September17
I’ve spent quite a bit of time here at home lately. I say “a lot of time” meaning 2 days. Wow. Get a grip, Christy.
I walked Giles, J.D., Snickers and Lilo yesterday. Mind you these are all 20 lb. dogs. That doesn’t seem as difficult as walking one 80 lb. dog. However, instead of one big dog I’ve got 80 lbs. divided by 4 all going in different directions. Lucky for me they’re all great walkers. For the most part.
All dogs have their quirks. Giles is not my first dog, but he is my first raised, trained, and personal pet. I’ve learned a lot as we’ve gone along together. More and more about dogs and pet handling. “The Dog Whisperer” is a huge help. If you think otherwise I’d be curious to see how your dog behaves. Caesar Milan is not only very intuitive and knowledgeable, he is smoking hot. Gotta love that smile!
Anyway, about the dogs I’m currently walking. Giles, my baby, is a puller regardless of his “harness of the week”. He jumps and pulls towards bugs and birds of all sizes, leaves blowing about in the wind, and anything that can fly or float through the air, including the reflection of his own tag. I’ve worked with him several times on his pulling issue, but, I’ll be honest, not as diligently as I should. But when Giles does get in the groove of a walk he keeps his cool and goes with the flow. He’s a good walker for being just 11 months old.
J.D. is a wild, crazy maniac of a dog. He’s a Dauchsund/Jack Russel Terrier Mix (or so we believe). Our neighbor rescued him from New Orleans. A Hurricane Katrina dog rescue. This compact dog is bursting with personality and has enough energy to power Las Vegas for a month, if only it could be harnessed for that purpose. He is literally always smiling, jumping up on your lap, panting with ‘dog laughter’ and silently begging for every ounce of affection you have to offer. His owner is a good guy who works a lot and loves J.D. to the core. Sometimes Owner Boy can’t understand why people shy away from J.D. I had suggested that he take J.D. on more frequent and longer walks some time ago. I guess Owner Boy is just too tired when he wakes up in the morning and exhausted when he comes home from work at night to bother. I get that. I’ve worked long, stressful days too.
Kinder Dog Walker to the rescue! Owner Boy says J.D. is much more calm and laid back since I’ve been walking him (one mile a day, twice a day=2 miles). J.D. is all wiggles when I peek into the bedroom to wake him up for his walk. His whole body shakes, not just his tail. He likes to lean on his harness and run around in half circles behind me, constantly switching lead sides. When he wants to stop to take a wiz he puts all his weight on his harness and practically lays down on his side to get me to stop. He wants to sniff every blade of grass and mark every pole, tree and bush we pass. After several pees and a couple of poops though it’s right down to business. I no longer walk near the grass. Instead I walk right down the middle of the ‘road’ around the complex. He’ll still lean to get me to pull over, but I just give his lead a quick yank and he falls back in line.
Snickers. O Snickers. She’s a nut. She’s my best friend’s Beagle and is every bit as quirky as her mommy. She’s alert, quick, and stiff as a board. She’s extremely social and adores all her doggy friends and her sister, Lilo. Snickers is rather spoiled, but this hasn’t compromised her personality. She’s not aggressive or dominant. She’s a baying, fun loving rabbit chaser. She announces everything as though we’re on the hunt, me atop a stream line equine and dressed to the nines, riding boots, strap and top hat included. Sometimes I don’t know what to do with myself while she’s baying. It’s really rather funny, but can sometimes grate on one’s nerves, much like fingernails against a chalkboard. If I leave the house (mind you she’s got Giles and 2 cats for company) she starts to yowl and doesn’t stop until I come back. I’ll just be down stairs, within sites from my own windows (and she can see me), taking Ollie and Peanut on a potty break, and I can hear her inside, 100 yards away, yowling her head off! This is the reason her mom leaves her with me. She can’t be left alone. Extreme separation anxiety.
Snickers is a good walker though. She’s got a Gentle Leader halti and walks like a lady in it. She’s a picky peer, not wanting to step on the grass, and when she relieves herself it looks like she’s doing gymnastic exercises on a pummel horse. I can’t help but laugh! I haven’t had her spot a rabbit on my watch, but look out if she does! Being a Beagle with a super hero snout she’ll have nothing but cotton tails on her mind for the next hour. When she gets bored with our walk she likes to instigate playtime with the other dogs. She snips and snaps, but I tell her knock it off and she listens.
Lilo is Snicker’s litter mate, her sister. Lilo is a sweet girl. Very outgoing and energetic like most Beagle’s, though a bit timid at the same time. She enjoys our walk and seems to concentrate on her pace. When she does her number two it’s a train wreck in slow motion. It takes forever and snakes around the grass for miles. The dog’s leads get tangled up when it’s time for me to scoop. The leashes are in one hand, the bag and unmentionables in the other. The dogs run around me sniffing and mingling and my legs get wrapped up. When I lift my leg to get it free and untangle the mess Lilo’s tail tucks under, she sits back, ears pinned back, scampering away from me with this fear in her eyes that stabs me right in the heart. I can’t figure it out. I have no clue why she freaks out like that when I lift up my leg. Far be it for me to accuse her owners of kicking her. They seem like good people who love their dog and put a lot of time and effort into her needs and handling. I’m hoping they’ll shed some light on this for me.
Today I walked Giles, J.D. and Bandit. Bandit belongs to our neighbor across the hall, Secret Asian Man. Ok, he’s not Asian, but I honestly don’t know what he does for a living. It’s a secret. I guess.
Bandit is a two year old German Shepard. He acts like a puppy, thinks he weighs 25 lbs., and could probably be a pack mule if I rigged him up right. In reality Bandit weighs probably over 100 lbs. and is smarter than most of the kids I went to high school with. It’s so cute when you ask him a question and he looks you right in the eyes, tilts his head, and knows what it is you’ve asked for whether it be a toy, if he wants a drink of water, or where his daddy is. It’s also kind of creepy. I think that dog probably knows the answer to Google’s top secret recruiting question and could actually write it out in caligraphy, but keeps it quiet. He’s beyond alert. Maybe he’s psychic. And did I mention he’s frightening? He’s not aggressive or dominant or misbehaved in any way, shape or form, but he’s a scary beast of a dog! Most people take one look and head for the hills. Just goes to show how a book can be miss judged by it’s cover. However, look too closely and he’ll bite your head off if dad says go for it.
Walking Bandit is more relaxing than I thought it would be. At first he weaves from side to side, his nose in the lead. Then he takes a dump, that if dried in the sun long enough, could probably supply enough material to build a three story sod mansion. I know Sadie Rose would be jealous. After he’s about 26.9 lbs. lighter he’s a breeze. His size and stature, not to mention his ferocious facade, make me feel more confident and relaxed at the same time. Not like Giles. Giles is a fluttering bird brain while Bandit is a rock with eyes, ears, and teeth. I’m enjoying walking and getting to know Bandit. I think the more often and farther he’s walked the more of a joy he’ll be to be around than he already is. I’d like to run him, but I’m not a runner and he could over power me in a second on a bike or roller blades.
I tried that by the way. Roller blades + dog walking. I’m no longer a roller anything. Unless maybe it’s a Radio Flyer. And Giles loves running next to a bicycle.
Ollie and Peanut live next door. Ollie is a 90 lb. White German Shepard. I think really he’s a lamb trapped in wolf’s clothing. He is mine and Giles’s best friend. I’ll more than likely write a whole piece about Ollie later on because he and his owners are set to move to Oregon in October. I know I’m going to cry when it’s time for Ollie to go. Giles will cry too, but he’ll still have Bandit and J.D. Peanut is Ollie’s much older little sister. I say that because she’s 9 years old, a tad senile, bitchy, little Miniature Pincer. I love her though. She’s like a big rat, but way cooler, softer and much less smelly. For the most part I just take Ollie and Peanut on potty breaks. Their owners love to walk them on a regular basis, so I don’t need to. But Ollie does have some serious separation anxiety. He’s gotten better since I started keeping an eye on him.
It’s an almost daily ritual that I look out from the balcony door to check and see if Ollie and Peanut’s owners are at home or not. If not then I go over, take them for a potty break and maybe a short walk, then either hang out and watch TV while Ollie and Giles play, or Ollie comes to hang out at my place for a while. Other than that they stay at home with the radio on for company and I’ll pop in every couple of hours. Ollie knows that I’m right next door and that I’ll be there every so often to be with him. He used to absolutely destroy books, DVDs, toys and anything he got his jaws on as a reaction to being left alone. Now he doesn’t have to destroy the house because Auntie Christy’s right next door. It’s too bad that in less than a month that won’t be true.
Soon I’ll be walking a Pit Bull named Dutchie and another little dog that looks like a red fox. I’ll let you know how that goes.
I believe I am now officially a dog walker! If anyone has got ideas for a name or wants to make up a logo I’ll be needing a jacket, T-shirts and hoodies to advertise on!
