. WensleyDale is the sweetest, most lovable dog you will ever meet. She loves people and animals all the same. She believes that we exist for her! She really is the most well behaved dog I have ever seen. She gets compliments all the time from strangers on her behaviour. She is loved like one of our own children and if at all possible she goes with us wherever we go. She provides me with love and laughter everyday. How could I not love her?