The mystery of that 'magical' patch of grass and more ...

Hello there!

I suppose what I've observed as the Dog Woods Pack idiosyncrasies is possibly common to most dogs.

I've often wondered about that 'magical' patch of grass that seem to draw the entire pack to have a good roll in that one particular spot of the lawn.  What is it about that patch of grass that deserves extra 'rolling' attention from the dog to the rest of the lawn?  Interestingly enough, that patch is never always at the same place.  It's here, it's there ... sometimes it's no where!

So what is it about that magical grassy patch?  The smell?  Age poo?  What? It's not exactly foul smelling (yes, I've even bothered to take a closer whiff to unearth the mystery of that magical grassy patch).  I've not quite figured that out yet ... it's possibly something that's beyond most human senses.  Possibly some dried up worm or long dead bug ... maybe even bird poo ...

Anyone got a good guess?

Then there's the question of their eye sight.  How far or short sighted they are.  I can't quite decide whether Joe the Rottweiller whom I play fetch with almost every evening is short sighted or long .... while seems to detect thrown objects fairly well.  He seems to be able to predict it's thrown trajectory very accurately ... yet when he momentarily loses it (like his ball for example) he seems to miss the toy even if it's hidden right in front of him.  Instead of sight he relies on his sense of smell to sniff out his missing toy.  He doesn't seem to notice that I'm pointing out his toy to him ...

Yesterday night, Joe fell into fairly large uncovered drain right outside the house.  I thought he would have seen it had he not been blinded by my car headlights.  Perhaps a dog's sight don't adjust quite as quickly when they are stared with sudden bright lights.  It was a good thing Joe was unhurt and was able to hop back out of the drain (it wasn't very deep).  I was a little concern though - I heard a distinct thud.  And most thuds are usually painful.

Trixie, Anna and the Furkids on the other hand are fairly long sighted dogs.  Something or someone running from a distant and they pick it up and give chase.  I've seen them give chase many times to squirrels scampering across the telephone wires above (yes our wires are still 'hung' on poles, not buried underground in most developed places) or birds strutting about on the branches above ....not that the pups can fly but they can't help but create a fuss anyway...

While the basset hounds - their nose makes up for any short sightedness (which I don't think they suffer from).  Even the tiniest morsel of delicious smelling food they're able to pick up.  You can tell they know you have something yummy in hand when their nose start twitching.  It's all quite amusing to observe.

The thing about all members of the pack is their super charged hearing.  They'd come running expectantly - no matter how far away, they here any packaging being rustle!  It's almost hilarious.  Sometimes a false alarm - since I do come home every now and again with bags of groceries.  They've since come to associate the rustling of packets with treats!