Well, it's time to update on Jake's condition again. After the last post, I thought Jake was going to be fine. He had perked up and was doing quite well. Then it started again. He quit greeting us at the door, quit wanting to play at night. I knew where this was headed. I called Wonderful Vet and took him in again. WV had said all along that he believed it was either a toxic reaction, or if it continued, he might have an autoimmune disease. I kept praying for toxic reaction because that was something he would get over. An autoimmune disease meant more of a long term treatment and I just didn't want either of us to have to go through that. WV did some blood work and I talked to him the next day. He thought that since his symptoms came back and he was severely anemic (he was thisclose to needing a blood transfusion) it was probably an autoimmune disease after all. He couldn't be sure without more extensive blood work and that meant going to a specialist.
I worked in the medical field for many years. I worked at a couple of really big hospitals. I used to feel in my element there and nothing phased me. But walking into a veterinary specialist hospital kind of freaked me out. I made the appointment and had to print out some forms and fill them out before I showed up with Jake. When we walked in, I wasn't sure what to expect but I thought there might be some cute cartoon pictures of dogs and cats like Scooby Doo and Garfield. Little bowls of milk bones, a few chew toys. In hindsight, I guess I was was confusing a vet hospital waiting room with a pediatrician's waiting room. There were sign-in desks for internal medicine, cardiology, oncology, dermatology, etc. The waiting room had chairs and coffee tables just like you would see at a people hospital but next to the "Time" magazines were copies of "Dog World". They even had a coffee pot and below that was a little cupboard with bottled water. I got a bottle of water while I was waiting. Then I saw someone get a bottle of water and pour it in a little dish for their dog. Oh, was this just for the pets? Had I just committed a doggie hospital faux pax? I drank the water quickly so no one would see me drinking it (I wouldn't want to be judged by other dog owners) and decided to stick to coffee if we had to go back there. (I was being optimistic that we would just be there the one time....not true)
After awhile they called us back to an exam room and Internal Medicine Doc came in and examined him. He asked some questions and left. He mentioned everything from autoimmune disease to liver cancer. It was all so clinical. About this time, I was really missing our WV and his staff. Internal Medicine Doc's assistant (I guess that's what she was, I'm not really sure since we were never introduced....a pet peeve of mine. No pun intended) came back with a grocery list of what the doctor thought would be necessary to properly diagnose my Jake. Cue the tears. I was sure my Jake was going to die and it would be a slow and painful death. The poor vet tech looked terribly uncomfortable as I simultaneously tried to pet Jake, get my thoughts together, apologize, and not get snot all over my shirt. We started with the least invasive procedures first: blood work and urine sample. I won't go into details about how they get a urine sample from a dog but it does not involve sending him to a room and asking him to pee in a cup. They brought Jake back to me and all he wanted to do was get out of that place. Side story......when Abigail was 3 or 4 years old, she had to get some immunizations. That was the checkup where they do a ridiculous number of shots at one time.....I believe she had 5 shots. (I would never allow that now) Anyway, when we were leaving the building and walking in the parking lot, Abigail stopped, turned to the building and yelled at the top of her lungs, "I HATE THAT PLACE AND I'M NEVER GOING THERE AGAIN!" I had to apologize to 2 moms who happened to be in the parking lot dragging their now thoroughly scared kids in. Anyway, I have a feeling that's pretty much how Jake felt at the time. In fact, when we left the building, Jake walked about 5 steps from the front door, stopped and peed. Right there on the sidewalk, right there at the entrance. It was a big enough puddle that the next people walking in our out were going to have to take a big step over. He didn't even try to go to the shrubs that were about 2 feet to the side of the door. Nope. That was Jake yelling, "I hate that place!"
After an agonizing wait, I got a call from the hospital and they said Jake did, indeed have an autoimmune disease. They put him on a large dose of prednisone and antibiotics for 2 weeks to start. It turned out, it was going to be a longer treatment than that, but I'll get to that in the next blog.....
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Waiting Room Observations
It's been an interesting summer. As I mentioned in the last blog, Jake was a pretty sick little pup. Then Jeff went to Hong Kong for a week and Abigail had surgery on both of her feet. I'm tired and I haven't really done anything all summer. But enought about me, here's the latest on Jake.....
After the first round of antibiotics, steroids, and "geritol", Jake improved. I took him back for another round of blood work last week and Jake was his old perky self while waiting in the waiting room. Instead of hiding behind my legs, he was trying to make friends with every other person and dog that walked in. Jake is just a friendly kind of guy. I like to think he takes after me because when I sit in a place with other people around, I'm usually going to find someone to talk to. I like to talk. A lot. So I started chatting with the lady sitting across from me. She was a petite lady with blond hair and was holding the cutest little white dog. The lady was dressed nicely and her dog had a little bow in her hair. This is the type of lady that doesn't just cross her legs or slumps. She sits up straight and only crosses her legs at the ankles. Picture perfect. Another lady came in and sat down next to her. Lady #2 was very talkative and made a running commentary on everyone and everything. I like those kind of people. (since this blog is about Jake, I won't write about the time I spent 4 hours sitting on a bench at the Kemah Boardwalk talking to possibly one of the funniest ladies I have ever met. While we were both waiting on our kids, she made comments about everyone at the Boardwalk that day. No one was spared....and it was hysterical) Anyway, lady #2 had brown hair and a cute brown and white pekingese who seemed to be making his own commentary about the other dogs. He let out little yelps and yaps whenever he thought it was appropriate. Next was a man bringing (actually, he was dragging) a cute little shih tzu. When it was obvious the dog wasn't going to come in on her own, the man picked her up and put her over his shoulder like a baby. So cute. He sat next to me, patting the dog on the back like he was burping her. Jake pretty much ignored her, he was still trying to get to the talkative pekingese. The man was interesting because he was wearing black shorts and a black and white t-shirt and his dog was black and white. He had black hair and a beard and his dog was in dire need of a haircut herself. When he was holding her, she almost just blended in.
Then it hit me. Wait a minute, that dog looks just like her owner! Then I looked at the petite, well groomed, blond lady and her petite, well groomed blond dog. Then I looked at lady #2 with her brown hair and running commentary and her brown little pekingese with his running commentary. Unbelievable! Dogs really do look like their owners! I've written about people at the dog park and how some dogs and owners seem to share certain personality traits, but this was different. These dogs really did LOOK like their owners! While I was pondering this, a man that looked like and was built like the famous fighter Oscar De La Hoya came in carrying a laundry basket. A laundry basket can only mean one thing...puppies! The puppies got everyones attention and we all had to get a look. Pekingese lady (of course) asked what kind of puppies they were. No kidding....they were boxers! Ok, at this point I was starting to giggle a little. Then, in walked a thin, frail, timid looking little lady. She had a puff of bleached blond hair on the top of her head. She pulled in a thin, frail, timid looking poodle....with a puff of white hair on the top of his head. She signed in and sat down. Her poodle was a "standard", easily the biggest dog in the room at this point. But honestly, it looked like the pekingese could have snapped him like a twig if he wanted to. While poodle lady was filling out paper work, Jake thought he would go over and welcome them. Poodle did not like it one bit and let out a hefty growl, then hid behind his owner's legs. Pekingnese lady kept saying, "Oh, you're not a friendly dog at all are you? Not a friendly dog. You don't want to be friends, do you?" and other things. The poodle owner was totally ignoring her dog's growling and Pekingese lady's comments. Actually, I think if she could have growled at Pekingese lady, she would have.
After all these case studies, I had to seriously look at Jake. Just how much did I favor him? Or maybe he doesn't look like me. Maybe he looks more like Abigail or Jeff. He's their dog, too. When I look at him, I think he has a cute, happy, slightly stupid look about him. Then I started to really worry. Do I look slightly stupid? One thing I did notice: because of his schnauzer/beagle coloring, he has dark roots. Ok, we do share that feature. But then it was time to go back and visit with Wonderful Vet.
WV took more blood from Jake and we got the results the next day. His blood levels had improved all across the board. Still not where they should be, but they are improving. WV is now pretty sure he ate something he shouldn't have. The plan for now is keeping him on antibiotics for another 2 weeks and continue with the geritol. We go back in a few weeks for another check up.
Before I left, I thought about asking WV and his staff if they have ever noticed the whole "dogs look like their owners" myth. But then in my mind I pictured them looking at me, looking at Jake, looking back at me and decided I better not ask.
After the first round of antibiotics, steroids, and "geritol", Jake improved. I took him back for another round of blood work last week and Jake was his old perky self while waiting in the waiting room. Instead of hiding behind my legs, he was trying to make friends with every other person and dog that walked in. Jake is just a friendly kind of guy. I like to think he takes after me because when I sit in a place with other people around, I'm usually going to find someone to talk to. I like to talk. A lot. So I started chatting with the lady sitting across from me. She was a petite lady with blond hair and was holding the cutest little white dog. The lady was dressed nicely and her dog had a little bow in her hair. This is the type of lady that doesn't just cross her legs or slumps. She sits up straight and only crosses her legs at the ankles. Picture perfect. Another lady came in and sat down next to her. Lady #2 was very talkative and made a running commentary on everyone and everything. I like those kind of people. (since this blog is about Jake, I won't write about the time I spent 4 hours sitting on a bench at the Kemah Boardwalk talking to possibly one of the funniest ladies I have ever met. While we were both waiting on our kids, she made comments about everyone at the Boardwalk that day. No one was spared....and it was hysterical) Anyway, lady #2 had brown hair and a cute brown and white pekingese who seemed to be making his own commentary about the other dogs. He let out little yelps and yaps whenever he thought it was appropriate. Next was a man bringing (actually, he was dragging) a cute little shih tzu. When it was obvious the dog wasn't going to come in on her own, the man picked her up and put her over his shoulder like a baby. So cute. He sat next to me, patting the dog on the back like he was burping her. Jake pretty much ignored her, he was still trying to get to the talkative pekingese. The man was interesting because he was wearing black shorts and a black and white t-shirt and his dog was black and white. He had black hair and a beard and his dog was in dire need of a haircut herself. When he was holding her, she almost just blended in.
Then it hit me. Wait a minute, that dog looks just like her owner! Then I looked at the petite, well groomed, blond lady and her petite, well groomed blond dog. Then I looked at lady #2 with her brown hair and running commentary and her brown little pekingese with his running commentary. Unbelievable! Dogs really do look like their owners! I've written about people at the dog park and how some dogs and owners seem to share certain personality traits, but this was different. These dogs really did LOOK like their owners! While I was pondering this, a man that looked like and was built like the famous fighter Oscar De La Hoya came in carrying a laundry basket. A laundry basket can only mean one thing...puppies! The puppies got everyones attention and we all had to get a look. Pekingese lady (of course) asked what kind of puppies they were. No kidding....they were boxers! Ok, at this point I was starting to giggle a little. Then, in walked a thin, frail, timid looking little lady. She had a puff of bleached blond hair on the top of her head. She pulled in a thin, frail, timid looking poodle....with a puff of white hair on the top of his head. She signed in and sat down. Her poodle was a "standard", easily the biggest dog in the room at this point. But honestly, it looked like the pekingese could have snapped him like a twig if he wanted to. While poodle lady was filling out paper work, Jake thought he would go over and welcome them. Poodle did not like it one bit and let out a hefty growl, then hid behind his owner's legs. Pekingnese lady kept saying, "Oh, you're not a friendly dog at all are you? Not a friendly dog. You don't want to be friends, do you?" and other things. The poodle owner was totally ignoring her dog's growling and Pekingese lady's comments. Actually, I think if she could have growled at Pekingese lady, she would have.
After all these case studies, I had to seriously look at Jake. Just how much did I favor him? Or maybe he doesn't look like me. Maybe he looks more like Abigail or Jeff. He's their dog, too. When I look at him, I think he has a cute, happy, slightly stupid look about him. Then I started to really worry. Do I look slightly stupid? One thing I did notice: because of his schnauzer/beagle coloring, he has dark roots. Ok, we do share that feature. But then it was time to go back and visit with Wonderful Vet.
WV took more blood from Jake and we got the results the next day. His blood levels had improved all across the board. Still not where they should be, but they are improving. WV is now pretty sure he ate something he shouldn't have. The plan for now is keeping him on antibiotics for another 2 weeks and continue with the geritol. We go back in a few weeks for another check up.
Before I left, I thought about asking WV and his staff if they have ever noticed the whole "dogs look like their owners" myth. But then in my mind I pictured them looking at me, looking at Jake, looking back at me and decided I better not ask.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sick Little Guy.....
Sometimes things happen so slowly, you don't even realize it's happening. For a couple of weeks, Jake had been getting slower and slower. We blamed the heat. I mean, it's been in the upper 90's with a few 100's thrown in there. It's hot! We all slow down when it gets that hot. But, even when it's hot, Jake will still perk up when he's in the nice air conditioning. And that's when we started to notice that things weren't quite right with Jake.
Every evening, rain or shine, Jake will sit and stare until one of us gives in to the gaze and takes him for a walk. And if we aren't quick enough, he'll start whining. I can handle lots of things. I work in a preschool. I'm used to yelling, crying, complaining, etc. But I don't handle whining. And Jake has figured that out. So he gets a walk every evening. Then, he will come home from his walk and get his rope or Blast (a stuffed dog that Abigail named Blast Hardcheese) and start running around the sofa with it just to go ahead and get that extra bit of energy out.
Another thing he always does is meet us at the door when we come home. I don't know how he does it but sometimes when we drive up, we see him looking out the window, like he heard us coming. He's always so happy to see us. Who doesn't love coming home to that?
And then over the course of a week, it just stopped. He quit whining to go for a walk. He quit playing with his toys. He quit meeting us at the door. Finally one day I actually had to go look for him when I got home. He was upstairs, asleep behind the recliner. He just didn't have the energy to go downstairs to greet us. The other thing we noticed was how he would sit and stare at us but close his eyes and start falling asleep. While sitting up! That was it. Time to take him to see his Wonderful Vet.
I drove him to the vet and instead of being happy that he was going for a car ride, he just sat there with his head hanging. The vet checked him out and noticed he was anemic but his lungs and heart sounded clear. I was afraid of heartworms, courtesy of Channel 2 doing a story about dogs getting heartworms even when they're on preventative medicine. Anyway, Wonderful Vet checked everything and poked Jake in places he didn't appreciate and then took some blood and said we would find out the results the next day. After we got in the car to come home, I saw a side of Jake that I rarely see...he was mad! He got up in the passenger seat of the van and sat, facing forward the whole way home. Not looking out the window, not looking at me when I talked to him or patted his head. He just looked straight ahead. When we got home, instead of jumping off the seat and getting out on my side of the van, he just sat there, looking straight ahead. I walked around to his side of the van, opened the door, and again, without looking at me, he jumped down. He came in the house and went straight upstairs for the next 3 hours.
Stress is a funny thing. Sometimes I handle it, sometimes I don't. This time I didn't. When I got home, I prayed, I cried, I asked people on Facebook to pray, I prayed some more, and I hugged Jake until he would have growled and snapped at me if he had the energy.
The next day, with my stomach in a huge knot, I called the office for the results. Basically it could be 1 of 2 things. He either got into something toxic or he has some type of auto immune disorder. Suddenly, I'm really hoping Jake ate something toxic since that would be the easiest to treat. I mean, come on. This is the dog that ate a razor blade one time. I wrote a whole post on this blog just about things that he has eaten. The treatment for either one of these is sort of the same. (there are lots more details that I understood at the time WV was explaining it to me, but now...not so much) So I took him back that morning and he got 3 shots (an antibiotic, a steroid and a B12) and 2 bottles of pills (antibiotic and steroid) and a bottle of liquid stuff that WV called "doggie Geritol". He also gave me 2 cans of prescription dog food made especially for diabetic dogs or dogs having GI trouble and I was to give him a tablespoon of that every hour just to keep something going through his tummy. Again, on the way home, Jake was mad. This time, instead of looking straight out of the window, at one point he actually stood up, turned to the side and faced the side window. He rode home with his back to me the whole time! Anyway, this was on Friday and WV said we should see a slight improvement by Saturday and he wanted me to call and report. Have I mentioned that Wonderful Vet is the best vet around? By Saturday morning, Jake was a little perkier. I was cautiously optimistic. Later in the morning, he did the familiar "sit and stare" until I told him I would take him for a walk. He came home, grabbed his toy and ran around the sofa! I was so excited! I called WV's office and told them what was going on. However, I was also told, this doesn't mean he doesn't have the autoimmune thing. But if he does, at least we know the treatment would work. Again, there are many more details than I'm giving you but my brain is tired.
But then Saturday night, it happened. Abigail and I went somewhere and when we drove up to the house I looked, and there was Jake, standing in the window! Even from the street, I could see him wagging his tail. I almost cried, I was so happy.
So, Jake seems to be on the mend for now. He still doesn't have his energy back all the way but as I write this, Jake is at the front window, watching the neighborhood and wagging his tail. Say a little prayer for him if you don't mind and I'll keep you posted......
Every evening, rain or shine, Jake will sit and stare until one of us gives in to the gaze and takes him for a walk. And if we aren't quick enough, he'll start whining. I can handle lots of things. I work in a preschool. I'm used to yelling, crying, complaining, etc. But I don't handle whining. And Jake has figured that out. So he gets a walk every evening. Then, he will come home from his walk and get his rope or Blast (a stuffed dog that Abigail named Blast Hardcheese) and start running around the sofa with it just to go ahead and get that extra bit of energy out.
Another thing he always does is meet us at the door when we come home. I don't know how he does it but sometimes when we drive up, we see him looking out the window, like he heard us coming. He's always so happy to see us. Who doesn't love coming home to that?
And then over the course of a week, it just stopped. He quit whining to go for a walk. He quit playing with his toys. He quit meeting us at the door. Finally one day I actually had to go look for him when I got home. He was upstairs, asleep behind the recliner. He just didn't have the energy to go downstairs to greet us. The other thing we noticed was how he would sit and stare at us but close his eyes and start falling asleep. While sitting up! That was it. Time to take him to see his Wonderful Vet.
I drove him to the vet and instead of being happy that he was going for a car ride, he just sat there with his head hanging. The vet checked him out and noticed he was anemic but his lungs and heart sounded clear. I was afraid of heartworms, courtesy of Channel 2 doing a story about dogs getting heartworms even when they're on preventative medicine. Anyway, Wonderful Vet checked everything and poked Jake in places he didn't appreciate and then took some blood and said we would find out the results the next day. After we got in the car to come home, I saw a side of Jake that I rarely see...he was mad! He got up in the passenger seat of the van and sat, facing forward the whole way home. Not looking out the window, not looking at me when I talked to him or patted his head. He just looked straight ahead. When we got home, instead of jumping off the seat and getting out on my side of the van, he just sat there, looking straight ahead. I walked around to his side of the van, opened the door, and again, without looking at me, he jumped down. He came in the house and went straight upstairs for the next 3 hours.
Stress is a funny thing. Sometimes I handle it, sometimes I don't. This time I didn't. When I got home, I prayed, I cried, I asked people on Facebook to pray, I prayed some more, and I hugged Jake until he would have growled and snapped at me if he had the energy.
The next day, with my stomach in a huge knot, I called the office for the results. Basically it could be 1 of 2 things. He either got into something toxic or he has some type of auto immune disorder. Suddenly, I'm really hoping Jake ate something toxic since that would be the easiest to treat. I mean, come on. This is the dog that ate a razor blade one time. I wrote a whole post on this blog just about things that he has eaten. The treatment for either one of these is sort of the same. (there are lots more details that I understood at the time WV was explaining it to me, but now...not so much) So I took him back that morning and he got 3 shots (an antibiotic, a steroid and a B12) and 2 bottles of pills (antibiotic and steroid) and a bottle of liquid stuff that WV called "doggie Geritol". He also gave me 2 cans of prescription dog food made especially for diabetic dogs or dogs having GI trouble and I was to give him a tablespoon of that every hour just to keep something going through his tummy. Again, on the way home, Jake was mad. This time, instead of looking straight out of the window, at one point he actually stood up, turned to the side and faced the side window. He rode home with his back to me the whole time! Anyway, this was on Friday and WV said we should see a slight improvement by Saturday and he wanted me to call and report. Have I mentioned that Wonderful Vet is the best vet around? By Saturday morning, Jake was a little perkier. I was cautiously optimistic. Later in the morning, he did the familiar "sit and stare" until I told him I would take him for a walk. He came home, grabbed his toy and ran around the sofa! I was so excited! I called WV's office and told them what was going on. However, I was also told, this doesn't mean he doesn't have the autoimmune thing. But if he does, at least we know the treatment would work. Again, there are many more details than I'm giving you but my brain is tired.
But then Saturday night, it happened. Abigail and I went somewhere and when we drove up to the house I looked, and there was Jake, standing in the window! Even from the street, I could see him wagging his tail. I almost cried, I was so happy.
So, Jake seems to be on the mend for now. He still doesn't have his energy back all the way but as I write this, Jake is at the front window, watching the neighborhood and wagging his tail. Say a little prayer for him if you don't mind and I'll keep you posted......
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Going to the dogs
Wow, it's been awhile since I've written anything about Jake. He's been busy, though. Some of it good, some, well, not so much.
Jake survived the winter. He actually likes the cold weather of winter. He likes to run around outside enjoying the cold. My Dad used to always say our dog Snoopy was "feeling his oats" whenever he was running around outside. I have no idea what it means but I've used that term also. I hope it's not anything bad.
One of Jake's favorite things to do while the weather is nice and cool is to go to the dog park. It's a really great place for a dog and it's not such a bad place for people, either. I've been taking him lately, usually on a Friday or Saturday morning. Friday's are nice because it's not too crowded and I'm still a bit nervous walking into a park with my happy-go-lucky, "I wanna be friends with everyone" kind of dog. We've never had any problems but I'm afraid the day will come when Jake comes across a dog that just doesn't want to be friends with him and doesn't appreciate all the backside sniffing that goes along with new found friendship.
A dog park is also a great place to just sit and watch other "dog people". I've decided that most people really are like their dogs. Or their dogs are like them. Whatever. So, after much observation and entirely too much thinking, I've come up with the basic master/dog combos you, too can witness at your local dog park. You have:
The Overachievers: These are the really energetic people that show up with frisbees and tennis balls and always have Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, or some other hyper type of dog. They go around the park and show off all kinds of skills the rest of us wish we had the energy and time to invest in our dogs. They can put on quite a show but the rest of us just watch and hope our dog doesn't pee on someone's leg.
The Families: These are the owners that make going to the dog park a family outing. They have anything from shelties to bulldogs. The parents are always a little on edge. They have their kids and dogs running around the park. Sometimes they're chasing the kids, sometimes the dog. It's a little like trying to herd chickens. I just have a feeling there is a big sigh of relief when they get the right kids and dog in the car and buckled up.
The exercisers: They have labs or retreivers, carry water bottles, and are always dressed in name brand exercise clothes. No old t-shirt and raggedy shorts for them. They walk laps around the park while their incredibly fit dogs run alongside.
The Cool Dog Owners: These are the people that are obviously important and way too busy to walk the dog but they come occasionally because it's the right thing to do. They always have a phone to the ear (or in their ear) or sometimes they're texting. If they're not texting, they usually have a cup of Starbucks. I've seen people spend the entire time on their phone or texting and never look up. I'm amazed at their coordination. I tried to slip into their group once. I showed up with a cup of coffee and my phone. Ok, well, it was McDonald's coffee so I was already down a few notches. Jake was so excited to be at the park, he pulled away from me when we got out of the car. My hand jerked and coffee went all over the front of my shirt. So, as Jake is running through the parking lot, dragging his leash behind him, I'm running after him (still holding my coffee) and trying to get close enough to step on his leash. I ran a few steps and then jumped to try to get my foot on his leash. I did that all the way through the parking lot.....with coffee all over my shirt. Any hopes of joining the Cool Dog Owners vanished right then. I didn't even bother to pull out my phone and pretend to text anyone after that.
The My-Dog-Is-Nothing-Special-But-I-Love-Him-All-The-Same People: These are the people that just go to the park with their average and untrained but happy dogs and sit on the benches and watch the dogs and other people. That's the category I fall into. I usually walk around the park for awhile because Jake won't stray far from me. If I'm moving , he's moving. When I sit, he usually sits close by. Sounds like a good boy, huh? I don't know why he's this way at the park where he has free reign. If he gets out at home, he runs off and it takes half the neighborhood to finally trap him and bring him home.
I've met some interesting people at the park. We always start by talking about our dogs. Sometimes it ends with that, sometimes it moves on. The other week I talked to a very nice man. I'm guessing he is retired. He said he didn't really want the cute little beagle that was digging in a really big hole while we were talking. He was talked into it by his granddaughter. Now he said, he wouldn't take anything for his little friend. I think that's how most people become dog owners. We started out talking about our dogs and ended up talking about how the area had changed in the last 30 years and then about his really great trip to Branson. He told me about the shows he went to and the nice places to stay. I know this sounds like a boring conversation but I was really enjoying our talk. As usual at the dog park, I got his dog's name, but not his. But I hope to see Sam and his owner at the park again sometime and sit on the bench and chat for awhile.
Jake survived the winter. He actually likes the cold weather of winter. He likes to run around outside enjoying the cold. My Dad used to always say our dog Snoopy was "feeling his oats" whenever he was running around outside. I have no idea what it means but I've used that term also. I hope it's not anything bad.
One of Jake's favorite things to do while the weather is nice and cool is to go to the dog park. It's a really great place for a dog and it's not such a bad place for people, either. I've been taking him lately, usually on a Friday or Saturday morning. Friday's are nice because it's not too crowded and I'm still a bit nervous walking into a park with my happy-go-lucky, "I wanna be friends with everyone" kind of dog. We've never had any problems but I'm afraid the day will come when Jake comes across a dog that just doesn't want to be friends with him and doesn't appreciate all the backside sniffing that goes along with new found friendship.
A dog park is also a great place to just sit and watch other "dog people". I've decided that most people really are like their dogs. Or their dogs are like them. Whatever. So, after much observation and entirely too much thinking, I've come up with the basic master/dog combos you, too can witness at your local dog park. You have:
The Overachievers: These are the really energetic people that show up with frisbees and tennis balls and always have Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, or some other hyper type of dog. They go around the park and show off all kinds of skills the rest of us wish we had the energy and time to invest in our dogs. They can put on quite a show but the rest of us just watch and hope our dog doesn't pee on someone's leg.
The Families: These are the owners that make going to the dog park a family outing. They have anything from shelties to bulldogs. The parents are always a little on edge. They have their kids and dogs running around the park. Sometimes they're chasing the kids, sometimes the dog. It's a little like trying to herd chickens. I just have a feeling there is a big sigh of relief when they get the right kids and dog in the car and buckled up.
The exercisers: They have labs or retreivers, carry water bottles, and are always dressed in name brand exercise clothes. No old t-shirt and raggedy shorts for them. They walk laps around the park while their incredibly fit dogs run alongside.
The Cool Dog Owners: These are the people that are obviously important and way too busy to walk the dog but they come occasionally because it's the right thing to do. They always have a phone to the ear (or in their ear) or sometimes they're texting. If they're not texting, they usually have a cup of Starbucks. I've seen people spend the entire time on their phone or texting and never look up. I'm amazed at their coordination. I tried to slip into their group once. I showed up with a cup of coffee and my phone. Ok, well, it was McDonald's coffee so I was already down a few notches. Jake was so excited to be at the park, he pulled away from me when we got out of the car. My hand jerked and coffee went all over the front of my shirt. So, as Jake is running through the parking lot, dragging his leash behind him, I'm running after him (still holding my coffee) and trying to get close enough to step on his leash. I ran a few steps and then jumped to try to get my foot on his leash. I did that all the way through the parking lot.....with coffee all over my shirt. Any hopes of joining the Cool Dog Owners vanished right then. I didn't even bother to pull out my phone and pretend to text anyone after that.
The My-Dog-Is-Nothing-Special-But-I-Love-Him-All-The-Same People: These are the people that just go to the park with their average and untrained but happy dogs and sit on the benches and watch the dogs and other people. That's the category I fall into. I usually walk around the park for awhile because Jake won't stray far from me. If I'm moving , he's moving. When I sit, he usually sits close by. Sounds like a good boy, huh? I don't know why he's this way at the park where he has free reign. If he gets out at home, he runs off and it takes half the neighborhood to finally trap him and bring him home.
I've met some interesting people at the park. We always start by talking about our dogs. Sometimes it ends with that, sometimes it moves on. The other week I talked to a very nice man. I'm guessing he is retired. He said he didn't really want the cute little beagle that was digging in a really big hole while we were talking. He was talked into it by his granddaughter. Now he said, he wouldn't take anything for his little friend. I think that's how most people become dog owners. We started out talking about our dogs and ended up talking about how the area had changed in the last 30 years and then about his really great trip to Branson. He told me about the shows he went to and the nice places to stay. I know this sounds like a boring conversation but I was really enjoying our talk. As usual at the dog park, I got his dog's name, but not his. But I hope to see Sam and his owner at the park again sometime and sit on the bench and chat for awhile.
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