One of the advantages of being so little is that we can go places that we can't really be seen and listen to things that - perhaps - we aren't supposed to. We've heard countless TV shows coming from all directions, and Broadway songs in the Living Room, and some bad words drifting our way when something in the house needs to be fixed.
In all the time, in all the places we've been in this house, one thing is perfectly clear. No one has ever said "I wish I could listen to you girls a little more." And, that hurts out feelings. Oh, sure, we don't have the melodious voices of opera singers (or, at least, we don't think we do, since another thing we've never heard around here is "Let's keep listening to those wonderful arias"....yes, we know, we live in a house of unsophisticates). And, we know that we spend quite a bit of time just lounging and while doing that, we're not disposed to having much to day, which is also the case during (most) nighttime(s). Oh, sure, Rozi snores a bit, but that's not really communicating.
And, yet, we do have a lot to say.
For example, right before we agreed to write this, we were both on the couch in the living room and were trying to ensure the safety of our family. And, as such, we have two importan tasks that we must perform: first, we must be vigilant and when we see anyone who could potentially enter our home, and do anything that we can to be sure that they know that they are not welcome here. Second, we must be sure that no other doggies think that this is their house, and we must - again - do what we can to be sure of that (dogs, as a species, are not usually very bright...Izzi being the exception, and Rozi kinda sorta proving that correct, and so could possibly mistake this house for theirs. But, since there is an inordinate amount of good food and treats here, it would soon be obvious that said puppy would have made a mistake, since the quality and quantity of what we get is probably a whole lot more and better than the norm. But, we digress.
To do each of these tasks, we rely on the skills and abilities that we've honed over a collective lifetime of nearly 8 years. Sure, our body language is probably a great help, since when we get ourselves all worked up, our bodies tend to grow in proportion to our intensity, and we're pretty sure that we increase our size by a factor of more than 2.71828. One of us returns to a normal size for a Maltese after these events, by the way. And, so - sure - that helps. As does the (by human standards) strange dance that we do to help keep strangers away and other dogs from making the mistake of thinking this is their home.
But, the key for us is our voices. When we get going, when we really get going, we can see the fear in the eyes of the people who have (foolishly!) decided to walk on our sidewalk. We notice an almost (almost!) imperceptible quickening of their pace as they walk by. To the human eye, this could be lost and we are of the belief (inspired by many hours of having NCIS and NCIS:LA and NCIS:Make it Stop running in our home) that these people would not, even under a lie detector test, know that they had done this. It's the subtle genius of our voices. We can make people do things that they're not aware of.
So, the people walking by walk faster, and the puppies that are on those strings that people seem to want to wrap around the puppy's neck also know to just keep moving, since there is no shelter here.
But, that's not the only use we have for our dulcet tones. We also use our voices to tell our mama that we want to come in from outside when - on the very few occasions that she's not intently watching us - we need to get her attention.
Also, to let everyone in the house know that there's someone within the house who has not lived here for at least eight years. We think this is really important, since we're not sure that mama or anyone else would know when a "stranger", "intruder", "interloper", "foreign agent", "superduper spy (thanks again, NCIS)", or other person comes in.
And, finally, Rozi uses her voice to make sure that our mama knows where she is, when our mama is upstairs and Rozi - for whatever reason [and - no - not related to her sometimes inability to climb stairs] doesn't come up the stairs by herself. And, of course, Rozi likes to show mama the artwork that she's been working on, even when mama is sleeping.
For those who don't know us, we want you to see....we mean hear...what you're missing.
Arf, Yip, Yip, Yip,
Izzi & Rozi
In all the time, in all the places we've been in this house, one thing is perfectly clear. No one has ever said "I wish I could listen to you girls a little more." And, that hurts out feelings. Oh, sure, we don't have the melodious voices of opera singers (or, at least, we don't think we do, since another thing we've never heard around here is "Let's keep listening to those wonderful arias"....yes, we know, we live in a house of unsophisticates). And, we know that we spend quite a bit of time just lounging and while doing that, we're not disposed to having much to day, which is also the case during (most) nighttime(s). Oh, sure, Rozi snores a bit, but that's not really communicating.
And, yet, we do have a lot to say.
For example, right before we agreed to write this, we were both on the couch in the living room and were trying to ensure the safety of our family. And, as such, we have two importan tasks that we must perform: first, we must be vigilant and when we see anyone who could potentially enter our home, and do anything that we can to be sure that they know that they are not welcome here. Second, we must be sure that no other doggies think that this is their house, and we must - again - do what we can to be sure of that (dogs, as a species, are not usually very bright...Izzi being the exception, and Rozi kinda sorta proving that correct, and so could possibly mistake this house for theirs. But, since there is an inordinate amount of good food and treats here, it would soon be obvious that said puppy would have made a mistake, since the quality and quantity of what we get is probably a whole lot more and better than the norm. But, we digress.
 |
| No, no! Not listening; talking! |
To do each of these tasks, we rely on the skills and abilities that we've honed over a collective lifetime of nearly 8 years. Sure, our body language is probably a great help, since when we get ourselves all worked up, our bodies tend to grow in proportion to our intensity, and we're pretty sure that we increase our size by a factor of more than 2.71828. One of us returns to a normal size for a Maltese after these events, by the way. And, so - sure - that helps. As does the (by human standards) strange dance that we do to help keep strangers away and other dogs from making the mistake of thinking this is their home.
But, the key for us is our voices. When we get going, when we really get going, we can see the fear in the eyes of the people who have (foolishly!) decided to walk on our sidewalk. We notice an almost (almost!) imperceptible quickening of their pace as they walk by. To the human eye, this could be lost and we are of the belief (inspired by many hours of having NCIS and NCIS:LA and NCIS:Make it Stop running in our home) that these people would not, even under a lie detector test, know that they had done this. It's the subtle genius of our voices. We can make people do things that they're not aware of.
So, the people walking by walk faster, and the puppies that are on those strings that people seem to want to wrap around the puppy's neck also know to just keep moving, since there is no shelter here.
But, that's not the only use we have for our dulcet tones. We also use our voices to tell our mama that we want to come in from outside when - on the very few occasions that she's not intently watching us - we need to get her attention.
Also, to let everyone in the house know that there's someone within the house who has not lived here for at least eight years. We think this is really important, since we're not sure that mama or anyone else would know when a "stranger", "intruder", "interloper", "foreign agent", "superduper spy (thanks again, NCIS)", or other person comes in.
For those who don't know us, we want you to see....we mean hear...what you're missing.
Arf, Yip, Yip, Yip,
Izzi & Rozi
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