Night of Terror

This is one of the most bizarre things that these two dogs have done yet. Unbelievable!

So last night I’m talking on the phone with my friend and all of a sudden Bell and Nicki go tearing by me and Nicki is screaming (yes, screaming!) at the top of her lungs. Bell is terrified because Nicki is screaming right next to her ear. Nicki is screaming because she somehow got her toe stuck in Bell’s collar. The more Nicki screams the faster Bell runs…the faster Bell runs the more it hurts Nicki and she continues screaming!

I dropped the phone and took off after them. They were heading for the kitchen…Bell wanted out of this nightmare! I caught hold of Nicki’s collar just as she got her toe out of the collar. She stopped and just stood there…a little freaked out….but at least she wasn’t screaming anymore. I made her stand still for me so I could check out her foot. She was ok, no blood, no pain when I manipulated the foot and toe. Nicki forgot all about it in about 5 minutes. (good little airhead)

Bell was standing near the door…no, more like crouching near the door..and vibrating like crazy. She was obviously terrified and didn’t understand what had just happened. I told her it was ok now and petted her. I didn’t think much of it. I figured she’d snap back in a few minutes and forget all about it. I was very wrong.
I decided to vacuum everywhere while I had them at a calm moment. So I hauled out the vacuum and got to it. Bell was right at my side…and I mean RIGHT AT MY SIDE. She was actually getting in my way but she wouldn’t leave me. I kept petting her and telling her it was ok but nothing made her feel better. I decided to make my way up the stairs and into my room…vacuuming as I went. Bell either stood behind me; crouched on the stair I was trying to vacuum; huddled in the corner of the hallway or stood in the bathroom the whole time. Have you ever tried to vacuum around a large dog? It’s not easy!

Once that was done I coaxed her back downstairs with me. She put herself between the wall and my chair for the next half hour…still shaking. I kept talking to her and petting her but she wouldn’t calm down. I did get her to come out for a dog biscuit but then she’d go back to hide. Nicki tried to play with her several times but she just cowered away from her. I gave up and decided it was probably best to just put them to bed…act like normal.
In the morning Bell was better, a little more subdued than normal but at least she ate breakfast…Bell can always eat.

But when it was time to take them out to potty Bell was crouching and hiding again. I had to pull her out the door. Outside she did her business and then just stood there looking miserable and shaking again. I don’t know how long this is going to take for her to get over it but I’m really shocked that she’s even remembering it today.

Note: Bell was her old self again by the time I got home from work. Glad that's behind us! No pictures on this one folks. There just wasn't any time!

The Walk of a Thousand Miles

A few days ago I let Justin talk me into taking a walk with the dogs around town. I had no idea he meant really all around the town! It started out innocently enough...I was looking forward to the exercise being outside for a change. I've been working out on my Total Gym a lot lately because of the excessive heat and that can get really boring really fast. Plus your muscles get used to what you're doing so it's always good to change it up a bit.

I do take the girls out together some times now. It's still a challenge but I think they are improving somewhat. I even bought a special leash made for walking two dogs at once. Whoever thought of this idea seems to have forgotten that dogs that go walking often like to potty along the way. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get one dog to stand still while the other one does their business? Each side of the leash only gives them about 1 1/2 feet of room to move away from the other. That's not a lot of room when you have two young dogs that are used to being quite a bit farther from each other when they do that. Bell looked at me like 'what the hell is this Mom'? when it was her turn. (she's always the one that looks like that at me) I can't say I blame her. It was just as awkward for me having to pick it up with both of them trying to walk away (in different directions no less!) after they were done. This is going to take some getting used to that's for sure.
I also bought a 'gentle leader' for Nick since she's the excited one all the time. This contraption is supposed to stop her from pulling on the leash....yeah, right. Well, I tried it on her in the house and she let me put it on but went nuts trying to get it off afterward. Poor dog. She was all excited about going for a walk so I tried leaving the house with them both on the double leash AND poor Nicki in the gentle leader. It was just too much for her and not really fair to spring both things on her at the same time so I took it off and attached it to my belt loop for the rest of the walk.

But for this walk with Justin; KC and the girls I didn't use any of the fancy stuff. Two leashes, two dogs, no gentle leader. I told Justin (he had Nicki) when Nick pulls just stop walking and tell her to heel. She'll bounce back into the correct position and you can start up again. I didn't tell him he'd be doing that for the next two hours almost continually. ha ha I wanted him to have as much fun as I do when I walk her. Well once I found out how far we were going and how long it would take..I was glad I didn't tell him Nicki's tricks. Serves him right for springing this marathon on me with no real notice! He claimed it was a three mile walk. I think he just made that number up in his head because it sure felt like twice that amount! Of course the heat didn't help much either. It was a cloudy day but it was very muggy. My face was red and I started sweating almost as soon as I got out the door.
Overall it was good for us all. We all got some exercise; the dogs got to blow off their perpetual supply of energy and we got to see some really mundane and ugly scenery along the way too. Most of the walk took place on the streets and not in what I would call the pretty neighborhoods. Some really run down areas in my town that's for sure.

By the time we got home my feet were screaming and my knees were threatening to revolt. It's been too long since I hiked I guess and my body has a ready supply of complaints to display whenever it feels it's being abused. Not a problem. Once I got home I took a shower and popped a couple of White Willow capsules. It took a while for my face to return to it's normal color but the pain is all gone. And the rain held off until we got home. Good job!
The girls threw themselves down on the carpet in front of the fan and I didn't hear a peep out of them for over an hour. They were also very happy to go to bed early tonight.

When Nicki Wants To Play

Nick has a habit of letting you know when she wants to play. She saunters over and puts whatever sloppy wet toy she has on you. Just drops the icky thing on your lap; your clothes; your arm or whatever is available. It's not too hard to figure out from there that she wants you to throw it for her.

This was her most resent offering, balanced perfectly on my knee while I was on the computer. Smart dog!