digging » Dogs Don't Look Both Ways

getting creative about an energetic dog (like me)

Sep 032009

It’s not always so easy to find places to exercise and socialize your dog. Many lakes do not allow dogs to swim off-leash, such as the lake in our town. Many dog parks have restrictions, such as not permitting uncastrated male dogs (such as the situation in our town), and other dog parks allow dogs who do not play well with other dogs to enter the dog park, which endangers the safety of the other dogs. Dog owners need to exercise and socialize their dogs but in a legal, safe and responsible manner. This can present challenges. It means the dog owners must be creative and often travel out of town to exercise and socialize their dog. ************

My mom has had to get very creative about getting me out of the home.

She wants to get me out of the home for a few reasons. First, I have so much energy it’s ridiculous. If she leaves me indoors for long periods of the day, she’s afraid I’ll do again what I did before. (See, please, my posts on digging my way under the fence and out of our property, and then getting hit by the car in Chapters 1 and 2.) Secondly, she wants my muscles to get back to how they were when I was running with my dad.

You may have noticed that you haven’t seen any nice new photos of me swimming. There’s a reason for that. There are no new photos because I haven’t been swimming. I don’t know how to tell my mom I want to go to the lake again. I can’t just go there by myself, and she hasn’t taken me for two weeks now.

The last time we were there at the lake, a very nice officer came by to the shoreline and told my mom that she had to get out of the water. At the time, my mom was holding me up by my harness so I could do my swimming. “Everybody out of the water,” he said. He didn’t say it to me; he just said it to her. He didn’t include me in “everybody”. And that was the last time we were there.

So my mom has had to get creative.

Here’s what we did yesterday: She took me with her and we ended up at a place where she plays some game called golf. This was a new place for me. She found a place for me where she could attach my lead; I know she chose a place for me that was out of the sun and also close enough to her that I could see her. I also think part of the idea was for her to keep an eye on me because every once in a while I saw her looking my way. This game involves little balls but since I can’t run after them, I’m not interested in this game.

For a while, being near so many people, I was pretty excited; but when nobody came over to pet me, I just lay down and rested. And cooled down.

Luckily, a lot of people like dogs, and big dogs like me, and after a while people stopped by to pet me and I jumped up again. They said “sit” and “stay”. They also said “paw”, which is something that my parents don’t like me doing because I get my dad’s nice clean shirts dirty when I do that. So I was happy because I got to do “paw” when my mom wasn’t looking. Or was she? At any rate, I got to do “paw” with some very nice children. Once I kind of jumped up and my mom saw that (how?) and said, “Joey, off.” At least I got to do “paw”.

So life continues to hold lots of surprises for me – and also for my mom. I like surprises, at least surprises like this.

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read my mind

7: Recuperation, _Stuff about dogs in General 2 Responses »

May 132009

Does your dog understand any words? Can he put words together into sentences? Why can he learn some words and not others? Is it possible to prevent a dog who likes to dig from digging? Is it possible to prevent a dog who likes to escape from escaping?

Today marks five weeks and one day since I was hit by the car, and one week since my surgery to repair my broken ankle.

My parents are starting to think about the future. That’s a word that is foreign to me. Words like “go” and “eat” and “walk” and “outside” and “downstairs” and “upstairs” and “kisses” and “dad” and “jane” and “bed” and “treat” have meaning to me. I can also understand words put together in sentences, such as “Go to Dad” or “Go to Jane” and “off the sofa”. But words like “future” are just sounds.

If I could choose one big word to add to my vocabulary, it would be “opportunity”. If I see an opportunity to go outside the gate, and it’s not raining, I do. read-my-mind

That is, in fact, something I did today, which was a delightful day. For a few moments, my mom left the back door wide open and the gate was wide open too, and she wasn’t looking at me and I walked down the three steps that lead to the outside, and out the back door and through the gate. That is when she saw me and said, ‘Joey, no! Come inside.” I had been so happy outside. I looked at her like, “What’s the problem?” but I came inside anyway.

Here in this photo, you can probably read my mind.

My parents have been leaving the gate open lately since I’m not allowed to go outside except for when I’m on the leash. Generally my mom has been excellent about leaving the doors to the outside closed and always putting me on the lead when she brings me outside for a walk, or to just sit in the sun for a few moments. But this was one moment when she was distracted. And I was not far behind. To me, there was an opportunity, and I seized it.

I also violated the rule about going up or down stairs without being lead by the leash. I have to say that it’s their rule, not mine.

So my parents are starting to think about the future. They are starting to think about what to do in order to prevent me from getting out of the yard again, unattended. They are talking to people and dog-owners about what to do to keep me from escaping again; after all, I’m a dog, and a Labrador Retriever. My parents have all sorts of ideas, none of them, from my point of view, good ideas.

Even Mary, my favorite mail carrier, who brings me a bone every day and lets me kiss her, said “How are you going to keep Joey in? They’re diggers. They dig. Digging is what they do.”

Where are my friends when I need them?

location location location

2: Day One. Trauma Strikes, _How I Was Hit by the Car No Responses »

Apr 182009

Digging clearly has its challenges when all eyes are on me. But when nobody is looking, it’s a challenge that I cannot resist. All the other dogs and rabbits in the neighborhood seem to call in unison: “Joey, Joey… Come out to play… Dig here… Now…”

The site I chose was particularly good because there was an evergreen tree in front of it that blocked my owners from seeing what I was up to, as well as a non-biodegradable plank that Jane had placed there to keep me from access to the fence, which I easily pushed aside, it having become dislodged during the winter snows.

Though Jane lay chicken wire in lots of places, she omitted one: at the read of our property, under the chain link fence that my owners had installed around the perimeter of their yard. In fact, they had that fence installed just so I would stay on the property and not run off and endanger myself and others. That fence is pretty big and tall just for that reason. It’s just tall enough that I cannot jump over it.

Digging under it, however, is another story.

One sunny morning I found a very nice place in the back where I could dig a long hole that followed along the fence, and then dip down under it, and gradually squeeze my body under it. In between it and our neighbors’ wooden fence is just enough room, a gap of about six inches, for me to squeeze my thin body through. About 30 feet later I am free.

Bunnies frequently dug their way under this place, so the scent of the bunnies naturally attracted me to it.

The site I chose was particularly good because there was an evergreen tree in front of it that blocked my owners from seeing what I was up to. There was also a non-biodegradable plank that my owner Jane had placed there to keep me from access to the fence, which I easily pushed aside, it having become dislodged during the winter snows.

Here you can see what a good scout I am. The perspective is from the home, where my mom was at the time of my excavation.

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digging is one of our hobbies

1: My Background. Begin Here 1 Response »

Apr 162009

Let’s understand something about Labrador Retrievers. Digging is one of our main hobbies. Owners of Labrador Retrievers are forever asking the question, “How can I stop my dog from digging?”

chicken-wire

In our old home, the soil was too rocky and glaciated for me to dig my way out successfully. In my new house I’m lucky because the soil is much softer and I can really dig down deep – and quickly.

My favorite places to dig are around trees and by the sides of our home, particularly in the nook of a corner where it was particularly shaded or hidden. Studying my habits, however, m mom Jane got pretty clever and decided to purchase chicken wire and to lay it under the dirt around the trees and in particular between the trees and the house, one of my favorite digging spots. On top of the dirt she placed small rocks to keep the dirt and the chicken wire down, and to make the area look a little more attractive; in some places she lay down slates as an extra deterrent.

Here is a photo of one of my favorite digging spots – of the past. If you look, you’ll be able to see the chicken wire sticking out. It was an excellent spot, in between a tree and a wall, until my mom outsmarted me.

Here is a photo of one of my favorite digging spots – of the past. If you look, you’ll be able to see the chicken wire sticking out. It was a good spot, hidden by the trees, until my mom outsmarted me.