Exercise

The dog knew what was up as the garage door rumbled open. Shadow has learned what some of my actions imply. When I walked over to the little scooter and wheeled it outside, he began quivering all over like a wiggle worm. Once I put the "short leash" to his collar, he started to hop up and down, leaping for joy. And the final clue, as I started the tiny gas engine sent him pulling me out of the driveway. He was raring to go! I think it is safe to say he loves these excursions!

We live on a quiet street in a quiet town. It is safe to roll down the streets while scooting the dog. I even asked an attractive police lady if the city had any restrictions against small powered vehicles and she laughed. Just from a safety standpoint, she cautioned me to be vigilant around blind curves. As there is one not too far away, I heed her advice.

I ride against traffic so I can see what is coming. Most every driver here in Central Florida is respectful of his neighbors and give the dog and I a wide berth. Most of the time we are on empty streets. The heat keeps most folk indoors.

But Shadow loves to run. He wants to go faster than the little scooter goes. He gallops next to me like a miniature horse. Occasionally, he will trot when we roll up to a cross street. He doesn't "know" what a stop sign means yet, but just out of habit, he slows his run down. The other indicator is that I back off of the throttle and the noise of the engine diminishes. He picked up on that early on.

When I want him to run on the grass instead of the pavement, I extend my left arm and gently tug. He complies and is happy to dash over a lawn. He actually accelerates when his paws feel grass. I guess his claws get more traction. And I have noticed he prefers a well trimmed lawn; if the grass is too high, he'll move back onto the street. My dog knows what he likes.

I came home frome the hospital.

My spider bite was treated at the hospital very aggressively and I checked myself out of the facility yesterday afternoon. When I opened the door at home, there was this loud, booming barking dog at the doorway. Shadow was there to see who was coming into the household. He was protecting his hearth.

When he realized it was me, he began his "happy dance" and let me know he was glad I was back. My sister, Sally, regaled me his episodes while I was away. Twice he got loose in the backyard and ran to visit all the neighbors; apparently, he had broken his nylon collar. The stitching had given way. His second "escape" he had slipped out of the collar but when Sally went outside to bring him out of the heat, he was sitting calmly on the sand pile (his regular spot) and eagerly came inside when she told him. Sally has "RUBY", a chocolate lab up in Massachusetts and Shadow could smell the dog all over her, DOGS KNOW DOG PEOPLE.

Ten minutes after I had returned home, we had another visitor and Shadow began barking again. As soon as he realized it was Sheila, he quit the noise and ran over to her for her petting. Sheila, too has dogs at home and she is Shadow's friend, too.

While I heal, I hope he heels

I am away from Shadow for the first time since I got him. I wonder how he is doing. My sister is in to take care of the household while I am at the hospital and she is feeding him and getting him outside.

I am in Oak Hill Hospital being given IV antibiotics to combat an infection from a spider bite. It looks nasty. Although after 3 IV treatments, I see a gradual lessening of the redness around the wound itself. I was told that it is not MERSA, which apparently is a drug resistant infection. For that I am thankful. When the doctor came to look at the problem, he didn't seem alarmed and ordered a series of tests to see the extent of the injury.

I miss my dog. This afternoon, I called home and got a pooch update. Sally put the phone to Shadow's ear and I said hi to him. I would love to have seen his face. I didn't expect him to say much because he is a very quiet dog. Still, a "woof" would have been nice.

This post is made from room 431 B, Oak Hill Hospital, Florida. This is my first visit to a hospital as a patient, in all my years, I've only visited friends in hospitals. I'm afraid I am not a very good patient, but I did bring this laptop, a mini DVD player (with 10 movies) a video camera, and my cell phone; I don't travel lightly, ever.

There will be a paws in this blog

I was bitten by a spider and am taking treatment for a bad infection. The stories will continue when I can stop elevating my ankle. Sorry for the delay.

DOG FIGHT

Yesterday it was only overcast and not raining. The cloud cover kept the temperature a little lower and for middle of summer in Florida, it was pleasant outside. Lets go to the dog park, Shadow. I'm not sure if he recognizes the word "GO" or "DOG PARK" but he began his "happy dance". I gathered up the necessary "stuff" and off we went. It is a seven minute ride and as we get closer, he is getting excited; turning all which ways inside his travel crate.

When we arrived, the "Big Dog" area was deserted. Shadow took off running and covered the entire perimeter (two hundred yards square) in fifteen minutes. He hadn't been to the park for a while so I just let him run. It was great to watch him gallop around like a miniature horse. I could hear the beat of his paws on the hard packed sand and grass. He was loving it.

His friend Digby, a beautiful golden retriever came to the park and the two of them went to town, playing hard at once. The girl bringing Digby was a nice oriental lady who I'd seen a few times but I asked her her name as I don't think I'd ever known it. Her name is Kahm pronounced (Come).

A few minutes more and five or six more dogs arrived with their owners. There was a pair of Huskies who arrived and they were litter mates. The larger male seemed very protective of the smaller female. Shadow tussled with both of them off and on and other dogs as well. I sat on the picnic table talking to the owner of the huskies and we commented that it was nice to socialize our dogs to new friends.

All of a sudden, the growling no longer sounded playful. Where in the past, Shadow would show signs of submission and desist, that was not the case, today. The husky was biting and snarling and attempting to inflict damage and I did see a little blood. I couldn't see whose blood it was. Steve reached in to grab his dogs collar but he missed and got Shadow's instead. Shadow merely flicked his head and laid Steve's hand open. We got the dogs separated and the blood washed off, but Steve was going to need stitches. He said it was his fault reaching into a snarl, but I still felt bad. We took him over to the water fountain and cleaned the blood off of the combatants. Shadow had a tiny (half inch) cut on his right ear, but blood on his muzzle. I washed it off his mouth and saw no more cuts. The larger husky calmed down and there were only a few nips on him. All in all, we don't think they were engaged in mortal combat because ten minutes later they were friends again.

The possible explanation was that the bigger dog felt Shadow was threatening his smaller, female sister, I'll ask Shadow when he becomes more expressive.

Rainy Day Project

Today was torrential down pour day. We were only able to sneak outside for short minutes between the cloud bursts. Shadow sat out in the patio room and stared out the windows as the rain poured down. The thunder and lightning was spectacular. The weather on TV said the storm seemed to be stalled right over Spring Hill and the dog and I could be called in as witnesses to attest to that.

I had a small sewing job and a rainy day is perfect for indoor projects. The puppy is happy to be in proximity to me. He followed me from room to room as I gathered the elements for the task at hand. I was making a sun proof cover for the spare tire on the new boat trailer. Apparently the intense sunshine eats tires and dry rots them. A cover is a pretty simple thing to make and will keep the tires useful longer.

In the garage I found a piece of sunbrella fabric in nautical blue and cut the required amount. There was a channel already sewn in the fabric that I pushed a dowel through to carry a pull cord. All this while, the dog is sitting and watching intently. As I cut the extra cord away, it dropped to the floor. He looked at me and I said, "Okay". He lunged at that fourteen inch piece of cord like his life depended on it. "Hey! A new chew TOY!" So while I finished sewing the tire cover, he played with a small piece of cordage.

When we finished in the sewing room, he proudly carried his new acquisition through the house to his crate. He gnawed on that cord for an hour, forsaking much larger bones already in his area. Someday, once I teach him to talk, I'm going to ask him what was so fascinating about that little piece of cord?

Ugly Chest

We were just in from the heat this afternoon and I had Shadow "sit"; then he sat up into "sit pretty". I noticed a whole new patch of inflamed fur. He had red blotches over a large area of his chest. I led him into the bathroom and had him lay on his back with his paws in the air.

Normally, he likes this as it means a belly rub will soon be happening. I patted him a few times, but my main goal was to get the lotion over the distressed area. He was calm and patient and I was thankful for that. I think the weather has a role in his "hot spots" so I'll be keeping him in except for the mornings when the heat and humidity are a little bit less.

He saw me working on my new boat trailer and was trying to leap up into the trailer while I was doing a task. I calmed him down and had him lay down in the shade but within minutes I was soaking wet and ready to go back inside. We adjourned to the cool bedroom and I filled up his water bowl and included a half a dozen ice cubes. He loves crunching on them and it helps cool him off. I had a glass of ice water.

Crossed Paws

My last dog, Chance used to cross his paws on a regular basis. I thought that was unique, but as I asked around to dog owners, it was a trait common to dogs. It was just new to me.

The morning Shadow arrived, he lay down on his doggy bed and crossed his paws at once. I had to take his picture and though he was tired from his long trip, he put up with this new giant flashing a bright light in his face. It didn't stop him from falling fast asleep. He was such a beautiful little pup laying there. I was happy at his arrival.

Now, about nine months later, he is much larger and self assured. It is learning time. And one of his new commands is "Cross Paws" for the verbal and a my crossed wrists as a visual cue. He hasn't got it yet, but I can see his little brain churning to figure out what I want. At this point, the commands he absolutely knows are few. He will respond both verbally and visually to Sit, Down, Come, Go in your house, Get in the car/van/boat. He is having a little difficulty with "Stay" as do most puppies I've worked with. Their attention span is short when they are young and the new commands will be learned over time through repitition.

We have many small lizards running in our yard. Shadow is beginning to notice them. When we go out the front door he is still on a leash; I don't want him running to the neighbor's trash bins and finding chicken bones. I keep him on a retractable leash and if I am going to be working on something, I'll snap his leash somewhere close to my task. He likes the proximity. He is beginning to stalk the lizards. Basically, he ignored them for months, but now they hold his fascination; he will "point" at them and slowly inch towards them, totally intent on their every move. He hasn't caught one yet, but I'm sure he will eventually.

Shadow has all his canine instincts intact. One evening as I was taking him out, he charged towards something. He made no sound and there was a huge whoosh as a creature rushed to a tree and climbed very fast. Shadow tried to follow but tree climbing is not a dog skill yet. Turned out to be a huge raccoon. The guy was easily three times Shadow's size but in the animal kingdom, the players know their roles. I ran inside my house for a camera but by the time I got back, the coon was thirty five feet up and hiding behind the leavers and branches. I shined a flash light upwards and all I could see was the light reflecting from his eyes. No picture that night. The whole time, Shadow's attention was on his prey and didn't make a sound. I wondered about that.

The daily run

Shadow likes to run. No, not just like every other pooch; this guy is high energy and runs faster than I want to go. Yeah, sure, I need the exercise, too. But what we do is a very fast twenty two minute run. I have a GO-PED, basically a motorized skateboard. I have a short leash in my left hand and the throttle in my right. We start off with Shadow trotting like a race horse. As the scooter warms up we pick up the pace. He is invariably out ahead of me pulling me even faster. When he was smaller, I could almost keep him in check; but now, at seventy-five pounds, he pulls me. In south Florida we are in full on summer (simmer) and it is hot and humid. I kind of wondered last winter what Shadow would do vis-a-vis the hot pavement. Simple. I am facing traffic in the left hand lane and he runs on the grass. It is not nearly as hot as the street and there are every so many more smells. He runs like a bloodhound with his nose down low getting every scent.

He knows we slow down as we cross streets, but when his feet hit the grass again, off we go. I'm guessing we are moving along at eighteen to twenty-five miles per hour. And this is continuous for the whole session. You are probably thinking that I am getting nothing in the way of exercise out of "the running of the puppy", but the benefit for me is a foot massage. I am standing upright on the platform of this
device and as it rumbles along on the pavement, it is vibrating my feet.

I am diabetic (type two - pills) and my feet need help. This daily massage while I run the pooch makes my feet feel better. My neighbors all wave and smile as the two of us scoot past their houses, they probably think I am either lazy or nuts, or both.
The dog loves the run; it helps my poor feet.

Onward down the street!

Just a small car crash

We had a crisis the other night! I looked in the frig and WE WERE OUT OF WATERMELON! Lordy, Lordy, What ARE we gonna do? I hooked Shadow's leash to the rear bumper of the car and prepared to leave the driveway. NOT! I opened the the side door and asked him to jump up into his car crate. He loves to go for a ride and eagerly hopped aboard.

Off we went to the local market.

I used to let Shadow ride up front in the passenger seat but that wasn't a good idea for two reasons. He would lick and sniff all the windows in the car and I was continually cleaning his nose and tongue prints off the glass. The other thing was that there are a lot of "oldsters" driving here in Florida and every once in a while they would brake or change lanes with no signal or no apparent reason. I thought I had learned by now (after living in this small town to take extra care) to watch more closely. But because, every now and then I'd have to tap my brakes suddenly, Shadow would fall off his perch and get tossed around. I decided he would be better off in a traveling crate in the back seat. I found the perfect size and he got used to it quickly. Turns out it was a safe thing for him.

Leaving the market parking lot, I had to cross the oncoming lane and wait in the median lane to proceed back home. I looked left, then I looked right to make sure my intended lane was clear. I accelerated to about fifteen miles an hour and was quite surprised to feel and hear something impact the passenger side of my car.
I had not seen the car that hit me. I don't know if the car lights were off or it was traveling at an excessive speed, but BAM! We had a collision.

Both of us were still able to drive our cars so we pulled into a parking lot on the right side of the road and got out to exchange information. Before I went over to the lady's car, I wanted to check my dog. I went around the car and saw the long scrape where her car had impacted mine. The car door to Shadow's side was bent a little bit and it took some muscle to pry it open. I opened his crate and he hopped out. I had him stay still until I checked each of his legs and neck. Shadow likes to be touched and petted and he stayed in place as I checked him out. There were no areas where he was tender and he was wagging his tail so I let him stay on his leash outside the car. It was a hot summer evening and I had to go talk to the lady I had the accident with.

She seemed a little disoriented, but was able to walk around. I called the police and she and I waited for them to arrive. During the wait, we checked out her car to see if her drive wheels could still turn right and left. There was no scraping so her car was still drivable. I asked her several times if she wanted me to call an ambulance but she didn't want one. I was glad both of us were okay as well as the dog.

The County Sherrif who arrived to cover the accident took our licenses, registration and insurance cards and a statement from each of us and went back to her cruiser to write up the report. She mentioned this was her first incident since coming on duty that night and she was glad the accident didn't involve any injuries. I could empathize with her; it is probably very discouraging to see continual carnage on the streets and highways.

Shadow, even though he was an eyewitness, had nothing more to contribute than "woof". I was glad that he was not an excitable dog. He was calm throughout the entire time.

The officer came back over gave our papers back to us and a copy of the police report. She could not have been more polite, helpful and efficient. I was thinking by contrast how the police in Los Angeles would have handled a similar incident; they would not even had shown up. We would have had to go to the local station to get a report in a few days or a week. When this officer gave us our paperwork, she said, "Go ahead and call to your insurance companies tomorrow, drive safely and have a nice evening. Nice dog!" She drove off and I came home with a scratched car, a safe puppy AND an unbroken watermelon. Thank you, Jesus!