SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND A BIG MOVE

We at the Cult home have been rather busy getting ready for a move on Wednesday. The challenges of packing with 4 dogs in a tiny house are significant and I am blessed to have friends who have been watching the dogs for a day here and there.

I’ve noticed each dog handles the activity differently. And it seems the concern exhibited by each dog for my moving around more than normal and doing vastly different things than on a typical day, increases in direct proportion to how long the dog has been part of the Cult household. However, after much thought while packing the books from the bookshelf, I don’t believe there is an empirical way for me to test my hypothesis. There are too many variables, including some behaviors may be a result of age. I am sure there are many other variables I am not even considering, due in part to sleep deprivation associated to packing panic (we’re not close to done and the movers come on Wednesday, yet here I am posting to the blog. Hmmmm.)

Willow, whom I’ve had since January, 2008, doesn’t even lift her head as I walk by; she just follows my many laps around the house with her eyes. Sometimes. Most of the time she is asleep. Willow is turning 9 (!) in April so it may have a bit to do with age, though she is still spry at playdates.

I’ve been Breezes officially since April, 2009, though she came to live with me as a foster in December of 2008. She also follows me with her eyes, hardly lifting her head as I carry another rock to put into the many boxes lining the dining room floor. However, some of her lack of movement may be attributed to her injured paw. Breeze will celebrate her 7th birthday in May.
Dru is typically at alert stage but stays on her dog bed most of the time. She does come in ever hour or so to check on what I am doing, especially if I have remained out of sight for too long. Dru is the same age as Breeze, since they are sisters (literally) and came to live with me July 2009.

Now the boy; he follows me everywhere. Any time I move he is at my side. I can shift my chair and he will spring up from whichever bed or patch of bare floor he has found that is closest to me, curious as to what is going to happen next. There are many variables to consider here: age, time with me, sex, etc. Angel was bounced around a bit before settling in with me (three trips to various foster homes and one almost forever home) and still seems to be a bit unsure if this place is officially his permanently. It could also have something to do with him being a boy. He seems to be a bit needier than the girls. Though this could also be a function of the time I have had him or his age. However, most of the greyhound owners I know seem to feel, on the whole, the boys are needier than the girls.  His gotcha date was May 1, 2012 and he coming up on his third birthday on January 15th.

The observed behavior patterns were shattered when I was packing stuff in the garage; I got visits from all of them. Consistently. The first afternoon I was truly packing, I decided to start in the garage and all of them were helping me out. It was a constant greyhound parade snaking through the myriad of boxes. I finally moved all the empty boxes to the side and brought in 4 dog beds. The dogs were then quite content to spend the remainder of the afternoon in the garage with me and I was able to finish packing a total of 6 boxes. Not bad for 4 hours of work.

Their current behavior is pretty typical of everyday behavior, but ratcheted up a notch (or two, or three). I’m curious how much of the anxiety is a reflection of my emotions (this whole house selling/finding/cleaning out, etc process has left me a touch stressed) and how much as the result of my unusually physical activity around the house.

Alas, I will be unable to answer my questions and develop a working theory; it is all pure speculation surrounding a few observations.

Here is one aspect that can be put to the test:

Question: Will the Cult blog be affected by the move of the Cult household?

Observations: The Cult blog has already been affected with less posts the past few weeks, while packing is afoot. Posting to the blog will be considerably hampered due to the lack of internet access and (another theory – based on past moves) misplacement of vital equipment for posting to said internet.

Hypothesis: The Cult blog will be down for a few days due to a move of said Cult household.

Analyzing the data: Will only be possible after internet access is again granted by company who unknowingly holds the fate of the blog in their corporate hands and the finding of all boxes containing tools (i.e. computer, cords, etc) relating to said connection.

Final conclusion: yet to be officially determined as it occurs at a future date, however we confident that posts will be non-existent for the next week or so.

Have a good week all, posts will resume once we get settled in our new digs. For now, I leave you with an image of the dogs helping me pack the garage.