Nokie's Traits

Things Nokie likes:

• having his belly rubbed
• eating
• sleeping
• running in an open field, at TOP speed!
• playing with other dogs who are just as fast as him
• cuddling
• laying across your lap

Nokie's favorite thing.... having his ears rubbed. He'll fall asleep almost instantly. His eyes roll up in his head and he grumbles under his breath. It's by far his favorite thing. Along with having his ears rubbed he likes you to rub the top of his head and between his eyes as he's falling asleep.

When Nok is ready for bed he lays next to/on top of you and grumbles. He waits for you to touch him and will usually direct your hand to where he wants it to be (most of the time, it's the top of his head). Every now and then you're going to have to rub his belly for a bit until he's really relaxed, then he'll roll over and want you to rub his head. You should get comfortable at this point because once he falls asleep, he doesn't move.

I have woken up in the oddest positions while sleeping with Nokie. Once I was laying across the top of my bed on the pillows while he was spread out on the rest. I've tried countless different ways to get him to share. I make him wait until I'm comfy then ask him to come up. He just nestles in and inevitably moves you over. I've tried getting up in the middle of the night and psychically pushing him over, he just readjusts and you realize that you've lost more ground than you gained.

Things Nokie doesn't like:

• loud noises, not so much that they scare him, he just doesn't like them
• to be touched when he's really tired or just woke up, especially if the one touching him is Hawk and Hawk is the reason he's tired or just woke up :)
• people he can't get to. By this I mean, if he's on a leash and can't get to my neighbor who's walking up the stairs he barks and growls and sounds 4 times bigger than he is. However, if they just come up to him or he gets to them he all wagging tail and attention seeking.
• being left alone/behind. Nokie gets his feelings hurt very easily. He thinks that being left behind is a punishment of sorts and gets very depressed. It was only last weekend that he didn't follow me to the door when I left for work. Since October he's always followed me and I've had to reassure him that he can't come and that I'll be back later. Last weekend he was taking a nap in bed. I got told him I was going to work, he looked at my clothes (I wear all black to work), gave me a kiss and went back to sleep.

Nokie is such a peculiar character at times. He's very loving and wants nothing more than to please. His every emotion is played out in his beautiful eyes and are very easy to read. I was at the kennel puppy hugging and he had been left behind when the other dogs went out in public. It was easy to see how lonely and upset he was. I went to him first, as I always tired to do, and said hi. He wagged a little and I told him I was going to go walk the puppies but I would see him before I left and say goodbye. He wagged a little more and gave me a kiss.

Kisses are another thing that is something of a gift when they come from Nokie. He can be very stingy with his love. He must really be feeling it and in the mood to give kisses. My mom has tried countless time to get him to kiss her and it only happens occasionally. Nokie kisses are truly wonderful and unique because of how rare they are. I know I have cherished everyone I've ever received and look forward to getting as many as I can in our last two weekends together.