Is Gem Gem Neurotic?

Gem Gem is mischievous when she's alone in the house. She digs in the trash can for paper plates, towels, and take-out containers with vestiges of food; spreads them out neatly on the den carpet; licks them clean; and leaves not a crumb behind. When we return, she looks at us sheepishly, slinks away, and hides her head under furniture. The vet says she has separation anxiety--as a rescued dog--and needs comfort when we leave, like a cage and Kong toy. He suggested medication. Following Freud, we can hypothesize that her repeated trash ritual in our absence is the manifestation of a canine neurosis. Is Gem Gem neurotic? Please contribute your insight.

 

Gem Gem is a prospector of smells. Snow gives her the opportunity to test her olfactory prowess. I mean, what's challenging about summer turf for a shepherd? As she prances, hunts, and tracks, sniffing with the acuity of a Geiger counter, she plugs her snout into the snow every few strides, pauses a moment, and recoils, leaving a Dixie-cup sized crater. Her nose is a frosted cream cake. It's suspenseful, because the real holy grail is elusive. Once in a while, the initial core sample leads to an excavation site. She digs. It's a peculiar method; she's more like a gopher than a TV dog. Squatting, kind of curled over, she works her front paws furiously until white snow gives way to green grass and black earth. What she finds is anyone's guess; at least it remains mysterious to the useless human nose. As swiftly as she began, she's out of the hole, like a popped champagne cork. Apparently satisfied, she's onto the next one.

Gem Gem is a drama queen. Not the usual kind. A dog's life includes myriad dramas of eating, sleeping, playing, walking, peeing, pooping, and interacting with others of the species. At first, our otherwise gentle Gem Gem would bare her teeth, bark, and chase other dogs down. Over time, with my firm admonishments, she's taken on a more subtle approach. We might say "passive aggressive," but in the ...dog world it's brutally direct. Though we observe the relation between dogs' obsessive smelling and elimination, we rarely see virtuoso performances on their terms. After six months of aggression toward three neighborhood dogs, she's changed her tactics; they're fixed in her sights: the white yard rat behind the fence; the shrill lanky guy that beats down the plate glass window from inside; the enormous German Shepherd whose baritone bark is heard 'round the world. Rather than pee and poop by smell anywhere convenient, Gem Gem targets her nemeses; she passes, they bark, she crouches, and pees or poops directly in front of them. It's a triumphal performance; she then turns and prances away.

Gem Gem Rescued II

The glorious day we rescued Gem Gem from the SPCA; September 2013

Gem Gem and Madam Marie

"Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do....For me this boardwalk life is through."

Bracing wind and raging waves. It's exhilarating but also melancholic as I'm stretching to grasp the la...st bit of a summer that slipped by too fast. The crowds are gone; the amusements shuttered; in the cold, a wedding couple tries to look romantic against lavender six-o'clock skies. It is mid-October on the Asbury Boardwalk. My only companions are Gem Gem and the latest incarnation of Madam Marie.

 

Asbury Park Boardwalk, early November 2013.

 

Gem Gem's Signature Roll and Snort

Gem Gem immortalized on video by Manny Padron, September 2013

David, Gem Gem, and the Two Waters

Gem Gem never set foot on a beach in her five years. She hunkered down and padded through the sand like it was extraterrestrial--moon dust. The boom of the surf surprised her more than scared her. Looking at ...me wide-eyed, she leaped up and down like a gazelle as if to ask, "where in the world are we?" Neither would she enter the fresh water brook that runs to the sea on the same beach, where I go every day for the magical place of the two waters. We returned the next day to find that the brook had cut a lyrical meander, leaving a tear-drop spit, like a hand inviting us closer to the gentle current. Sniffing diligently, she led me out the spit and nonchalantly crossed the brook three times. It was tranquil, cool, and safe there. She discovered she could drink. So my new companion, bit by bit, will come to love this beach too.

 Gem Gem and David, October 2013