I’ve always loved the phrase a “dog-eared page”.
dog-eared page
The OED defines it as “ having worn or battered corners” but we almost always use it to describe turning down the corner of a book page.
My own dog, Baffi, has the same ears, gently folded over like a corner of a page (or as a stranger remarked in the Metro one day, she has ears like artichoke leaves).
dog-eared
artichoke-leaved
Baffi was a young dog when we lived in Paris. If the mail came when I wasn’t at home, it would be pushed under my front door, to be greeted by my bored little dog who, if it had some bulk, would nibble at its corners.
One such time, I opened the nibbled package and, to my delight, found that Baffi had gone through the packaging and made it to the book itself!
Robbe-Grillet’s Les Gommes
Of course, being 12 years old now, Baffi has matured into a non-book eating dog (she now conserves her energy for merciless killings of chipmunks in the garden), but whenever I look at the chewed corners, I think of how Baffi lead me back to the original “battered” meaning of “dog-eared pages”….
reading interrupted. 
Che delicatezza squisita…una carezza anche a Baffi
Grazie Tania! Baffi ti manda mille baci!
Baffeeeeeeee! Clearly a dog eager for knowledge! … Imagining you and Baffee venturing in the metro.. what a sweet pic.
haha, yes, she likes to “devour” knowledge!
Artichoke leaves… what an excellent image. Her hair does look like the stringy bits of the heart.
I never thought of that before, haha!
I love the idea of artichoke leaves for dog ears, she is adorable. I think there should be a word like ‘dog eared’ for when cats claw at carpet giving it that fluffy appearance.
I agree, I wonder what that word could be? cat-tailed? 🙂
Yes that’s perfect! We need to get it in the dictionary!
She is so cute! And that’s so funny about the book.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
Baffi looks like my mother, Ruby. Thanks for visiting my other Mom’s blog! Yours is beautiful.
Thanks! I used to see Border Terriers all of the time when I lived in London but don’t see them often now that I live in America so am excited whenever I get a chance to talk about them. They really are fantastic dogs 🙂
Wonderful. Your dog is adorable. My schnauzer has one ear straight up and one that flops over. One of the ways I guess how she’s feeling is by her ear positions. Both straight up, excited. One up and the other down, curious. Both down, submissive. Both pointed back, “I don’t want to!” I’m sure most dogs do this, but it supports your post on the importance of “dog ears!”
That is so cute! My dog’s ears are always in the same position (or flop up unintentionally) so don’t reflect her moods (unlike her eyes which are very expressive and tell me exactly what she wants). I love that your dog’s ears are so expressive! Thanks for commenting 🙂
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Hahah! Love those dog ears (on books and on Baffi)! Some of my books look exactly like that. It really adds to the reading experience when the pages crackle because of dried dog saliva. Baffi looks like she would be perfect to curl up with while reading. That’s great that she enjoys a good book as much as you do!
Baffi is a great reading companion, it’s true. I love that you have books that look like this too!