Category Archives: Dog days

Dog days, In the neighborhood, Snapshots, Whatever

The story behind the pic

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I met this handsome Lab last weekend at Sandy Hook. He/she looked much like any other Lab out for a walk on a sunny day: friendly, goofy, a bit bored with the lack of any cookies or tennis balls to chase…

but then the Lab was suddenly transformed into the great hunter and regal protector after finally (!) spotting…

the sly fox hiding in the ramparts…

😉

These two stared at each other for a bit, the Lab whining some and wanting to give chase. I learned an important lesson; if there are no cookies to grab the dog’s eye, a small furry creature like a fox (or a squirrel) will do to get *that* look on the face of a Lab.

Dog days

8 month pupdate

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His voice hasn’t completely changed yet and he still pees like a girl, but I’ve gone ahead and scheduled the appointment to have Luka neutered. The vet will keep him overnight one day in early March, so that’s at least a few hours of peace I can look forward to.

Yes, the honeymoon is over.

😉

He is such a clown; when I’m not completely annoyed with him I laugh until tears stream from my eyes. I have more bruises than I care to mention from his flying leaps into my lap. He gallops through the house like a horse in miniature or a bull in a china shop. He insists on getting a carrot anytime the bunnies do. He steals banana skins from the garbage can. He pokes his head in while I’m taking a shower. He follows me everywhere and leers at me with that damn ball in his mouth from behind every corner.

And he sleeps next to me and keeps me warm at night. And is happy to see me when I come home. And he drags me outside for walks. And he makes me laugh.

Mostly he’s a good thing. Guess I’ll have to keep him.

😉

Dog days, From the field

Please use back door

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I added pit bulls to my list of occupational hazards today, as if the possibility of random shootings, gang violence, or being kidnapped by crackheads weren’t entertaining enough.

😉

(Please note that I write this not for your sympathy, but so that my coworker Deb from my old cozy unit will stop insisting that my promotion to this field position is some kind of *racket* as she likes to call it.)

I still have all of my limbs, but barely. A sign on the front of the house directed me to the back door where I found, a little too late and a little too close for comfort, a friendly (not!) brindle pit bull. With a very strong-looking neck and a tie out which was considerably weaker-looking than anything I would think to use with my Lab puppy. And about a foot of space between the end of that lead and my pathway to the back door. Ahem.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why my client who has a beautiful house and who is a truly nice person, would have a pit tied out in her yard. Other than, maybe, to protect herself and her home from the neighbors.

At any rate, I’m a dog lover and reserve most of my fear for little yappy dogs or the occasional golden retriever. Illogical, I know, but a golden snapped at me once and now I’m afraid of most of them. My sister-in-law rescued an abused pit in a cruelty case from a neighborhood such as the one I visited today. Sweet dog and good-natured as pits go, but I don’t trust it. Once it had me afraid to move when it cornered me alone in my SIL’s living room and wouldn’t give way for me to walk past him. Silly, really, because I know the dog to be sweet, but always there’s that reputation to contend with.

Oftentimes, I guess the reputation is warranted, but I wonder if others have had a positive experience with pits or other *dangerous* dog breeds. I know lots of lovable Rotties and German Shepherds and wouldn’t think of fearing them as a breed the way I might pit bulls (or golden retrievers!)

Image from the HSUS.

Dog days, Snapshots

Seven month pupdate

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Suffice it to say that Luka continues to grow in direct proportion to his ability to try my patience! Mostly, he’s a doll, but he’s learning about independence and the value of selective hearing. I think it’s in that area that our training classes come in handy the most; when he’s too focused on misbehaving I simply distract him with a sit/stay and generous handouts of cookies. What’s really neat is that he’s learned hand signals for all his commands, so that I needn’t even raise my voice to scream at him.

😉

This toy that has him all googly-eyed is the only one recently that he hasn’t destroyed within minutes. Anything that’s slightly soft or has even the tiniest bit of give is torn apart and strewn across the floor somewhere. This yellow rubber jack thingy he just drops (repeatedly) at or (more likely) on my feet – or even more annoying – under the legs of a chair or the dining room table out of his reach and then he sits and woofs at it until someone comes along and retrieves it for him, only to bounce it right back under whatever again. What a PITA!

We’ve taken to calling him ‘Wiggles’ lately – he greets everyone with his whole body in a side-to-side sway. And he is a master at stealing my spot on the couch should I get up to answer the phone or something; the thing that makes me forgive him that is that he is a true lap dog (except for his size, I guess) and seems to love having someone near to snuggle with!

Dog days

Six month pupdate

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“It’s difficult to decide whether growing pains are something teenagers have — or are.” – Author Unknown

Luka has unofficially arrived at that stage of puppyhood considered the beginning of adolescence; the haphazard sum of many parts: nose, elbows, long velvet ears, and heart, all fueled by a limitless supply of enthusiasm. Brains, so far, appear to remain optional.

Suddenly he’s big and strong enough to go all day dragging me along behind him, but lacks judgement and any sort of focused concentration, like most teenagers. This time in raising him requires lots of patience and the challenge of seeing past the immediate irritations to appreciate the dog he’ll one day mature into.

At least Luka, like all Labs, comes with the built-in means of endearing himself to those around him, no matter how trying he often is. He always manages to convince me that he never intended any harm. He radiates charm, even as he spills a full cup of coffee all over my iPod (ruining it) and then pulling the same trick a few days later by jumping into my lap and sending another cup of coffee all over the laptop. One day soon I’ll learn not to drink coffee around him! Most of his antics do not produce such destruction; instead they make me laugh in a way that begs an official pardon for his misdoings.

The beginning of his adolescence marks a period of transition that will last for at least the next two years. Right now he’s little more than an overgrown puppy, all random energy and unfocused enthusiasm, but if he ever matures (god help us!) he’ll be a wonderful and playful companion. Hopefully he will have learned something between now and then, and will be trained well enough to resist the temptation to misbehave. For a while, at least.

Dog days

WANTED

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LABRADOR RETRIEVER

ALIASES: THE CLOWN, SNEAKERS, CHECKERS, HI-JINX, STINKER, SMOOCHER…

CRIME: STEALING THE HEARTS OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC AND AN OCCASIONAL TABLE SCRAP OR TWO.

APPROACH WITH CAUTION: LOOKING INTO EYES MAY MELT YOUR HEART AND CAUSE ADDICTION. WATCH FOR TILTING HEAD (“THE LOOK”) YOU MUST LOOK AWAY!

ANYONE WITH INFORMATION PLEASE CALL THE PROPER AUTHORITIES

LAST SEEN CHEWING MY SHOES

$1,000 CASH REWARD

Dog days, In the neighborhood

A Halloween pupdate

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No, there’s no costume for Luka this year; he’s cute enough without one. Scary is how quickly he’s growing and getting near strong enough to pull me off my feet if he so chooses. At almost 5 months, he’s a big boy; all bony elbows and long velvet ears. Most of his growth this past month seems to have been in the torso; he’s gotten longer rather than taller and looks like some sort of hound dog rather than a Lab most times.

His favorite spot to perch is still in the windowsill behind the couch. I took his photo there this afternoon while we waited for some trick-or-treaters to arrive. None ever did and it’s just as well because there’s no candy in the house. I’m not sure what’s going on with the kids in the neighborhood, but we haven’t had trick-or-treaters for a few years.

Keeping this pup exercised enough to behave himself is still a challenge. I’d have him at the dog park every day if he didn’t get filthy dirty at every visit. There’s an acre of grass, but the dogs romp and play in the dirt at the entrance. Most days it’s near midnight by the time I get around to a good long walk with him and we wander through the quiet neighborhood and slip into the park to watch the moon and listen for screech owls or the neighborhood great-horned pair.

He’s a great shoe thief and gets an inordinate amount of joy from removing the laces on a pair of sneakers. He’s been scolded for that so many times, but it only seems to add to his joy at doing it.