Maybe I Should Try Not Having A Dog

SUMMARY: Whenever Zoroo departs for good.

Backfill: date

Maybe I should try having an empty house, though [after Zorro is gone]. Maybe.

Have had at least one dog since shortly after I moved out from parents’ to my own place.
Over 40 years. (Plus the family dog before that.)
Maybe it’s time.

I don’t miss my pups when I’m away from them.
I mean–well, yes, I do, but more like, wish I could snuggle with one right now.
Or, this situation is uncomfortable and I wish I had a dog with me.
So, bits and pieces.

But mostly I love the freedom to go where I want, when I want, and not worry about supplies or whether dogs are allowed or whether it would be challenging or worrisome for me to have them with me.
16 days I was gone in 2018, staying at hotels or friends’ places, and I loved it. Me and my camera. Who is a much less demanding companion. (In most ways, anyway.)

I have said it–maybe time for no dogs–multiple times in my life–
Like, after Amber died. (But then, eventually, Remington came home, making 2 again.)
Like, as Jake and Remington were aging. (But then, Tika came home, making 3.)
Like, as Tika and Boost were aging. (But then, Chip came home, making 3.)

Maybe it’s time to be free to travel anywhere in the world for any length of time and not worry about dogsitters. Or dog hair everywhere. Or having to ensure that they get the mental and physical exercise they need. Or the fun and love they need.

Devoting I don’t know how much space in the house to them–dog beds everywhere, multiple shelves in various closets or cabinets filled with assorted gear and toys. Crates often in multiple places. Water bowls in various places. All of that. Crates and gear in my car and all over the garage.

I’m scared to actually add up how much space dog paraphernalia and ephemera consume.

And the yard–at least the current one–all that agility gear and all those limitations on landscaping so that I could do some real practice with the beasts. Not that I do much any more.

It’s always something I think about after one of mine has died. Sometimes think more, sometimes think less about it.

So, just, not making a decision now. How long should I give my wound to heal? A month (It has been nearly 4 weeks already, hard to believe)? Two months? Four? Wait until I’m competing with Zorro? Will I ever actually do that?

What kind of dog would I want–another that I “intend to do agility with”, as Chip and Zorro were? A mellow dog? Must be smart, I think, and eager to learn.

But, aye, there’s the rub: Those qualifications come right back around to “ensure that they get the mental and physical exercise they need. Or the fun and love they need.”

Enough on that for now.

Do not get another dog right now

SUMMARY: Don’t. Just don’t.

I got Zorro when it was just me and Chip not long after Tika and Boost died that spring

Even though I was adoring getting to know Chip better, I fell in love with Zorro’s face (it was not like any of my prior dogs, but that wasn’t it–), and I brought him home, and he sucked up so much of my attention, and I have thought often that it was an emotional mistake. I’m trying not to make that same mistake again.

But–the fear creeps in. The same fear that I first noticed 30 years ago, two years after Amber died.

Old Amber

For those two years, I thought I was done with dogs. Heartache, exhausting, dust and mud and dirt and dog hair everywhere. But as my husky aged and declined–she was 14 already (who knew she’d live to 17!?). And then the fear–

Jim was inclined to get a dog from the shelter or an animal rescue place again rather than to find a puppy in the paper. (If we HAD to get a dog; he was pretty sure Sheba wouldn’t be happy about it and maybe we should wait til Sheba wasn’t around any more.)

Told Jim that when we got back from Hawaii it would be time for ME to have another dog because i couldn’t bear to have an empty house when Sheba goes to the great goodie cabinet in the sky.

From my May 17, 1994 post, “How I Carefully Chose the Dog–And the Results“

But: I couldn’t bear to have an empty house.
What if something happens to Zorro.
I hadn’t expected Boost to die.
Maybe I should try having an empty house, though. Maybe.
Have had at least one dog since shortly after I moved out from parents’ to my own place.
Over 40 years. (Plus the family dog before that.)
Maybe it’s time.

Or, I could rescue a senior dog, one that’s hard to adopt out. Or I could foster.
Could my heart stand either, when they’d leave so soon?

DO NOT MAKE A DECISION IN GRIEF. OR FEAR.

I miss Chip so much. His laughter. His affection. His fun.
And do not miss his flaws.

And Zorro seems like a better dog with Chip gone. Most of the time.

Still–I miss him so much.

Indulgence

SUMMARY: We’re gonna have ICCCCE cream!

Been feeling so sad lately about Boost and Tika. It’s the time of year. Three years ago, Tika was recently gone and Boost will be gone in a couple of days.

I’ve been trying to stay away from sugar (well, except for some unfortunate incidents involving Easter candy), but yesterday afternoon I just couldn’t stand it any more, plus I needed something to cheer me up. So I decided to replay one of the excellent days from three years ago– in June of that year, when Chip and I headed for the hills and came back with Zorro (known at the time as Luke).

On the way home back then, I stopped in a small town in a one-of-a-kind hamburger place for a hamburger–and they had ice cream cones! And it was a warm day! And so I got a cone. Ate most of it. Shared it with the new “brothers”. A joy, and a rare treat for the beasties.

So, yesterday… no, I didn’t drive all the way back to that place… but I did drive down the street to here:

Yummmmmm– my favorite sherbet! Colorful AND fruity!

If I’m going to share, better be a double scoop. Am I right?

Human Mom, whut iz GOT?! Is we getz owt of here? Walkiez meybe?

Do you see where I’m going with this?

No, seriously, I just sucked off a couple small bits of sherbet and ptooed them into the dishes. Took a lot of convincing to get Zorro to look into his dish–too excited about having his door open–but when he finally looked…… ooooohhhhhh, yummm! (Apparently cold ice cream doesn’t have any particular odor, and hard to see into those no-spill dishes.)

Chip would NOT LOOK AT DISH NO ME GETZ OUT WHUT IS YOU DOING HUMAN MOM?

So I sat on the bumper and enjoyed most of the treat, then offered first licks to Chip–he had no trouble figuring that out!

Zorro got second licks after I said that Chip had had enough. Rather, let’s say, Zorro got second lick, and then–really, this licking crap is for wusses!

Oh–and that’s when Chip discovered the bits of sherbet in his dish. Happiness all around.

AND in case you were wondering… that’s about the way it all happened in June of 2015, too.

My favorite–chocolate dipped! That part not for doggers.

Oooh, Human Mom, whut iz??

Lick lick lick

Little lick…

…annnnnnnnd CHOMP!

March through May Emotions

SUMMARY: So much history of dogs coming and going in just a small date range.

The Boy Beasties stayed home without me for 10 full days. I’m sad that I didn’t miss them much at all. Almost the only times I thought about them were when my sister wondered how her dog was doing at home during the same time, and also at night when I’d be dozing off and switch positions and my foot would bump something and I’d apologize to the dog–which wasn’t a dog, it was a pillow or bunched-up blanket.

I’ve always liked vacations away from my dogs, frankly–they are so limiting unless I’m specifically planning a dog getaway, in which case my activities are predetermined and dog-focused. But usually I miss them a *little*, anyway.

Got home very late last night. Dogs–well, Zorro in particular–didn’t want to settle down even though I was exhausted and in pain, and frustration reigned and grew and grew until there I was in the middle of the night physically throwing him off the bed and yelling at him.Repeatedly. Because I was too tired to want to get up out of bed and put him into his crate.

Not among my prouder or happier moments.

But it did make me think that, after all these years of me and the dogs working things out to our mutual satisfaction on the bed– 7 dogs in all — it’s time to move them into their own nighttime spaces. I have to figure out what and where; really room for only one crate in my bedroom. Not sure whether I have the wherewith all to teach them to stay in beds of their own without crates. Sigh. Another training challenge in response to a relationship problem or two.

But I digress–

This is only my second time at Walt Disney World; the first time was just under 2 years ago when my same seester and husband took me after the Merle Girls died.

I’m left, during this period, with mixed feelings all around:

March 9, 2015: Tika dies
March 29, 2014: Chip arrives
April 21, 2005: Boost arrives
April 24, 2015: Boost dies
April 29, 2015: First saw Luke (Zorro) picture
May 11-15, 2015: Actually asked whether he was still available, eventually confirmed that he could be mine
June 7: He came home with us

To me, his “gotcha day” will always be May 11 because that’s when I seriously started the process, and I will always tie his arrival to Boost’s death because it was so close after she left that I first saw him and tried to resist.

2 years later, still so very many mixed feelings about both my wonderful, gorgeous Boy Beasties. So smart, so full of potential, so underappreciated. Guilt and grief and joy all intermingled. Compounded by confounded me who found that neither dog could remember how to sit or down on command after 10 days. Let alone stay there while sitting or downing. Let alone getting them to look at me. Weird emotional stuff.

Doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy snuggling and rubbing tummies this morning.

How Luke Came Home

SUMMARY: Poor neglected puppy.

Here’s the description of Luke from his rescue home, posted April 29. Boost had just died 5 days before and I streaked past any dog-available posts on Facebook, so didn’t even read it then.

Luke is an 11 month old McNab boy (possibly a cross) who gets along well with dogs of all sizes and personalities. He is willing to concede to a more assertive dog without any contention. He’s very good at independent play with a toy but loves to tug and fetch for you.

Luke is a small guy (16″) who weighs about 22 pounds. He has good basic skills, crates, hearty appetite, food motivated. Busy body. Very interested in exploring his surroundings. Luke is very athletic, agile and quick. Luke does well with cats; sniffs and curious without any aggression but will chase if they run. It’s a youngster thing!

Luke loves to cuddle and wants to please. He’s a quick learner and would make an amazing agility dog. He is neutered and ready for a new home.

Sorry about the airplane ears…this was a quick photo when he arrived…he’s a happy boy who adores people and wants to interact and play. Ears are always erect (except when you point a camera at thim). Better photo tomorrow.

The better photo didn’t arrive until May 7 — and Bam! he just hit me hard.

New photo of Luke our McNab cross boy. Yes…those ears are that big. He’s about 20 pounds…25 max. 16″ boy. Good skills and crates, reliable off lead and eager to please. Clicker trained. Ready to rock and roll.

I wasn’t sure at all that I was ready for another dog. But I was ready for a playmate for Chip, if that was possible, and also one who’d have the enthusiasm to play with me (like Amber or Jake or Tika or Boost) for more than a few minutes (like Chip does; like Remington did). But, still, grieving hard.

BUT I kept looking and looking and looking and looking at this dog’s photo and description and photo. For four days, I examined my own motives and ability to incorporate a young, active dog into my life and into Chip’s life–which had become rather sedate–BUT I kept looking and looking and looking.

On May 11 I called about him. She said, oh, he went to his new home this morning; a couple who want a dog to run with and be their companion. I felt… a little relieved, a little more disappointed.

We talked for a bit about what I might want in a dog (or not want). And, at her request, I sent her a rambling list of my thoughts at that moment.

On the afternoon of the very next day, May 12, I got this email:

The family has decided he’s too much of a puppy for them right now. So he’s coming back. Are you still interested in him?

I said “Yes!” and we were off and running!

Schedules didn’t mesh–I left messages and finally spoke to her on May 15–the night before my week-long trip to DisneyWorld. She said that she had a couple of other good performance homes interested in him, too, but she’d wait for me. I felt great relief!

Schedules and my health aligned 3 weeks after that, and I drove the 3-4 hours to Somerset and, on June 6 I met him in the evening; on June 7 Chip met him; finally, I decided for sure to take him home (with her making it clear that, if it didn’t work out with Chip or any other reason, he always had a place to go back to).

His brief backstory is: First owner (not sure where he came from before that) mostly worked and left him at home and would send him off to The Trainer periodically to be trained, then mostly neglect him at home again. Eventually he just landed at The Trainer’s place, and from there into the rescue home with a dozen other dogs. So he knows some things, but not very well. Poor guy.

Rescue says that some of his issues and his training were much worse when he arrived, and of course she had him for over a month to work on some things.

Anyway, here we are on June 9, his second morning here with me, and boy oh boy are we really off and running!

First 24 hours of Luke

SUMMARY: Yikes.

Added more at the end June 9, 9:45 a.m.
Just trying to capture some notes–an inventory of where he is–while there’s a brief peaceful interlude. In general, I’d say that he has the training that one might expect of maybe a 4-month old puppy, but he’s maybe 12 months old (waiting for confirmation on age).

… hmmm, I wonder why it’s so peaceful and where he is and what he’s doing? … Oh, he just came downstairs from my bedroom and isn’t carrying anything, so I guess that’s good.

He’s mostly good enough in the house that I’m letting him wander around on his own.
Big problem with that is getting up on kitchen chairs to find things on the table, paws on counters, etc. I’ve been trying to keep things clean because of Chip anyway, but things feel so chaotic all of a sudden that I’ll set something on the table and go quickly into the other room and forget.
He was supposed to know how to use a doggie door, but seemed completely unclear on the concept for the first couple or three hours yesterday. But if I lifted one corner about half an inch, he’d come through. So I finally figured out that he was distracted by it being in a sliding glass door that he could see through (vs a solid door or wall). So i covered the glass alongside the door and voila, he started getting it. Then I uncovered the glass again and we’re fine.
The only trouble with that is that, if Luke isn’t under my close supervision or in his crate, he’s happy to run out when Chip starts barking at the dog next door and join in. Just NOT what I need, 2 of them. Which means I also need to do something about Chip, sigh.
He grabs grabs grabs grabs my hands and wrists and even arms and toes and sometimes at my face. As in, with his teeth. Not hard, but OMG what a challenge that is proving to be. Working out how to approach this. Interestingly, it seems to be better if I reach under to rub his chest sometimes, but mostly not. Have been told that it’s because he wants to be close to you and/or affectionate and/or play. But, jeez, needs work.
And completely unconcerned about jumping right up into or at my face. Or, since I’m lying on the couch and using the computer, just right on top of me. Ouch and ouch and ouch, getting bumped and thumped and whapped.
He’s learning very quickly to sit before being released from the crate or to get his meal. Dogs find these things to be highly motivating for learning, yes indeedy.
He has had his meals in a Leo Genius toy and the other big red egg-shaped thing. Figuring them out very quickly. However, he left some of his meal behind in the Leo for dinner this evening.
Worked a little on not grabbing at food in my hands. Has had some background in that previously but needs a big refresher.
Worked a little on nose touches to my hand. Getting a lot of tongue and mouth, too, but I think starting to focus in on the nose touch with little effort, so he might have had some background on that.
After a little griping, he does seem to settle down OK in a crate.
He does not like going into the crate, probably because he gets shut into them often. I need to spend time on some crate games, and ASAP, because I don’t want to be fighting with this, and I still need to be able to crate him for some peace or when I’m out of the house. I tried just a little last night, and it was a battle just to try to get him positioned in front of the crate!
He’s housebroken, definitely. At least that’s OK! There was one accident while he was still figuring out the doggie door, so that’s why I made sure that he could use the door correctly (although I swear he’d been out less than half an hour before).
He generally seems to understand what are dog toys. Except that the pile of toys he’d accrued this afternoon included one of the shoes that I’d kicked off before hitting my couch office. And the cell phone that fell out of my pocket while trying to do something with him on the floor. And my computer mouse when I raised my arm (leaving it on the couch) to fend him off.
He throws water all over the floor from the water dish! I think because he just leaves in such a hurry (he’s a busy guy). But his rescue person did point out that he’s a water dog, with his feet in the ranch water bucket. And sure enough, once this morning I found him with both front feet in the water dish in the kitchen.
No good name recognition (he came to rescue as Luther and she changed it to Luke–which I completely agree with, but that means that he hasn’t had much time to understand it). I get virtually no response when I say his name unless he’s right in front of me and there are no other distractions.
Doesn’t really bring toys back when thrown. Maybe. Eventually.
Does love to play by himself, which is nice, too.
Is clicker trained, so responds well to it. I’m using “Yes!” along with it to get him used to that alternative sound.

He and Chip are figuring out how to play with each other. I think. Yesterday Chip wanted to hump him and climb on him and lie on him and I kept removing Chip, and sometimes Luke would come back at him to play, but more often not. Today Chip’s not being quite as pushy and they did run around together a bit and play a bit.

Chip is also being a bit grumpy at times even when Luke isn’t doing anything.

But Chip seems exhausted for the 2nd day in a row (well, 3rd, with visit at our overnight spot’s dog house), and So. Am. I.

Haven’t had time to do more than glance at the photos that I took on our trip and afterwards. Ack ack ack.

Trying out a dog

SUMMARY: That’s a lot of driving for a cute face.

Saturday Chip and I drove about 4 hours up to the Sierra foothills (Google maps says 2 hrs 45 minutes. Maybe if someone cleared all the traffic with a bulldozer). Today I drove about 4 hours back. Maybe longer. I did stop 3 or 4 times on the way home.

Anyway, Luke came home with us to try us out.

Very tired. Have many photos for a long and entertaining story. Or, at least, long.

Chip and Luke are still trying to decide about each other.

Chip Day 19 – Vet, Dogpark, and Other Random Stuff

SUMMARY: A few little notes.

Chip met our vet today. He cheerfully greeted the receptionist and got a treat. He slightly cautiously greeted the vet but accepted pets and a treat. He was completely calm through the entire exam, except that he didn’t like being turned around on the metal table, but got over it.

Vet said that I should have him do a mind meld with Tika to try to get her to absorb some of his calmness. My fear is that it would be the other way around and Chip would turn into a frantic screamer, too.

Chip checks out excellent. Joints seem solid, weight is good (33 lbs as Previous Owner said), heart rate is that of a runner (nice and low and even), rear is well-muscled. A little tartar on his molars just on the right side–does he chew only on one side, maybe? Eyes are a little red– Boost’s were awful a couple of weeks ago, very red and discharging, one of her allergy things that crops up, and she got a week’s dose of eye ointment. Vet says Chip’s aren’t bad, just typical “hay fever eyes” and to keep an eye on them.

Other notes:

He doesn’t know how to follow a pointing finger (as in, there’s food THERE on the floor for you, or get THAT toy). He’ll learn, I assume; most dogs do.
Happened to be near a dog park, so took him there because I saw (when I first met him) how he liked playing with other dogs at a dogpark. Thought I’d use it as a teaching/learning experience (for both of us). The yummy treats I took, however, he spit out the first several rewards I tried to give, so that didn’t help. Mostly my goals were to (a) see whether he’d pay attention when I said his name (he didn’t), (b) see whether he’d come in my direction when I tried various attractive activities (he didn’t), (c) see whether he’d miss me and Boost when we hid behind the fence on the far side of the field for several minutes (he didn’t), (d) get him used to the idea that I can grab his collar, reward/pet/praise and release, and that would make him more amenable to me coming up to him to grab his collar (he didn’t, not really… I followed him around the park until he’d stop to smell something long enough for me to get close to lean and put my hand on his collar, probably a couple dozen times, but every succeeding time he’d trot ahead of me just out of my reach until he felt like stopping). And he spent most of his time sniffing EVERYthing, very little time paying any attention to other dogs.
The wall of the building that forms part of the dogpark boundary has realistic pictures of dogs painted on it. He spent about 3 minutes barking ferociously at them, ignoring/moving away from me, before he somehow decided that they were not actually dogs.
I’m very happy at how well he’s sitting and waiting for his dinner, and waiting to be released out of his crate.
I seem to be sleeping with 3 dogs on the bed now. How DOES that happen? As long as (1) they don’t try to take my space and (2) Chip doesn’t make Tika feel pushed out, that’s fine. Everyone seems to be getting along.
Tunnels–he has run through U-curved tunnels after Boost several times in the yard now. I set up a wobble board and a low table yesterday but ran out of time to try them out on him.
I should take some quick vids of him doing various things. Yeah, right, like I’m going to. But I should.

Things I still need from Previous Owner:

Info on his microchip registration.
Info on his license expiration.
Info on previous vet and innoculation history.
Whether he’s ever had heartworm medication.
Confirmation on his birthdate–have it but the comment was “pretty sure”. Not that it really matters exactly, since Tika’s, Remington’s, Sheba’s, and Jake’s bdays were all best guesses. But I’d just like to know for health reasons and for personal knowledge if the info is available.
When and whether they’re going to get together with Chip for a goodbye afternoon/day/weekend/week. I think Chip would love to see them from time to time over time, if they’re willing. Waiting to hear.

Chip Day 8 & 9 – Agility Weekend

SUMMARY: I learned more things about him.

Trying to be very quick…

In the motel Saturday night, Chip settled right down when the other dogs did and slept soundly. (They all had their run of the room and the 2nd bed in the room, which he & Boost opted to sleep on–I cover the beds with my own sheets to protect the hotel bedding from hair & dirt.)
I think that all the stimulation tired him out, even though he didn’t get a lot of physical exercise.
Tried him on a long line, loose, for a while, but although he’d run after Boost when she chased the frisbee, he’d then also decide to go walkabout, ignoring me completely. Not unexpected, but I’d hoped he’d stick around so that I didn’t have to follow him across the field to bring him back. Definitely recall work needed.
He was willing to play tug with me several times even with all the excitement going on.
When I had him out on leash, I did many many reps of saying “Chip!” and rewarding when he looked up at me. He got a lot of hot dog bits. He seemed to be responding better over the 2 days, although still easily distracted by lots of things.
Tried to do some groundwork/circle work, where I just walk or jog in small circles and have him follow me. He wasn’t particularly interested, and once again, when I pulled forward on his leash to bring him with me, he just dug in and wouldn’t budge. Need to figure out what exactly the situation is when that comes up, because mostly he’s pliable on leash.
Lots of people food he didn’t seem to consider worthwhile. Rejected beans (like cooked kidney beans), cooked egg white (but he liked the yolk), banana (well, Tika doesn’t like that, either), and tortilla chips, although I did notice that later the chips had vanished, so he changed his mind about that. Rejected some chicken offered by a friend, but then ate that after she also gave him some tiny bits of bacon.
Lunges to the end of his leash and barks at other dogs… sometimes! Not sure what sparks that. I think he mostly wants to go check them out, but I worked on telling him that barking at other dogs is not done at agility trials.
He got to meet a few other dogs, all on leash and calm, no real playing; that was my choice.
Oh, jeez, he pees on EVERYthing if he gets a chance! I don’t actually remember Remington or Jake being this determined. I had to rinse down an agility tunnel and a friend’s umbrella when I didn’t catch him in time because I wasn’t expecting it. That’s an ongoing thing to work on with him and for me to remember to pay attention. Dang boy dogs!
Everyone who met him–and lots of people have seen his photo in my facebook posts or blog now, so a lot knew his name already–thought he was a very cute/handsome, sweet boy. And that he looked like Remington. And he responded to people who’d say “Chip!” All good.
The borrowed crate was a wee bit small for him. On the way there, I don’t think he put his head down more than a couple of times the whole two hours. On the way back, he curled up and slept pretty much all the way.
He was pretty good about getting into a crate when I told him to. I have been rewarding and releasing him a lot from crates, so that might help. Also that he other dogs were right next to him. He’s also waiting fairly well for me to give him a “Break!” before he tries to leave the crate. Don’t know whether he learned to do that in his previous life or whether he’s actually learning that. Either way, it’s good.
Realized that I really do need to wait a few more weeks, making a concerted effort in training and some basic agility jumping, before deciding for sure whether he’ll be a fun agility dog or a problem agility dog (jumping style, attitude). So much to learn, both of us!

I might remember more in the morning, but now must sleep.

ADDED MONDAY MORNING:
Because the borrowed crate was really too small for him to spend an extended period in, I put Boost loose in the front of MUTT MVR because she’s the most trustworthy of the bunch, and Chip borrowed Boost’s crate.

Chip mostly watched everything, which (on top of our walking around and meeting people and dogs and training work) I think is what tired him out mentally. I eventually draped a towel over his crate for an hour or so here and there to give him a chance to relax.

He was pretty good except raising a storm whenever I took Boost away to go run a run.

Tika slept a LOT.

Chip Day 7 – Evening

SUMMARY: Dog door accomplished; more Leo; Home Alone.

With Chip succeeding at the doggie door this morning, I took the risk and left him unconfined today while I went off for several hours. Came home to three happy dogs at the door.

He’s definitely letting himself out as needed; saw him go out on his own to potty this evening. So that takes care of that.

I crunched up a 15-foot tunnel into a straight 4-foot tunnel to see what he’d do. I lined him up in front of it, tossed a toy through, and he ran happily after it all the way through–then suddenly realized that something odd had just happened, turned around, and walked back through, inspecting the whole thing carefully. Soooo we won’t have any trouble with tunnels.

Gave the dogs Leos again tonight, and Chip is already doing all the things–pawing it, nudging it, picking it up to dump food out–although I think that he’s not quite sure yet that most of the food is coming out of the small end. Photos for fun.

Licking at the X opening in the more difficult end. His preferred starting strategy:

Pawing it to make it roll:

Pressing with paw to make it come upright:

Lifting from the fat end; stuff rolls out the small end: