Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Strange things I did as a child, with [or because of] my dogs.

This post is inspired by June's star gazing
and dedicated to my sisters and brother
who'd better bloody well read it.


*


A few days ago, after reading June's post, I started reminiscing about some strange ideas I'd had as a child. 


Actually, I had many strange ideas as a child. 


This abundance of oddity might have been because I spent so much time alone [despite having 2 sisters, 1 brother, good friends in the neighbourhood and a boy across the road whom I was deeply in love with]. 


However, I think it was more likely my father's fault. It was he who fed me a potent brew of faeries, dragons, cyborgs, super heroes, mythology, mighty mice and miscellaneous talking animals from the time I was 5 [which was when I started reading]. Who knows what damage all those alternate realities did to my young mind? 


Little wonder I now have a talking dog myself.
"Listen, Typist. I can't really talk. I am just a voice in your head. You DO realise that, don't you?"

By the way, my mother didn't read much, so I can't blame her. 

But back to June's post. 

One thing led to another and soon, I was remembering the stuff I did to/with/because of my dogs that, in retrospect, might have given my family and neighbours cause for concern. 

Just for a giggle, I thought I'd share a few of them with you today. You may or may not find them so odd, depending on how odd you are yourself. But here goes.

Strange things I did as a child, with [or because of] my dogs.

*  I used to run on all fours with my dogs. I liked to whine, bark and growl too. I'm quite sure I thought I was a dog. To prove that I was a kindred soul, I sometimes slept in their large kennel. [Though never overnight. That would have been too much.] 

I can still run well on all fours today, which is very helpful as a stretch and warmup in my exercise class. My dog and cat sounds are pretty realistic too, and I love making them as I walk by the street cats. The looks they give me are priceless.

* Long before wheat grass shots became a juice bar staple, I loved eating grass. My favourites were long dangly blades which were excellent to chew, and young pale green juicy stalks which were great for sucking on. I don't think I would have discovered their delicate flavour without the guidance of my grass-eating chums. 

I wonder how much pee and other unmentionables I ingested along with the chlorophyll. But obviously, it did no lasting damage. 

Obviously.

*  My father used to regularly buy big bones from the market for the dogs. They were pre-cooked in some way, probably smoked or barbecued. The meat would mostly be gone [for human consumption] but some would still be on the bone. That meat was dee.vine! How do I know this? 

I always got first go before handing them over to the dogs. That's right. Sadly for Cookie, Shandy and Mickey, they never realised there was supposed to be meat on their bones. 

Do I feel any remorse for having shortchanged my dogs that way? Are you kidding? My only regret is not being able to get my paws on one right now.

*  My other favourite food as a child, after an exhausting day of wrestling the dogs, climbing trees, wading in filthy ponds and riding around on my bicycle [which was really a pretend car - strange because I still can't drive to this day] were pies. 

I made these myself. Here is the recipe:

*Smashed butter
*Crumbled dog biscuits
*A little sprinkling of mud [every pie has to have some chocolate]
*Shredded grass


Mix all the above. Press into old plastic containers. Bake in pretend oven. Serve them pretend hot, 1 for me, 1 for the dogs.


I think it's safe to say, I had a pretty awesome childhood.


*

Did you do any weird stuff as a child? Do tell if you did! I'd hate to think I'm all alone in this. NOTE: You don't have to have had a dog to play. I hear you can do strange things with hamsters too.


P>S> Thank you for all your kind thoughts  and birthday wishes! They were much appreciated. I hope you find this post a little more cheery :) x




42 comments:

booahboo said...

I was pretty much a strange child too... *LOL* And all becos i had the middle child syndrome and my siblings told me that i was found from a drain and adopted by my parents. It sure did some real damage to me when i was little...

maybe i should do a similar post as yours.. hahahahaha

this post is sure more cheery. I had a good laugh! thank you dear anon friend.

Sage said...

I've now decided my childhood was pretty mundane! I can't think of a thing that could top yours!!

Helen P. said...

I also used to run around on all fours. (Of course I was a beautiful horse while doing it.) But, sometimes I'd take a break from being a horse and be Balto instead.

Olivia & Petey said...

That's hilarious! I liked on the Navajo reservation until I was 2. I had a cat that lived outside and I used to rock him violently in my toy carriage and then take a whopping mouthful of his fur. I also chewed on styrofoam and ate stucco.
When I was about 4 I had a basset hound. One day I decided I wanted to know why he got so excited about dog biscuits. So in the middle of the night I sat myself down and filled up my plastic Flinstones bowl with his biscuits and ate them. My father was quite perplexed to wake up and find me doing that :)

verobirdie said...

I don't remember of doing strange things as a kid, but Now I do master meows very well. It puzzles Osiris, my drama queen cat. Choupette did speak French too, especially when she was not pleased with me. She had foul language then.
The weirdest I do now is walking in the hills with the invisible clone of my daughter ( the one who travels a lot), and my as invisible French bulldog. In fact, I did walk with my daughter lone when she was downunder. I no longer do since she is back in Europe. The invisible dog is still doing fine, and makes the walk more enjoyable.
Otherwise, I'm rather sane
Oh, a last tip: when I'm feeling sad for no particularreason, i watch a Bollywood movie. It works wonderfully, especially when it makes me cry at some point. It takes the stress away.
Sorry I missed your birthday. Joyeux anniversaire!

Pamela said...

This is a very sweet post. And I'll be surprised if you don't find loads of other "weird kids" replying.

I remember feeling very safe in my childhood dog's house in the yard. He was fierce and dangerous to everyone else but gentle as a lamb with me. Unlike my mentally ill parent who was gentle with everyone else but pretty rough with me.

I loved the smell of dog, the warmth of the house, and clutching Duchess's fur.

Sometimes when it's hard being a kid, it's nice to know you can take a little time to just be a dog.

How Sam Sees It said...

Oh I did many strange things as a child - and yes, I was the lonely sister among 4! LOL!

Sam

What Remains Now said...

I carved a huge chunk of wood out of the baseboard behind our sofa, looking for buried treasure. I was not rewarded for my creative, imaginative play.

Elizabeth Keene said...

I can't wait to see the comments you've received!

My, and I thought I was weird as a kid. ;) (just kidding - well, not about being weird)

Really though, I think lots of quiet-ish innie adults who were raised with pets could tell a tale or two about having conversations, etc. with animals. I dressed my cats up in doll clothes and had tea parties with them (not exactly a tomboy - me - unless you count hunting for toads, tadpoles and furry caterpillars to play with). :)

Oh yes, and I can still remember what 1970s Purina Cat Chow tastes like. Not too bad, actually. (Although, I never went back for seconds.)

I hope you ate that pie with all that perfectly good butter in it!!

houndstooth said...

Belated Happy Birthday! Gah!

Did I do strange things as a kid? You bet! I lived in books. Seriously, most of the summer you could find me at the library or in a tree reading a book. I'm still an avid reader! I much preferred my own company and I recall that if my mom wanted to find me when I was little, she called the family Border Collie. Snoopy and I were always together out climbing hay stacks in the barn and jumping off, running around the lake or through the cornfield. I'm surprised they got me in the house to sleep as a kid! I lived outside unless there was inclement weather.

georgia little pea said...

OMG! You guys crack me up! Thank you so much for giving me such a good laugh first thing in the morning. I am in SUCH good company :)

Pamela - that sounds a bit serious. I'm glad you turned out so well. Hugs x

I do have one important question. This one's for Olivia - did you have to get your stomach pumped? BOL BOL BOL!

georgia little pea said...

P.S. Elizabeth - YES, I ate the pies. I was very fond of those dog bikkies and loved eating slices of butter from the fridge :)

Karen Friesecke said...

I used to share my popsicles with the dog. It drove my mother crazy!

Jan said...

This isn't something I did with a dog, but to this day I can't multiply anything by 7.

The day we learned it in class I had been naughty and was sent outside the classroom. I got to read a book on Babylonian mythology. It opened up a world of mythology which I still haven't recovered from. I was a weird child.

georgia little pea said...

Jan - you can't multiply by 7 to this day? OMG Haha! Weirdo indeed ;)

booahboo said...

seriously Jan... it is okay. I hate 7s and i can't mutiply by 7s too.. till this day.

georgia little pea said...

You're BOTH *ahem* ...unusual?

Bing said...

hahaha! Indeed! You were always the 'unconventional' (euphemism for 'weird') one among us. :)

Peggy Frezon said...

Knowing how creative you are, I can totally understand this! I used to love to go outside after a rain and splash in the puddles with my dog. We had such fun!

Ellen said...

I liked to pretend I was a horse (I loved horses!) when young and would set up small jumps on our backyard to jump over. I did eventually get a horse...

I do talk to my dogs, often and I do believe I understand what they say back. They are sooooo expressive.

I too like to meow and make some great kitty growls and hisses....the kitties do not look amused. The poochies make some silly looks at me.

I think you did indeed have an awesome childhood!

sonia a. mascaro said...

Ah! Love reading this post and your adventures as a child!
Yes, you had a pretty awesome childhood for sure!
Sorry, my English is "weak", so I could not to write some adventures I had when a child...
Abraços e parabéns pelas suas criativas histórias!

georgia little pea said...

Obrigada Sonia! Voce pode escrever suas historias em Portugues! Por que nao? Isso bem, eu posso apprender mais kkkkk. Eu penso que suas aventuras (would be...meu Deus, my grammar is terrible!) muito interessantes :) Beijos x

Olivia & Petey said...

GLP, I didn't have to get my stomach pumped, not when I ate the dog biscuits or the stucco. However, once my father thought he was giving me Actifed, when in fact, it was dog shampoo (similar bottle & color). My mother was calling poison control when I threw up out of pure hysteria. And to all those who thought they were horses...did you by any chance go to high school w/me? There were 2 horse girls in my class :)
And I love the imaginary bulldog!

Pup Fan said...

I love that we're all so weird! I was a weird kid too with a very, very active imagination (no doubt brought on by exposure to those fairies and alternate realities you mentioned). I spent quite a bit of time talking to my dogs - they were pretty much my constant companions.

My sister did go through a (long) phase where she pretended to be a cat... ;)

georgia little pea said...

Olivia and Petey - your childhood sounds even more dramatic than mine BOL. i bet your dad was mortified! and your mum must have given him an earful! good one :)

Berts Blog said...

I love this post adn had so much fun reading it. My Vickie refuses to tell me the stuff she did as a kid, but if it is anything compared to the way she is today, then I imagine she had few two legged friends, but was quite popular with the local wildlife and birds, dogs, cats and horses.

Kirsten (peacefuldog) said...

None of that sounds weird to me-- kids are supposed to run around like little animals! I spent my childhood playing with salamanders and froggies.

What I find really weird is the kids who hate being outdoors and spend all day buried in their ipods :(

georgia little pea said...

Kirsten - Agree! I'm so glad I was born A Long Time Ago :)

Anonymous said...

what a treat to read all these replies!

we are lucky to have been born in the era when children played outdoors, and in the open, using whatever they had with all the innocent freedom in the world.

I tramped all over the countryside, and made cubbyhouses, stirred witches brew and talked to the trees.

Anonymous said...

hee hee - nice memories x
What do you mean dogs can't talk? xxxx

Rose ~ from Oz said...

Hahahaha, there must be a lot of us "oddies" out there I reckon - I'd be on all fours woofing away but every "woof" was a dog word, totally convinced I could talk to any animal this way but particularly the dog. And remember Mr Whippy van? always a cone for the dog all to himself. oh boy and lots of other stuff. Loved this post!!

June said...

Aw, how proud I feel to have inspired you to write all this down!
Yours sounds like a GREAT childhood, especially the grass-eating and pie-making. Kids need to get dirty and eat dirt. There is a story that I sat in somebody's dirt driveway and ate dirt with a teaspoon . . . I have a vague remembrance of thinking that the dirt looked exactly like brown sugar...
My mother wanted to come after me and the woman whose driveway it was stopped her, telling her it wouldn't hurt me. I think she was right, but who can tell, really?
:-p

georgia little pea said...

June - I'm so glad you dropped by :) Your dirt eating is hilarious! With a teaspoon? What a lady! No doubt we were seeking trace minerals, just as our dogs do LOL.

Kolchak Puggle said...

You're awesome! I think you are like a superhero. Awesome post.

booahboo said...

yoooooooooohoooooooooo... where is youssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss... come outs quick to play ya.

Kristine said...

Wow, you were definitely different. Compared with you my childhood was dull, dull, dull.

Grass? Really? And not the fun kind? ;-)

I may have to think about my answer for a while to come up with something even remotely interesting. Stay tuned...

georgia little pea said...

Anny - unfortunately The Dog will not cooperate and is doing nothing interesting. Now, if the blog was about ME.... ;P

Kristine - I wait with bated breath. What grass you mean sista? Naughty.

Unknown said...

I'm back from hibernation after ages, and this post is exactly what the doctor ordered!

A veritable Mowgli you were, I must say!

I used to try jumping as high as possible, flailing my limbs and trying to fly. I was quite convinced that I had the ability, and I used to end up feeling surprised when I would end up back on the ground.

This had my parents worried, because they feared (?hoped) that some day I might try jumping off a roof while trying to fly. But to me, it was important to be able to take off from the ground; flying down from higher elevation seemed like a sissy thing to do!

P.S.: Belated birthday wishes to Georgia!

georgia little pea said...

Hi Swati, I've been meaning to write and ask how you were. Hope your back/neck is good again!

I know this flying trick. Not only did I dream about it all the time, and try to make other things levitate, I liked to leap off slopes, walls and stairs. I still don't understand why I can't fly. It's A Mystery ;)

47 said...

I can run well on all fours also. At judo when the kids played tag, I'd play tag too, but they were on foot and I had to catch them crawling. I always did.

I never had dogs growing up, just some filthy mangey stray cats that lived outside. Since I predominantly lived outside too (In my parents defense, they did try to get me to come inside, and I did...to use the bathroom, to eat, and to sleep.)

I spent a lot of time with them. All of them were obedience trained, new upwards of 40 tricks, and had recall far better than anything my current dogs have.

I always did wonder where the stereotypical "cat" came from. Then my parents adopted an indoor "real" cat.

Ewwwwww. Give me a mangey old stray any time.

georgia little pea said...

47 - thank you for that bit of history. I didn't think cats were trainable. Obviously, I was wrong! You sound like you might have been even dirtier than me ;)

chandra said...

Thank you Typist for bringing out the weirdos with this awesome post! "Olivia and Petey" takes the stucco cake! I want to be friends with anyone who can vomit out of sheer hysteria!

-Chandra at Daley's Dog Years