Life on the Leash

I’m always excited to meet my new canine clients, but I was particularly excited to meet young Winnie because …

She’s an Old English Sheepdog puppy!

I haven’t worked with one in at least five years. They’re not common around here, although Storm’s people are bringing home an OES in a few weeks. (Trending, anyone?)

Winnie is a traffic-stopper – literally. People can’t help but ask about this gorgeous little puffball:

Winnie rocked lesson #1, and still had enough energy at the end of our session to enjoy a Flat Cat:

(New Flat Cat color coming soon!)

My new client, Storm the White German Shepherd, was a bit of a skeptic at first.

“Who are you, and why are you here?”

She cautiously took the treats I tossed towards her … slink, slink, slink grab-dash. Taking them from my hand was out of the question. I am, after all, very scary.

I was relieved that she warmed up to me as our lesson progressed.

Storm lost her canine sibling two weeks ago, so she’s adjusting to being a solo dog, just like Sum. Turns out she won’t be on her own for long … her new sibling, an Old English Sheepdog puppy (!!), will arrive in early November.

Storm’s person and I talked about the pros and cons of getting a new dog shortly after losing one and her arguments were persuasive. We’re not there yet (I promise, Tom), but I can’t see us remaining a one-dog household forever …

Many thanks to all of you who e-mailed and commented about Zeke … it means so much to me. This will be my final Zeke post for a while (I think) …  seeing his sweet face at the top of this blog every day is salt in the wound. We’ll start next week off with some of the wonderful new dogs I’m working with.

That said, I’ll finish up the week of Zeke with some of my favorite photos of him.

Miss you, baby dog.

It’s always been “ZekeandSum.” Two very different dogs living together as one.

Though the relationship was often fractious, Zeke and Sumner did love each other. After nine years they knew exactly where they stood. Zeke was the boss, and Sumner did what he was told.

They had vastly different play styles, yet they managed to meet in the middle:

They endured my ridiculous tongue-in-cheek holiday photos as an uncomplaining team:

They hung out together:

They even slept together:

Now, Sum is lost. I try to get him to play, but he’s only interested for a few tosses. He sleeps. He whines for my attention.

Sum is figuring out that, suddenly, he’s the canine head of the household. The little man isn’t around to call the shots. When Sumner hears the UPS truck approaching, he lets out a loud deep bark unlike anything I’ve heard from him. Tom and I agree that we’re finally going to meet the “real” Sumner. He’s been under Zeke’s paw since we brought him home … now, for the first time in his life, he’s on his own and he can do whatever he wants without fear of a Boston Terrier beat-down.

I’m not convinced he’s ready for it.

(Taken last night. Our first photo session without Zeke.)

This still doesn’t seem real to me.

Zeke.

I just miss him so much.

It happened suddenly. We had a perfectly normal Sunday; took a walk to the garden, played a little fetch in the living room … Zeke’s illness wasn’t even registering on that day.

He woke us up at 2:30. I was angry at first. The 4AM bathroom trips I could handle, but a 2 and a 4? That’s a bit much, Mister. I took him out, he peed, then instead of coming right back in he circled in place a few times. I helped him to the door, and he stood just past the threshold gnashing his teeth. He began drooling. I called to Tom. Something wasn’t right.

We sat with him and helped him weather each “fit,” (they didn’t really look like true seizures) hoping that he’d settle down and rest. Finally, after an hour, we took him to the emergency vet.

An hour later I kissed him on the top of his warm head and said goodbye. I cried until my eyes nearly swelled shut.

I. Just. Miss. Him. So. Much.

We lost him last night.