The Simplifire

Where young professionals go to get paid to talk

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Dogs' Thoughts

I like to think about what dogs would think if they actually thought the way we do. I think that would make a pretty good short film. Me just sitting there thinking about that. Silently.

Moving on:
Harley's (A female 9-month German Shorthair Pointer) first toy had a "body" made out of thick rope and the head of a monkey. The monkey-head was a squeeker, and after a couple weeks, I slit his throat to cease the squeek. It didn't take long for Harley to rip off the head, the rubber was pretty thin. Pretend you are holding a racquetball in your closed hand. Thank you. This is about the size of the original monkey-head. After several months (up to sometime this last week), there were unexciting developments. The monkey-head was torn into at most 3 pieces, with the main one maybe 5/8 of the original monkey-head. Even the smaller pieces, for months, were just chewed for a few minutes at a time and then spit out.

On my lunch break I went home to let the dogs outside for the rest of the work-day. I scooped poop since the sun was up. And I'm sure you can guess, the large portion of the monkey-head was wrapped around a nice, healthy t*rd. I imagine it came out as the tail-end, squee-geeing as it went, but that's not the point. The point is that after 8 months of gently or roughly chewing on it, I never caught her gagging trying to get it down. So I wonder if she made a decision...Today's the day. The funny part about this is not what I imagine her thinking, so feel free to imagine it yourself.

We also have a 3 month old pit/lab/beagle/shepherd named Nala. My best guess is that Harley got jealous or nervous about Nala having the delicious piece of rubber, and after all those months of idly chewing, decided that it might be now or never.

(If you're getting tired of this post, read only the first and last few lines of this paragraph.)
Enter Mother-Nature. I buried the poop. And if you've never buried poop, it decays quickly. We have a small patch (16 sq. ft.) that will/could eventually be used as a small garden. The dirt is almost completely clay, so it obviously needs a lot more mulch/leaves/poop/ashes (ooh, i didn't think of ashes yet) to get it ready for plants. What I'm getting at here is that I bury dozens of loads there. I don't remember where I buried the last couple dozen, but when I dig a new hole, there is almost always small pieces that I know is poop in the process of becoming dirt. Another predictable but amazing observation is that since burying poo there, a single shovelful of dirt has at least 3 worms sticking out of it (and those are just the sticking out ones!). In maybe 15 poop holes I've dug there in maybe 5 months, I don't think I've ever uncovered a full t*rd. Well I buried the monkey-head, because I wasn't going to extract it. My point was that nature will completely clean off the monkey-head for me. In a few months, when I chance to dig it up, I will either throw it out or let the dogs find it. I'll tell you more about it when that happens.

5 Comments:

  • At 12:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    i didnt know that dog poop was good for dirt. i thought cow poop was good because they ate grass and stuff. but i guess dog poop cant be that bad, all they ingest is dog food and water. question: is eaten & decomposed dog food good for garden dirt? will the worms eat it anyway and, in turn, poop out their own wonderful soil?

     
  • At 12:28 PM, Blogger shawn said…

    My dogs also ingest plastics, wood, and probably lead paint. I'm sure impurities can find their way into your food, no matter what the fertilizer. The worms not only eat it, but multiply like crazy, and I'm talking fat 8 inch earthworms. As far as the soil being wonderful, that's a good question. I should read up. That brings up a good question regarding ALL produce, the product can look good above ground, but how much does the soils nutrient content affect it? Or does the plant basically try to take just what it needs? If anyone knows, please inform.

     
  • At 1:15 PM, Blogger shawn said…

    Bust, maybe I should move our garden site. Just read that only manure from plant-eaters should be composted. The temperatures (i guess ambient + composting temp) will likely NOT be high enough to kill all pathogens--like roundworm. Although I don't think roundworm is as bad as the stuff you can get from cats.

     
  • At 9:40 AM, Blogger Chris Trumble said…

    That's why if there is any solid feces on the ground, i use a stick and some leaves, and fling it over my fence. On the ditch side of course. Fling yours into that parking lot.

     
  • At 11:37 AM, Blogger shawn said…

    Well, further reading recommended burying it at least 6 inches down, and that it's okay for other plants and stuff, but obviously not for food plants. Speaking of food plants. Fungi. We have a patch of really plump mushrooms. The dogs love them. I scooped up the remaining ones, though, just in case they're bad for dogs.

     

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