Loose Dogs and Lost Mind

Today was one for the books!  Well, quite literally since I am blogging about it.  It started off very strange with some odd personal things that happened while out with a certain someone.  I will not say who or what, but I will say that certain events were VERY out of the ordinary.    

The first dog that I went to walk was a semi regular newish client. The dog is a total sweetie pie, but recently the owner and I had been texting about his behavior at daycare.  It seems that he was so high energy that he was getting aggressive with other dogs when they had had enough and he still wanted to play.  I hadn't seen him since this incident and didn't think anything of it. 

It was business as usual.  I got big hugs and smiles from his velvety face and we headed over to the park.  He did his business pretty quickly and then we just kept going around the grassy areas.  He met some construction guys, other dogs, squirrels, and then found the sticks.  He got SUPER excited with the sticks! There were zoomies and tossing of said sticks, and then he started to bite my ankles and my legs.  At first it was a small nip, and then he started chomping!  I thought he broke skin (he didn't) but I do have quite a bruised lump on my ankle.  I got him to stop and we kept on going.  We ran into a corgi who wanted to say hello so they played while on the leash for a bit.  Then he jerked and grabbed the plastic part of his retractable leash and took off with the leash in his mouth! He is big on me chasing him in his apartment, so I knew that he just thought this was a game.  No matter what I did, he would not listen or come to me.  It literally got to the point where I threw my bag down and starting chasing him.  I had the guy with the corgi, a walker with a pug, a lady with 2 shih tzus, and a lady with a min pin all helping me try to get him back.  My stomach was in my throat, thank God he stayed within the park.  It took about 15 minutes for all of us to get him to stand still for a minute.  I am so grateful for the help of these people, you have no idea!

When we FINALLY got him back, I stood and chatted with the other walker that was there for a little bit.  He started jumping up and biting me again!  I got frustrated and took him back in.  Poor thing had no idea he did anything wrong.  His problem seems to be that he has a trigger that overstimulates him in the blink of an eye and he doesn't know what to do with all of his energy!  It ends up in him getting aggressive.  He doesn't bark or growl or act angry at all - I was not in fear for my limbs being ripped off, but he does get very bitey.  He thinks it's a game.  We are all going to work with a trainer next week and try to get this kid on track, but this was not the way I wanted to start my list of dog walks.  He must earn my trust back.

Face of an angel - teeth of a beaver :)

He is my buddy, and I do love him - we just have work to do

#Thesecatsaredogs

Half of the cat owners out there will say, "My cat is JUST like a dog!"  or  "He so thinks he's a dog!"   I have been guilty of saying that some of my cats are dog like, but these 2 cats that I watch are literally exhibiting K9 behavior.

The first time I met this client, she told me that she had clicker trained the cats to perform tricks.  I had to see this.  She clicker trained them (which is normally a dog thing) to come, sit, stand, and hit a particular point. She explained that she was really a dog person that ended up with cats.

One of the cats has a heart murmur and is on medication.  When he first started, he took his pill in a ball of crumbled goat cheese.  Makes sense, right? A cat, cheese...  an enjoyable treat.  After a while, she left me a note saying that he takes his pills in peanut butter.  This is notoriously a dog thing.  You put anything in peanut butter and a dog will eat it.  I have never seen a cat go nuts for peanut butter like this!!!  He adores it, runs to the fridge when I go to take the jar out, and paws at me until he gets his pill.

As if this wasn't enough, this past stint of sitting, these cats learned how to open the upper cabinet in the kitchen.

They took out 2 peanut granola bars, ate 1 whole bar and half of another.  They seem to have promptly vomited up the bar as well, but they tried this on a daily basis.  I had to put the granola bars in the fridge and hope that they didn't figure out how to open that door!

Moral of the story:  If your cat loves peanut butter and tries to steal granola bars, you are worthy of saying that your cat is just like a dog.

Snow-cone

There is a dog that I walk on occasion, mainly as a fill in when her normal walker can't come.  She is a pittie who is as sweet as can be to some people, but hates others.  She is perfect with me and her main walker, but with new folks she can be wary.

She has a long list of "dislikes" including:

Most other dogs

Men with long hair

Men with long hair that smell like cigarettes

Mailmen

The homeless

Most black people (yes, dogs can be racist too)

The elderly, especially if they have a cane or a walker and they are headed to physical therapy

Bikes/skateboards/shopping carts (basically anything loud and on wheels)

She does love the ladies though!  She has met female clients of mine on the street and she does her body wag and leans and kisses.  She is wonderful, just a little quirky :) Recently she had a foot injury and her left front foot has to be wrapped up.  This is the first time I have seen her since this happened, and I came into the house to see this.

A giant e-collar, a wrapped foot, and a sad pout.  Because of all the snow and ice, her foot needs to be EXTRA wrapped for walks.  It must remain dry at all times.  Picture this.  I'm sitting on the floor trying to put a rubber glove, a dog shoe, and a plastic IV bag on her foot, all while reaching around the e-collar with her licking my face the whole time.  It took longer than expected. :)

We went out for a walk and she just wanted to eat snow!  Silly

Snow-cone

While we were out, we encountered 2 of her pet peeves at the exact same time!  The mailman and a dog that ran out of his house.  They were on either side of us and she went a little nutty!  Of course in the midst of slush, the foot, etc... Ugh...

Horsecow

I am obsessed with me new Great Dane clients.  They are truly amazing. Truly truly truly amazing. (had to throw that in)  They are male and female and they love to hug!

They like to sit on the couch (and my lap)

Yes, they sit on the couch like people and I'm obsessed with that!  They listen so well, I just can't say enough .  I have known quite a few great danes in my years at the vet and they have all been a little unpredictable. They have certainly had their sweet moments, but I have never seen 2 like these.  Good breeding?  Good parenting? Both?  The only downside (and it's not really down) is that Leroy (the black and white boy) doesn't know how to handle his big body and long legs so when he jumps up to hug you, he usually ends up punching you in the face on his first try.  LExi the girl has learned to climb up your torso to give hugs.  She is a princess and not nearly as "flailing" as her rough and tumble brother.