TheBanyanTree: Dog Day

[Kitty Park]

On the positive side, Jules, neither do you have to bathe a 100-pound cat!!

Kitty
<mzzkitty at gmail.com>kcp-parkplace.blogspot.com
 <http://parkplaceohio.com>



On Sun, Jun 2, 2013 at 9:09 AM, Julie Anna Teague <jateague at indiana.edu>wrote:

> This story is wonderful fun and makes me want a dog!  I love my kitty but
> she doesn't go on runs with me, not does she frolic in water!
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 1, 2013, at 10:25 PM, Pam Lawley <pamj.lawley at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I won't say that as dog owners we're failures - our mutts eat well, are
> > completely loved and spoiled, AND they get to lick the beaters!  But, we
> > are not very good about getting them out and about.  We have a good-sized
> > fenced-in yard for them to run around in, and a very good-sized sectional
> > sofa for them to lay on,!
> >
> > Our female is Annie, and she is four years old.  Our male is Mojo and he
> > just celebrated his first birthday a couple of months ago.  And they are
> > both Great Danes.  I have always taken Annie on walks with me.  She's
> > nervous about jumping into the back of my SUV, so I she gets her front
> paws
> > up and I have to give an assist in the rear for her to get in.  And then
> > she lays there panting and holding on for dear life!  She won't sit up
> lest
> > she fall in a turn, and she will not relax and enjoy the ride!  But she
> > LOVES going!  And she LOVES the walks!    There are no sidewalks around
> > here and all the cars make me nervous, so we almost always head on base
> to
> > the PT track.
> >
> > If she sees me putting on my 'tennis' shoes, she starts whining and
> dancing
> > around! She knows - or expects! - she's going for a ride, and then a
> walk!
> > And she's like a bloodhound on the course sniffing everything and
> > everywhere.  (One time we got stopped at a security check going on base
> and
> > she had to get out, and then get right back in a few minutes later -
> > without a walk!!  She'd been duped and she was NOT happy about that!!)
> > And she's not a very disciplined walker but sometimes I just don't have
> the
> > heart to reel her in - she is SO excited to be out there!  And,
> truthfully,
> > the faster SHE goes, the faster *I* have to go so it makes for a nice
> brisk
> > workout!  And if I run, well then it's a sprint!  However fast I think I
> > can go - she can go faster!!
> >
> > The course is marked, and just past the 3/4 mile marker there's a water
> > stop.  It's a big water fountain, but there's a spigot at the bottom
> that I
> > turn on for her to drink all she wants.  And she knows it's there!  No
> > matter how long it is in between walks, she veers off course every time
> for
> > a drink!  Then we go to the 1.5 marker and we get to stop on the way
> back,
> > and at then at the fountain at the end.  I still have to stop and make
> her
> > sit to wait for other runners or bikers or somebody else with a dog
> though.
> > Did I mention that she's not very disciplined?!
> >
> > There are no dog parks around here - it's a small town.  And in fact,
> dogs
> > aren't allowed at the city park, or any of the ball fields.  My friend in
> > Florida often takes her dog to their park - or their own beach! - and I'm
> > always jealous!  It's so convenient to take her pets out!
> >
> > And I am married to an avid - did I mention AVID? - golfer who golfs
> every
> > weekend day and then naps, so the opportunity to take the dogs together
> > somewhere is pretty nil.  And honestly, both dogs are too much for me.
>  The
> > few times I've taken Annie walking and left Mojo home though, he's spent
> > the time in pitiful sorrow whining and pacing wondering why he got left
> > behind!
> >
> > Which is a shame, because Mojo LOVES a good car ride too!  And he has no
> > problem jumping into the SUV, nor is he fearful of curves!  He stands up
> > and sticks his head out and has a grand old time stepping all over Annie
> in
> > his excitement!
> >
> > So today I took them to the river.  It's close to where my daughter Molly
> > lives (about ten miles down the road) and there's not usually a lot of
> > people.  Molly has a little mutt dog who loves to go, and when Annie was
> > just a few months old she and I went with them.  Then the hurricane came
> > and washed the beach away so the state closed it down for months - all of
> > last summer!  But it's back up and running and the weather is finally
> warm
> > again so we made a date to go this morning.
> >
> > Oh.  What.  Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> >
> > I loaded the bowl and some water bottles.  I emptied everything out of
> the
> > back and laid down the seats.  I put down a sheet and I thew in a couple
> of
> > towels.  When everything was ready, I pulled out the leads and we started
> > the dance of getting them on while they jumped around!  Getting them - on
> > leads! - through the garage to the car involved some flexibility on my
> > part, but I got them in the car in one piece!  Two big Danes pulling in
> two
> > directions heading for the same place - crazy stuff!!
> >
> > I had all the windows down.  Annie, of course, got help getting in - Mojo
> > had already jumped in himself! - and then she hunkered down for the
> > treacherous ride! She has been known to rub her 'elbows' raw digging them
> > in on the curves!  Mojo danced from side to side, window to window,
> hanging
> > out his head and doing that amazing dog-breathing-out-the-window at 50
> mph!
> > I even managed to snap a photo of him!
> >
> > My daughter and I had agreed to meet at nine and I was a couple of
> minutes
> > early.  She was a couple of minutes late!  And ten minutes is WAY too
> long
> > to keep two dogs locked in, even with the windows all down, with so very
> > much excitement outside to explore!!!!  I finally took pity and got them
> > out, and then we did some arm-stretching exercises to get warmed up!  All
> > of a sudden Annie seems SO disciplined on a lead (in comparison)!
> >
> > Molly's little dog is a horrible whiner and a licker, but she is SO much
> > better behaved and very good off a lead.  I was happy when they showed up
> > because it gave my two something to focus on close by!
> >
> > It's a short walk down a sidewalk to the river and we kept them all
> leashed
> > so we could check out anybody else in the area and figure out options.  I
> > was thrilled when we saw NOBODY, because once we reached the water's
> edge,
> > we let them all go.  And I swear, I could FEEL their doggy
> > excitement!!!!!!!!
> >
> > Then ran and chased and - YES!  I swear it! - they "frolicked"  in their
> > fun.  All of a sudden Mojo was the chicken, fearful to walk over a pile
> of
> > cement bricks (not a good description, but the area was built up to
> combat
> > erosion).  Annie and Delilah crossed over quickly, but we had to go back
> > for Mojo and guide him down!  And the water!  The first couple of times
> it
> > splashed he jumped!
> >
> > We leashed all three only once when we saw a lady walking towards us with
> > her dog, but once they'd passed the dogs were freed and all behaved
> running
> > on ahead!   They raced, they fetched sticks from the water, they drank
> the
> > water!  Yuck!  Our river is kind of gross...
> >
> > At one point on the way back after we'd turned around, Annie got a little
> > ahead  and found some shade from a tree and laid down.  My poor couch
> > potato dog!!  Back at the cars, everybody had some fresh, clean water and
> > we loaded back up!
> >
> > It was the best hour I've had in such a long time - just from watching my
> > dogs get to play FREE!!  Yeah, I had to bathe them both out back before
> > they could come in the house, but it was SO worth the effort!
> >
> > We're going to do this again.  And again!  I may not be a total failure
> as
> > a dog owner, but it's obvious I could use some improvement!  Just ask
> Annie
> > and Mojo!!
> >
> > Pam
>