I Thought Pets Relaxed You!

I had thought that having pets was suppose to have relaxing effect on you, but Zaphod proved that sometimes it doesn't.

The scene: A lovely Sunday morning. The sun was out, it wasn't too cold. It was nearing 11:30 but Lady was still in her pjs. The pups and I were in the driveway.

The antecedent: I am not sure what they original saw/heard, if it was the horses we haven't seen for months (and will be moving soon) or the car, but both wanted to be at the end of the driveway and Zaphod took off onto the road right toward the neighbour's car.

The behaviour: I started screaming like a crazy woman and I think waving my arms. I couldn't run after him, he had gone through the snow. I was sure my heart was going to burst or stop!

The consequence: The neighbour, who was driving very slowly, saw him and he was not hit. I mouthed sorry to him (it must have been frightening for him too). Phod ran after the car and came back. He was very happy. He thought he had protected us. Hailey was angry and him and let's just say I didn't look pretty. I yelled at him. I was shaking and scared and angry. Not that it had any effect, he still had a big smile on his face.

Let's hope this doesn't become a habit.

Mischief Monday - Lady's Crazy Week

First: Today is our 4th blog-aversary! Wow, can't believe it. It is also post 1387. I keep worrying I will run out of things to write about - I guess not. Thank you all for sharing our adventures. Having you all along with me makes it more fun!

This post is really not about my dogs, it is about our life!

I knew last week was going to be crazy work wise. I work with kids with autism, and they were all going back to school, which meant their therapy schedules and therapy teams were all changing. After 11 Septembers, I knew this was going to be a bit of a nightmare. I also knew the nice summer traffic was a thing of the past and the real world would be back. But I was not prepared for what happen.

Tuesday morning, first day of crazy week. I am trying to feed the dogs. The Man kept getting in my way. First he was standing in front of the drawer needed for the spoon for the soft food. Then in front of the can of food. I went to shoo him out of the way and accidentally kicked him and broke my toe. (Note: The Man was not hurt during the kick).

Toe Day 2

I have broken my fair share of toes in the past (call me klutz) and knew there is nothing I could do except ice and tape. I taped it, found shoes that didn't hurt too much and set off for my longest day at work. At the end of the day, I was hit with a migraine, which turned into a 48 hour headache.

Toe Day 4

Wednesday, Man went to step around Phod and hit the bannister and did this:

Thursday, I was at the farm to get our veggie share, and I embarrassingly tripped going into the barn and hurt my thumb. Hold my travel mug has been painful as the strain is in the palm at the base of the thumb. [Note: I think I have been extra clumsy because of the headache. One of the symptoms I have related to migraines is dizziness, and I felt slightly off balance most of the week].

Add to this the craziness of work (which would need 15 pages itself to try and explain), traffic that was 100% worse then anticipated, it wasn't my favourite week.

I admit, I have not been the best dog mom, as I worked late every day and to be honest, my foot has hurt a lot, but  I took the pups on their morning walks. It was painful but had to be done. I have been leaving more of the other bathroom breaks to the Man as I find walking on the ground, that is uneven, more painful then the road.

Let's hope this week is a little better - or at least no one gets hurt!

Hailey's big adventure

"Where are we going?"

On Monday, Hailey had the worst day of her life, a great adventure.  It started at 8 am when I snuck her into the car, leaving a crying Phod at home alone. A very anxious girl, nearly hyperventilated her one hour ride to location 1. Location 1 was day camp. I admit it broke my heart to leave my terrified girl at camp. When I picked her up a little bit after 5, she was ecstatic to see me. She apparently had a great day there. They put her in the room with the little dogs (which would likely be less scary for her) and she watched and did play with one dog.


The reason Lee had to spend the day at camp was because it was time for her annual check up. To make my life easiest as our vet is in the city and on the way home, she spent the day there. [There are vets closer to where we live, who I am sure are awesome, but we go to our friend and trusted vet].

We got to the clinic a little early (and then the vet was running a little late) and had to wait. Lee was very stressed but it gave us lots of time to practice her relax posed. While waiting another client came over and did Reiki or something on Lee without asking. I was slightly annoyed but decided not to pick a fight and Lee handled it like a champ, just staring at me. The client also gave a lot of advice on things I could be doing for my dog, I smiled and thanked her.

Practicing relaxed

Finally it was our turn. Hailey quickly settled down once we were in the exam room. Our vet Woody, sat on the floor and examined her, so she didn't have the trauma of being on the table.

Hailey's weight: 38 lbs (17.6 kg). This is within her ideal body weight range and she looks perfect. I am especially proud of this given how terrible our winter was and how our exercise was less.
Teeth: Fantastic (reinforcing my slacking on the brushing lately)
Overall health: Perfect!
She handled her shots like a champ.

Overall, she did very well. I put her in the car while I waited for her and Phod's heart worm, the cats food and to pay the bill. I was glad because our clinic is an emergency clinic and a couple brought in their dying cat which caused some chaos (and with Lee already being stressed I don't know if that would have helped). She slept all the way home

She came home (around 8 pm), had a little dinner (she got lots of treats at the clinic) and slept and slept. It was a big day for her. On Tuesday, while I was getting ready for work, she hid. I think she was afraid I was going to take her away. She has been fine since, so she has forgiven me!

Phod's turn will be in July!

Mischief Monday - Man's Bad Day

Sorry there are no pictures for this as I was not home. The Man retold his story about last Thursday. Here is the summary.

The Man was almost home when he ran out of windshield wiper fluid. He figured he would just deal with it at home. As he was driving down the private road we live on he saw a car. He was curious so as he turned into the driveway (with his dirty windshield) he was looking into the rearview mirror and cause he couldn't see out the front, he drove into a snowbank.

Driving into a snowbank is only a problem if you get stuck and the Man got really stuck. It took him, the next door neighbour and 2 people who were renting the cottage down the road to push him out. The 2 renters had a dog. While the people were pushing, their dog checked out our yard.

Once Man got his car out he came to take the dogs out. Of course, the dogs had seen this strange dog and when he opened the door 2/3 took off to find the stranger. [Emma was the good dog and she stayed in the yard during the events that followed]. They were stopped part way down the road by one of the neighbours, his dog Ghost (who is wonderful and friendly) and his new foster Shadow. The dogs were all getting along smashingly, until the Man went to put Phod on leash. Something about this action caused Shadow to become aggressive and lunge at Phod. The Man intervened and in the end was the one who got bitten. Fortunately Shadow didn't bite hard and with the Man's winter coat etc no marks or damage done. Man was then able to bring everyone home and he called it a day!

I, the Lady, of course am very supportive and I didn't LMAO at the Man. No, I felt bad for the Man for his series of unfortunate events.

I do admit I am now a little concerned about Shadow. Clearly he has some socialization issues and I am concerned because we live out the country and I know he is often off leash (I saw him running down the road off least yesterday). I am concerned if we come upon him, he may be aggressive again. We will have to be extra careful to make sure everyone stays safe.



-------------

THANK YOU!
I am thrilled to report that we won the bronze in the Canadian Blog Awards - Best Pet Blog.
Congrats to The Cat from Hell for the gold and Nerissa's Life for the silver. I love both your blogs and count myself lucky to share the podium with such great blogs!

50 ways to drive the lady insane - by Lee and Phod

Lee finally relaxing that day

Tired out Phod

The other day we drove our lady crazy. After refusing to settle all day and asking to go out every 30 minutes even with a walk and play, Phod ran away. This was very bad. The Lady was still upset and desperately trying to finish a project, but we thought her being insane was way more fun. So Lee scratched at the door repeatedly. For like 1.5 hours. The Lady took her out a couple times and she just wanted to play.

When the Lady finally finished her work, she feed us and took us out so we would "let her cook dinner in peace." We didn't let her do that. We kept bugging her and finally she snapped and realized she needed a time out. So she unjustly took us outside, in the dark, it must have been the middle of the night [Editor's note - it was 7 pm, it is just dark at that time] and put us on our tie outs. She left us out there forever [Editor's note - it was about 10 minutes]! We thought she would never come and get us, so I guess she got even.

In the end, we think it was worth the pain. Driving her insane was fun!

Working at home

I have the pleasure of working at home sometimes, not often enough, but at least one day a week. Usually it goes very well. It looks something like this:

These pictures are taken while I am doing a Skype consult!

However this week on Wednesday, the 2 of them drove me insane!

We did our morning routine with a shorter walk because I knew I would be taking them out more. Hailey kept bugging to go outside and then just wanted to be out there. It made me want to go out and build a dog run (which I think will be a must have in the spring).

Then around 4:30, Hailey would not let up on wanting to go out. This is about the time the man normally gets home so I took them out. The minute I opened the door I knew I was screwed, I smelt the fox. There was nothing I could do but keep calling as Phod disappeared down the hill in the back, which caused Hailey to lose her mind and scream. I waited a few minutes calling as generally he comes right back. I could hear all the dogs over a street barking and knew he had gone far. I had to drag a screaming Hailey back into the house, grab my coat (it is cold out) and leash and then squeeze out the door without Lee escaping.  

Slowly I started walking in the direction he had run, calling his name and periodically pausing to listen for him coming. Just as I hit the path in the bush (which in places runs beside the road), I heard him and to my relief and horror, he was walking on the road. It appears he was heading for home.

As soon as he heard my voice, he turned and came through the bush to me. 

The whole thing was less than 10 minutes, but it felt like forever. I did my best to remain calm, and take deep breathes, although my heart was pounding so hard I thought it would explode.

Once we returned, Lee was thrilled to see him and the two wrestled and played. 

New rule: Phod goes out on leash. If we assess nothing is around, he goes off. He has had a few mini take offs the past few days and my heart can't take it!

Are they trying to kill me?

The scene:

Dining room table:

The villain:  Baggy

The situation:

The Lady goes to get up. She does not know Baggy is sleeping on the floor beside her chair. She trips over Baggy, in his attempts to escape, he moves with her and she keeps tripping.  She saves herself by grabbing the railing.

For a split second she thinks she is going to go over, but she doesn't thankful.  Her thought is, "Are you guys trying to kill me this week?"  as she nurses her strained ankle. 

Proof no good ever came from a Thursday

Editors note: The Lady hates Thursdays. She thinks they are the worst day in the week. She has a firm belief that no good comes from this day. It is what one gets for naming the day after Thor, god of thunder.

The Lady's eyes pop open 10 minutes before her alarm is about to go off. She silently groans as she reads 4:53 am on the clock. She lays there for a few minutes and gets up. The next half hour is a quiet one of feeding dogs, packing lunches and getting half ready for work.

At 5:35 the Lady slips into her Merrels, slips collars around the dogs necks, and off they go on a walk into the cool, crisp morning. The Lady is amazed at how wonderful the stars look. The first 1.5ish km of the walk are uneventful, in fact the dogs are walking better than usual. Only 2 cars pass. The dogs do their business. On the last .5 km, the Lady and dogs stop as a car passes. The Lady is holding the dogs in one hand.

Suddenly Zaphod lunges at the fence, Hailey too and the next thing the Lady knows she has landed hard in a ditch. She is flat on her belly, her legs are under her like she is sitting sort of cross legged. The dogs are still in one hand pulling. After a quick assessment, the Lady realizes no major injuries, but she is being pulled slowly in a ditch by the dogs. Hailey has gone one way and Phod the other. She is trying to pull them back, but it is hard laying on her belly. They are not responding to vocal commands (aka yelling). Out of desperation to be able to get up, the Lady swings her free hand to give Phod a swat to try and get his attention in hopes he will stop pulling so she can get up. The Lady would like to make it clear that this was a swat and not a hit and that at the time laying face down in a ditch in the pitch black, sort of being dragged on her belly she didn't feel she had a lot of other options. The Lady has had a momentary lapse that Phod was abused, so he interprets this swat as a beating comes and flips over to his back and starts shaking. This is when the Lady started to cry. She tried to give comfort to Phod, but he was just a puddle on the ground.

The Lady realizes she is not being pulled anymore, so she is able to pick her crying self up off the ground. She is able reach down and assure Phod she loves him and he is ok. She realizes Hailey has totally missed this looking at whatever she was looking at. The pack then makes their slow way home, amid tears.

The Lady finishes getting ready and goes to work.  The Man takes the dogs out for more business (Lee had 2 morning poops and Phod 3which is unusual) and goes to work.

As the day goes on, the jolt from the Lady's fall begins to catch up with her. Her hands and forearms hurt,  she has a pulled muscle in her back and neck and there are spots on her legs she expects bruises. She is thankful that is all.

The Man is the first one home and he comes home to pee and poop all over the basement. The Lady is not sad that she didn't have to clean that up.

The Man and the Lady, who love their dogs very much look at each other and had that rare pet owner moment when you wish you didn't have them.

Today is a new day and not a Thursday so hopefully all will be well.