Dexter has rabies.
ha ha! Just kidding. Did I make your heart stop for a moment there?
Yippee! I’m not rabid!
Today the dogs got a good work out in the Altheticism Competition on Food Lady Farm.
Dexter gets a B+ … but don’t forget, he’s coming back from an injury. Okay surgery. Whatever.
Spring gets an A. Very impressive for a newbie to competition!
Wootie, of course, gets an A+.
It’s even more impressive when you think about the fact that he’s a lazy orange sausage of a dog. He got extra points for throwing in fancy moves, like handstands, and sticking his landings.
TWooie, otoh, failed.
But he made up many points in the synchronized competition.
And speaking of the WooTwoo, some time back a friend sent me a link to a website about Max and Moritz, a German storybook about two very mischievous brothers written in the 1800s, and asked if they didn’t remind me – disturbingly so – of two dogs I knew.
Ah, how oft we read or hear of
Boys we almost stand in fear of!
For example, take these stories
Of two youths, named Max and Moritz,
Who, instead of early turning
Their young minds to useful learning,
Often leered with horrid features
At their lessons and their teachers.
*shudder* Damn the Germans and their bad ass brothers!!
They’re scary. I’m hiding behind Spring until they go away.
How long after neutering do you think it will take Dexter to put on a little weight and become a normal sized body, rather than just a giant head with some skinny legs attached? It’s positively ridiculous that he can hide his whole body behind 19lbs of Springaling.
And speaking of Dexter … this dog makes me wish I could photograph sound. I have never had a dog do this before, but when he is really excited he chatters his teeth together so loudly that he sounds exactly like a woodpecker. I’m not kidding … I spent, like, a year telling people I had a woodpecker that visited my house until I clued in to the fact that the “woodpecker” only showed up when I was putting on my boots and Dex was stuck on the other side of the babygate waiting to be released out the front door, and I started listening a little more closely. Does anyone else’s dog do this?
One thing I CAN photograph is pain.
Ow.
Food Lady, why you cry?
Ha ha ha! That was so funny! Ha ha!
Hee hee hee! I laughed so hard I fell over!
Dude! You gotta come and see this … Dexter knocked the Food Lady OUT with the Fifa! it’s hilarious!!!
*shakes fist at sadistic dogs* Clearly, they spend too much time with Gerhard.
I’m going to go think fluffy, happy thoughts now.
Hey cool! You’re not dead after all. Can I have a cookie?
Ellen Nickerson says
We had a greyhound and he chattered his teeth like that when he was excited.
Laurel says
My 13.5 year old rescue BCx doesn’t chatter his teeth anymore…he is an old man in a wheelchair now…but he used to do it when he was really fired up. He always did it on the start line at agility trials. It was very unnverving to put my dog in a sit-stay, turn and walk away while he chattered LOUDLY behind me. He always held his stays though. He is a good boy.
Jen says
Apollo chatters his teeth usually when he’s holding his “flinger” (the squirrel chuckit square frisbee). I read somewhere that when dogs do this, it’s because they’re really over-the-moon happy.
Danielle says
My dog does the teeth chattering thing! I always wondered if any other dogs did that.
Lynn says
Loved this post! So funny! So, who is the fluffy, happy puppy?!
Alison says
The stick or whatever trailing from Wootie’s behind in his first two photos almost looks like something terrible has happened to the Flamboyance, and that’s all that’s left.
My dog only chatters if he smells something really intriguing…and even then it’s only his lips, he’s not clacking his teeth together.
KD Peters says
My BC/GSP mix has been known to chatter her teeth when excited. It’s an odd sound, to say the least.
Alice says
My first B.C., Leyla, did the chattering thing when she got excited. Jake does it, but only as a sleep-chase thing, and of course, he’s kind enough to throw in excessive leg twitching.
Joni says
Two of my dogs do the chatter thing when they get excited as well…I thought the older one had taught the younger one and that they were just freaks…It’s comforting to know they are not…at least not in that department anyway.
Also, may I save that amazingly adorable puppy from the sadist….pleeeeeeeeze????
Keryn says
A fox terrier I used to train chattered her teeth like that when she was excited. I was told that it enhances their ability to smell because it causes more air to flow through their nose.
I’m not sure I believe that, though.
Robin says
Not so loud as you have described but I have seen several BCs at the shelter that do this. My dog Mitzi does this also.
Awesome story to go with the awesome photos too!
Theresa says
Those are GREAT photos, and the commentary… well, I needed a laugh today and you provided. What a great pack!
Janice in GA says
I LOL’d at the drawing & pix of the brothers.
And I “Awwww”‘d at the Aussie puppy. :)
Krystal says
Our 9 year old BC will chatter his teeth like that when he’s excited. Usually when we squeeze his loud and obnoxious squeaky football in his face.
Pia says
Kate chatters! Almost every weekday morning as she knows we are headed to the park. It drives me nuts! Mostly because it means she has gone from Keeping Her Shit Together to Losing Her Shit and my nicely made bed is about to become an unmade bed as she expodes off it and drags half of it with her.
“Chilling” is not her thing.
Janet says
My younger BC Seamus does the teeth chattering thing- it means he’s really ramped up (and often about to lose his mind). None of my previous BC’s have done this- I always wondered if he was a bit different! He seems to be fairly similar to Dexter all-round, really. Just to warn you- he’s 5, and no signs of growing up any time soon.
sp says
spring+dexter make a most amazing two-headed monster.
my dog does that teeth chatter thing typically after she’s taken down a foster dog over some resource fight, and my current foster dog has done it when he’s tasting his own ear wax. yes, i feed him his own ear wax, it’s the only way he lets me clean his ears. btw, the photography with sound thing, i’m pretty sure it’s called video? and i have spent the past year and a half trying to capture this disturbing tooth chatter as flavor enhancer, to no avail… you would think because i know exactly when it happens and have knowledge of this space-age technology that i would be able to get it on “tape” and yet – nothing. NOTHING!
Jenn says
I’ve had cats do the chatter thing when they are intensely interested in something, like that bird on the tree branch just the other side of that dang window screen….
jackie says
That picture of Spring looks just like the Snoopy happy dance!
Great post!
Ruth says
My uber-hyper (despite being almost 10) border collie chatters her teeth when she hasn’t had her requisite hours of exercise. It’s disturbing. I’m much more used to the breathe-whining, barking, and the jumping at the back door.
Debra says
Patricia McConnell did a couple posts on tooth clacking here http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/?s=Chattering. Great photos of synchronous dancing by Woo/Twoo.
Catherine says
“Max and Moritz, a German storybook about two very mischievous brothers written in the 1800s” OMG Stories of my childhood! How for the love of dogs did you know about these stories? I have my grandmother’s copies. shudder
Kelly says
What amazing photos in this post! My hat’s off to you, Foto Lady.
Alaska says
None of my dogs chatter (except one of them when he’s hypothermic, as reported by you several years ago), but I just wanted to say that this is a really, really excellent post.
trix says
Our black lab would chatter her teeth whenever she decided that the food you were holding should really be hers (she was a terrible beggar and I’m afraid we weren’t as firm about no-begging rules as other people). She didn’t start doing it until later in life though. I always found it to be an odd combination of weird, slightly scary, and totally hilarious.
5 dog nights...and days! says
Awesome post. I LOVE your sense of humor! Thank you for always making my day!
June says
Max minipoodle chatters his teeth. Less so now that he is nearly sixteen years old and excited by nearly nothing . . . but still sometimes. It used to be part of the whole “waiting for Mom to throw the tennis ball” routine.
Mar says
When I had Abbie (border collie)I would take her up to my mothers. She would stand and watch the birds at the feeder and chitter her teeth because she knew she wasn’t allowed to ‘get’ them. I still laugh when I think about it.
cinnamondog says
My BC doesn’t chatter but he warbles. In the back of his throat, somehow. It sounds first like water running over stones — no, really! — and then like bird trills. And then I open the back door and he flies out and it becomes bark-screams.
Jolene says
this post & pictures made me laugh my friggen ass off!!!!
As for weight gain, I had my 9 yr old nuetered in May last year, within months he became a porker, so never fear !
Ashley says
Kwik chatters her teeth. It’s probably the only cute thing about the Mal puppy haha
riosmom says
Rio used to chatter his teeth – disgustingly, I thought – when he smelled other dogs’ urine. Hey, we are all dog people here, right, and we know how disgusting dogs are. And we still love them.
All dogs should live the life your dogs live. Wonderful photos and commentary – one or both made me laugh out loud several times. The photos of Woo and Twooie synchronized are perfect – what a hoot they are. Terrific post!
It didn’t take long for Dexter to recover, did it? I hope he gains weight as quickly as he recovered.
Jonathan says
There is a long list of reasons that I love your blog, but one of them is your ability to photograph things that flatly defy the laws of physics. Or maybe Dexter defies physics and you have the good fortune to be standing there with your finger on the “take this photo” button.
Whatever, the “Yippee, I’m not rabid” photo was hilarious. Rumor has it that the East German judges awarded it a 7.4. :-)
Deb says
Loved all the action shots, some great captures, but the synchronized competition of the WooTwoo, absolutely fantastic!!! Looked like a really fun time was had by all. And, of course, I’m partial to that little fluff ball Aussie! So cute! Reminds me of our puppy days, so long ago.
Amy says
I just <3 your doggies! I know you weren't asking about cats, but my 8 year old cat will chatter his teeth when he's excited about something (usually a bird outside that he can't get to.) So maybe it's an excitement thing in animals? I don't know. Love the pics and your commentary, as always.
Schnitzie/Andrea says
There’s Twooie smiling again. Who took the crank meister and replaced him with a super happy doggie?
It’s wonderful to see Twooie looking so relaxed and having good times.
Adrienne says
I think Woo missed his calling as a disc dog. Agility isn’t his sport but I’ll bet disc would be! (And no, I don’t and my dogs don’t “disc”.) lol
Dani says
I got a teeth chattering Jack Russell. ONly when she is super excited though. So, like all the time. :)