24 Hours

Posted on by lindsay
Mischa,It’s Friday afternoon, and you’ve been back at the rescue now for almost 24 hours. That means it has been 24 hours since I’ve worried about you going nuts in the house, 24 hours since I thought about how we could get you outside to play next, and 24 hours since your ears were mine to rub against my face. I miss you terribly.When we first took you home, the wonderful lady who owns your rescue told us you would need plenty of running to keep you happy. Bobby and I don’t really run that often anymore, but we had no problem starting again for you. We changed our schedules as much as possible, and went from doing three walks a day to six or seven. Whenever possible, we took you running, took you for car rides, took you with us to get ice cream. I felt overwhelmed sometimes, just ...continue reading.

See Spot Run

Posted on by lindsay
On Saturday evening, Bobby and I drove around with Mischa and Kobe in hopes of finding a fenced area where they could run. We knew there was a dog park in the general vicinity, but were hoping to find something closer, like an empty recreation field or an elementary school. After checking several places and finding nothing fully enclosed, we settled on a soccer field isolated by trees and some fencing.We walked around the field for a few minutes with both dogs leashed and debated about whether to let Mischa run free. In retrospect, the whole conversation seems so stupid, but at the time, we reasoned that she would love the chance to run and would return when called because she is so eager to please. After all, how do dog owners ever get their dogs to run off leash without trying it that first time? We decided to let ...continue reading.

Crate Training: A Success Story

Posted on by lindsay
Bobby and I have decided to return Mischa’s crate to the pet store. On Monday morning, she went in the crate when we left for work and went back in after I came home to let her out during lunch. After work, Bobby and I got ready to go for a bike ride and put her in the crate as we left. We made it as far as the parking lot before her persistent howling brought us back inside. The rest of the night was subsequently spent sitting on the couch as she ran around the house.On Tuesday, she was back in the crate when we left for work and after her lunchtime walk. Both times I could hear her howling as I left, but I tried to ignore it because dogs are supposed to get used to their crates and even learn to like them. That same night, our ...continue reading.

Feel free to put in your $0.02.

Posted on by lindsay
Bobby and I adopted a dog this past Saturday. We had been discussing the possibility for several weeks and somehow in the process of visiting several adoption events, we went from Discussing to Owning without making a stop in Deciding. The dog we got is a young female Doberman/hound mix that we call Mischa. She has the body of a thirty-five pound Doberman with hound features sprinkled throughout, which means she is muscular, lean, smooth-coated, and very agile and bouncy. Mischa is a good girl – she has a lot to learn and some maturing to do, but we can tell that underneath her wildly enthusiastic exterior is a sweet, smart dog.But the wild enthusiasm layer is very thick. The woman running the rescue facility where we got Mischa stressed that she would need a lot of exercise, piles of exercise, don’t forget this dog needs lots of exercise, and ...continue reading.

Domestic Disturbance

Posted on by lindsay
"Kobe took a huge crap in our bedroom," Bobby announced when I called to let him know I was leaving work."Jesus, again? I wonder what's wrong with him.""Yeah, I don't know." I sensed something was off in Bobby's tone. Something he wasn't saying.Hesitantly, I asked, "You did pick it up, right?" Although Bobby got home and found the poop first, this wasn’t the only this had happened and Kobe is technically not his dog. As much as Bobby may love me, love does not automatically equal I Am Willingly To Handle Your Animal’s Poop Frequently.He hadn’t picked it up. I told him that I couldn't believe he’d left a nasty pile of crap on the floor and that it was going to make the whole place smell. His response was that the poop was cold, which meant that it had been there for a while and was therefore fine staying ...continue reading.