Charlie stands 22 inches at the shoulder (fur height included). By sight, he matches the average border collie, but that’s due to his full coat and long legs. I’ve never weighed him, but he’s still so easy to pick up. I’d guess he weighs about 30 pounds.
Charlie has always slept all night long. It kind of cracks me up. We roughhouse and play right before bed and then he goes to sleep around the same time I do, and sleeps until I wake up. When he sleeps inside, he never wakes up before me, but once I’m up he is too, and we have a sweet little lovefest to start the day. I usually leave him outside around the full moon because he does stay up all night when the moon is bright. (He’s contained so he doesn’t go on a walkabout – it’s easy to predict what would happen if someone saw him wandering through their yard under a full moon). Eli’s another story – he’s out carousing all night and comes in between 5 and 7 in the morning to lounge around the house all day and boss us around.
I rely mainly on eye contact and the word “Hey.” I discovered very early on that Charlie responds extremely well to eye contact and I use it to transmit all sorts of information, from comfort and “you’re safe” messages when he is scared, to discipline. Charlie is magically intelligent, and at this point in our relationship, he knows the order of things; he knows what is expected of him and what behaviors are OK and which are not. He knows when he’s being naughty and always looks at me sideways to see if he can get away with it, and I give him a Look. And usually he changes his behavior based on that look.
When he ignores me, “Hey” comes into play. “Hey” is a universal term we use that means “you know you’re pushing the boundaries, little one.” When he was much younger, I bit him on the ear when I said “Hey,” and I think this action helped reinforce the power of the word. Ear-biting is a disciplinary measure that canine mothers use on their pups, and so by doing this myself while also saying “Hey,” Charlie and I were able to communicate in his language as well as mine, and the authority of the word alone became ingrained.
I don’t brush Charlie or clip his nails, but it’s not for any particular reason other than I don’t have a brush or nail clippers! I keep meaning to buy a dog brush when I’m in town and then I forget – Charlie loves it when I massage him and brush him with my fingernails, and a brush may come in handy as he sheds.
I will also get around to buying nail clippers as well, if only for his dew claws. He does a good job of keeping his front claws somewhat dull by digging and general spastic behaviour, but his dew claws are like little talons. And with Spring approaching and less clothing covering my body, those dew claws scratch if he jumps on me. I am in the middle of teaching him “Down”, but clipping the claws may be a measure I take until Down is perfected.
Honestly, I don’t know. People who have seen him think he is beautiful, and I can see they are entranced – men and women alike. But, when gossip is about you, you are the last one to hear it, and I don’t know what people are saying about me and Charlie except for what they say to my face. And what has been said directly to me has been neither good nor bad – never a judgement call, only observations and questions that are borne of curiosity. So I truly don’t know what people really think.
