Walking the Dogs
Hiromi and I have been struggling to find the motivation to get back to our regular routine of walking, so we felt clever this morning for thinking of taking the dogs out for exercise. Lexi and Brandi (Shane's dogs) were definitely in favor of this plan, as evidenced by their tongue-out, eager leaping against the kennel fence when we approached, and racing around inside the kennel when Hiromi darted inside. Hiromi sort of wrestled them down to get their leash and collar connected.
The first connected dog got handed off to me outside the kennel, and the dog promptly started bounding in all directions at once, with the retractable leash quickly extended to the limit. I waited there for Hiromi and the other dog. Bad idea. As soon as dog number 2 was outside too, also on a fully extended 15 foot leash, the dogs got thoroughly tangled up with each other and ran circles around me. I stood there helplessly holding the end of one leash while something sharp dug into the back of my leg just above the ankle. Hiromi held the other leash and looked on helplessly as the dogs and I got more and more tangled. The dogs were clearly running this circus. Finally, Hiromi had a flash of insight and gave me both of the leashes, so I could begin untangling things from the leash end, rather than both of us trying to get the dogs separated at the other end.
As soon as we got untangled, Hiromi took Brandi and I took Lexi and we started out the drive and down the road, having figured out by then how to lock the retractable leash and keep the dogs close to us. I forged ahead, with Lexi trailing behind me. Brandi strained against her leash, trying to catch up with Lexi, and Hiromi brought up the rear. So there we went--me pulling Lexi along and Brandi pulling Hiromi along.
"Heel," Hiromi called out once, not very convincingly. He laughed when he said it, and we all know that if you want dogs and children to mind, you do not laugh when you give commands or make requests. They didn't heel. We were a dysfunctional group.
We had gotten all of 1/8 mile from home when Lexi slipped out of her collar, and was free to run. Fortunately, she was so busy worrying Brandi that she never figured that out. Hiromi examined the collar dangling uselessly from the end of my leash, found that it was weak and worn and promptly made an executive decision, announcing that we were going home. When we got there the dogs rushed pell mell into the kennel as though they wanted to be there. This was a good thing. My leg hurt where the rope had dug into it, and I noticed the skin was missing in a narrow straight line around the back of my leg.
We set out again on our walk, and had a much more peaceful time of it. Even when we were powering along into the teeth of the wind, I was breathing more easily than I had at any time in that first 1/8 mile.
After we got back to the house, I added one item to the shopping list: dog collar.
With a new collar and all the smarts we acquired today, the next time should go along without a hitch.
No offense to Corgi lovers, but have you noticed that these dogs are a bit badger-like in their, um, physique and habits? Wide and low and furry and full of many powerful wiggles. Unlike badgers, they're very friendly, though. If I had been as close today to a badger as I was to the Corgis, a narrow strip of missing skin on my one leg would have been the least of my worries.
The first connected dog got handed off to me outside the kennel, and the dog promptly started bounding in all directions at once, with the retractable leash quickly extended to the limit. I waited there for Hiromi and the other dog. Bad idea. As soon as dog number 2 was outside too, also on a fully extended 15 foot leash, the dogs got thoroughly tangled up with each other and ran circles around me. I stood there helplessly holding the end of one leash while something sharp dug into the back of my leg just above the ankle. Hiromi held the other leash and looked on helplessly as the dogs and I got more and more tangled. The dogs were clearly running this circus. Finally, Hiromi had a flash of insight and gave me both of the leashes, so I could begin untangling things from the leash end, rather than both of us trying to get the dogs separated at the other end.
As soon as we got untangled, Hiromi took Brandi and I took Lexi and we started out the drive and down the road, having figured out by then how to lock the retractable leash and keep the dogs close to us. I forged ahead, with Lexi trailing behind me. Brandi strained against her leash, trying to catch up with Lexi, and Hiromi brought up the rear. So there we went--me pulling Lexi along and Brandi pulling Hiromi along.
"Heel," Hiromi called out once, not very convincingly. He laughed when he said it, and we all know that if you want dogs and children to mind, you do not laugh when you give commands or make requests. They didn't heel. We were a dysfunctional group.
We had gotten all of 1/8 mile from home when Lexi slipped out of her collar, and was free to run. Fortunately, she was so busy worrying Brandi that she never figured that out. Hiromi examined the collar dangling uselessly from the end of my leash, found that it was weak and worn and promptly made an executive decision, announcing that we were going home. When we got there the dogs rushed pell mell into the kennel as though they wanted to be there. This was a good thing. My leg hurt where the rope had dug into it, and I noticed the skin was missing in a narrow straight line around the back of my leg.
We set out again on our walk, and had a much more peaceful time of it. Even when we were powering along into the teeth of the wind, I was breathing more easily than I had at any time in that first 1/8 mile.
After we got back to the house, I added one item to the shopping list: dog collar.
With a new collar and all the smarts we acquired today, the next time should go along without a hitch.
No offense to Corgi lovers, but have you noticed that these dogs are a bit badger-like in their, um, physique and habits? Wide and low and furry and full of many powerful wiggles. Unlike badgers, they're very friendly, though. If I had been as close today to a badger as I was to the Corgis, a narrow strip of missing skin on my one leg would have been the least of my worries.
posted by Mrs. I at
9:37 PM
1 Comments:
This creates a funny picture in my head! Sorry! :)
The first two summers I lived where I do now, one of my neighbors used my backyard for dog training. Some nights there were as many as 6 or 7 dogs and their owners here. Very interesting, and informative! I'm not a huge dog lover, and can't imagine ever having a dog, but I learned a bit about training them to heel, etc.!
By
Mary A. Miller, at 6/09/2010
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