Adventures about pet therapy, dog rescue and urban life in the 'Burbs
Sam here. I’ve been a bit depressed these past few days and haven’t been eating but I managed to figure out a way how to steal borrow the kennel’s computer. The nice people at The Daily Wag told me that I would be getting a surprise later today. I wonder what it will be? Wait…what? My mom’s coming??!! No way-I thought she had furgotten me! Woo-hoo!
Happy Hump day, sports fans. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.
Live, love, bark! <3
So while we’re vacationing in Hawaii, here’s Sam ‘vacationing’ at The Daily Wag. You may remember the first time I took him there. But ever since then, he jumps up on me with his paws wrapped around my waist as if to say, “Oh gawd, please don’t leave me here in prison with these heathens.” It makes me sad but the reality is there is no one in town now to take care of him since my daughter moved out-of-state. But then there’s the fact that this dog is a total mama’s boy.
We were able to snag a couple of frames from the website video cam where you can check on your fur-kid both from the inside and outside play areas. Every time I’ve gone to check up on him, he’s either standing waaay away from the prison population most of the other dogs or right next to the attendant’s side. Is my dog ‘snoopervising’ or is he a wallflower? Then again as a poodle could he be so narcissistically self-absorbed that he’s checking out the camera to show his best side? What is up with that dog? Most dogs would be excited to run around with their new buddy fur-iends. Not my boy. *sigh*
Meanwhile, the Ranch uprights took a coffee plantation tour of the Greenwell Coffee Farm. Established in 1850, the Greenwell legacy has quite the fascinating history. Kona coffee is well-known all over the world and we tried to sample them all. I think I may have to ship my supply home. First day out and any spare space in the suitcase is now filled.
While I am missing Sam something fierce and it breaks my heart to see him sulking hanging around the play area at The Daily Wag, I’ve been ‘adopted‘ by my granddaughter’s new puppy, Nala who was rescued from the local HSUS. Actually it appears I’ve been anointed as the ‘family chew toy.’ O.U.C.H. But does she have the cutest face or what? And those ears!
We saw all the sweet tributes to Fozziemum’s Forrest. Blogville once again demonstrated its love and kindness for one of its own. Nice job, guys❣️ So what’s new on your end? A hui hou (till we meet again or in this case, till I post again).
Live, love, bark! <3
Ah, the playground bully…and I’m not talking about ‘bully breeds’ here. I’m talking about dogs that pick on others. Sorry for being MIA lately; I’ve been visiting my daughter and her family who recently moved to the Pacific Northwest. It was great seeing them all and we had a great time (FaceTime is only a semi-nice substitute and certainly not the same as an in-person hug and we both needed that).
Now that they are permanently relocated elsewhere, the once built-in dog sitter thing is history. It used to be, whenever I traveled, Sam romped with my daughter’s two hulking Irish Wolfhounds in the foothills southwest of Denver. Sam absolutely loved chasing after the ‘Big Dogs’ and they seem to enjoy ditching his sorry butt every chance they got, but they all got along wonderfully and I was always grateful that he was well taken care of by family members who loved him as much as I do.
Because of Sam’s hospital work, I’ve been hesitant to have him kenneled but this time it was necessary. It was quite the process interviewing pet/house sitters and various kennels and because I wasn’t exactly wowed by any of the pet/house sitters, I ended up choosing a well-recognized and recommended kennel. When I went to interview the nice folks at The Daily Wag and tour their facility, it was a surprise they were kind of interviewing US! I loved the idea they wanted to make sure Sam would be suitable and fit in with the other pups and they were quite excited that he was a therapy dog. Bottom line, we were approved and I felt confident everything was in place for me to be able to enjoy my travels.
When I dropped Sam off, he totally wigged out–shaking like a leaf and jumping up and wrapping his front paws around my legs like a frightened kindergartener on the first day of school (no Mom, don’t leave me!). This canine travel agent sent me on a major guilt trip. And although I wasn’t able to watch Sam on the online video link, I felt confident all would be cool once I left and he went out to the playground with the other dogs.
So when I went to pick Sam up when I got back to town, boy did my world came to a crashing halt. Oh sure, he was thrilled to see me and I couldn’t help but giggle with the non-stop tail wagging and bouncing up and down like a pogo stick. Even in the car where he normally turns into Flat Stanley, his tail kept up with the vigorous thumpity-thump-thump against the back seat on the ride home. When I asked the staffer how things went, she said, “hmm, mostly good.” Wait, what?! ‘Mostly’…what the hell does that mean??!! Apparently there were a couple of times my little darling Muppet decided the biggest, baddest German Shepherd there was a mortal enemy to be ‘dealt with’ in no uncertain terms. My sweet hound was a playground bully? Gah! I couldn’t believe my ears and she said it surprised them too. When there is any kind of altercation between the dogs, they are immediately separated and put into time-out (i.e. back to their individual kennels, to ponder the error of their bully ways no doubt). Egad…how embarrassing! Sam, the normally adorably sweet canine concierge and pet therapy prince who regularly greets everyone with a happy wag of the tail whether they are the two or four-legged variety apparently was a playground badass bully.
Talk about a not so pleasant slice of reality! In all fairness, the staffer said she wasn’t sure who started it, but each miscreant goes into time out anyway. Sometimes dogs just give off an energy that affects even the most docile of creatures and that could have been what happened. Sam is not aggressive, that much I definitely know, but I also know that he will not back down from a dog trying to exhibit dominance over him. “Homey” don’t play that game.
When we arrived home, I took Sam on an extra long walk and ran into a neighbor whose recently rescued little ball of fur gave birth to 3 adorable tiny puppies. He was carrying them back into the house in a large laundry basket and the pint size mom popped up to say hi to Sam. He wagged his tail and acted like the dog I know, not that one from the playground who apparently doesn’t like large German Shepherds. It was somewhat reassuring, and I’m guessing that life will go back to being normal again with that nice, fluffy, sweet lap-dog (aka Sam) and not the butt-kicking bully. 🙂
Is your dog a playground bully? How do you handle it?
Live, love, bark <3