Thursday, February 1, 2018

Year of the Dog

Welcome to the Chinese year of the dog, which begins February 16.  I thought it would be good to honor Polly with all these Chihuahuas because of it.

Some interesting things about the Year of the Dog from "China Highlights"--

Years of the Dog include 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, and 2030... The Dog occupies the eleventh position in the Chinese zodiac, after the Rooster, and before the Pig.
In Chinese element theory, each zodiac sign is associated with one of the five elements: Gold (Metal), Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. For example, a Wood Dog comes once in a 60-year cycle.

It is theorized that a person's characteristics are decided by their birth year's zodiac animal sign and element. So there are five types of Dogs, each with different characteristics:

Type of Dog Year of Birth
Characteristics
Wood Dog 1934, 1994 Sincere, reliable, considerate, understanding and patient
Fire Dog 1946, 2006 Intelligent, hardworking and sincere
Earth Dog 1958, 2018 Communicative, serious, and responsible in work
Gold Dog 1910, 1970 Conservative, desirable, cautious and always ready to help others
Water Dog 1922, 1983 Brave and self-centered, even seemingly selfish; well-versed in dealing with financial issues.

The Dog's Personality:
Dogs are loyal and honest, amiable and kind, cautious and prudent. Due to having a strong sense of loyalty and sincerity, Dogs will do everything for the person who they think is most important.

As Dogs are not good at communication, it is difficult for them to convey their thoughts to others. Therefore, Dogs tend to leave others with the impression that they have a stubborn personality.

Born with a good nature, Dogs do not tend to be criminals or seek dishonest gains. They just need a quiet life and a good family and, therefore, forget the ugliness and evil on Earth.

Dogs are always ready to help others and do not care about their own interests, but if they find themselves betrayed by cunning people they will feel shocked and hurt.

When thrown into doubt, Dogs think the world is evil and complicated. Then they criticize sharply when giving comments on something, and infer all things are according to their pessimistic point of view.
Sadly, I was born in the year of the goat and 2018 doesn't look like it's going to be a stellar one for me

You are a: Goat
  • Lucky numbers: 2, 7
  • Lucky colors: brown, red, purple
Your Luck in 2018
  • Work:  
  • Wealth: 
  • Love:  
  • Health: 

Polly is blissfully unaware of all of this, of course.  She is in the process of becoming a changed dog since Lizzie died.  She doesn't bark 1/10th as much as she did before.  She lets me sleep in until 9 or after without demanding breakfast.  Most days she doesn't bark at all when I get up to feed her, or if she does, it's only a yip or two and then she patiently waits for her food.

She has us trained to give her a treat every night when we are eating our ice cream.  She used to get a treat after she went outside and did her business and then we called her back in, closed the door and gave her a treat.  Now she sees us eating ice cream, runs outside, stands on the patio for about 10 seconds, then runs back in and barks for a treat.

I don't know if her attitude about strangers has improved.  She was really pretty good at Christmas, but she hasn't had an "acid test" since then.

Slowly she is becoming, dare I say it?, a nice little dog.   Just in time for "her year."

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