Woke up at 5:00 A.M. as I happened to have a leg cramp. I hate it when that happens. At the same time, Sirocco parked himself outside the bedroom door and started whining. Figured I might as well get up.
The weather is getting cooler, which means the dogs are more feisty. The temperature drops a few degrees and they get all riled up.
Major usually does well on the walks but even he was more excited than usual this morning. He didn’t run but his pace was faster than normal.
Sirocco was wound up. He took a lap around the backyard before coming over to get his leash on. Then he quite loudly proclaimed to the whole neighborhood that it was his turn to go on a walk. He bolted out of the gate and tried to keep up the pace for the whole walk. I was afraid he’d choke himself pulling on the leash so much but he survived.
Then came Magdalena’s turn. She went bounding around the backyard, showing no signs that she was going to come to the gate and get her harness on. When she finally came over, she wouldn’t stop wriggling long enough to let me put the darn thing on her. I finally caught her between my legs and made her hold still long enough to harness her and get her leash on. Then she kept jumping up and clawing the gate, leaving big scratch marks all over it. I got her calm enough to sit and wait for me to open the gate.
Right out the gate she tried to bolt. I had to make her stop three times before she calmed down enough to walk at a moderate speed. Due to a knee injury many decades ago, as well as her pulling me over two weeks ago and banging up my knee, I can’t run. A brisk walk is the best I ca do. Magdalena was making sure it was as brisk as possible.
We were three-quarters of the way done with the walk when Hockey Kid came by on his way to school. Magdalena quieted down so she could get pets from Hockey Kid, then went to reading all the pee mail in the area while I chatted with Hockey Kid.
Something drew her attention, whether it was some scintillating scent, or a squirrel dashing for a nearby tree, I don’t know. She went from zero to sixty in one second flat. The only thing that kept her from taking off after whatever had her attention was my arm attached to her leash. The shock to my shoulder made me nearly let go of the leash, but somehow I managed to hold on. Then the pain hit. The first second felt like an electric shock, then it swiftly turned into an angry, fiery type pain. I went into a horse stance, from martial arts training, in order to remain standing and keeping Magdalena at bay.
I’m okay after all this, but this morning it was not fun. If she continues this behavior I’m going to stop taking her for walks. She’s got too much pull to her and I can’t handle that as well as I did in years past. The dog trainer we spoke to this past September was all in favor of a shock collar for training Magdalena. She said they have ones that beep, vibrate or shock, and that beeping or vibrating would be enough to get Magdalena’s attention and correct her behavior. Of the collars I looked at that did these things most were in the $100 or more range. Nor do I like the idea of a shock collar. It just doesn’t seem like fair play when it comes to training.
Hopefully I can get through the rest of December without any more dog walking injuries.
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