Life on the Leash

The e-mail came as a total shock. My dear friend and fellow dog person, Susan McCullough, was going in to have emergency brain surgery.

Wha?

Seems two unruly boxers (ahem) knocked her off her feet and directly on to her head during a trip to the dog park. It was a bad tumble, but it took a full month before the scary symptoms started showing up; splitting headaches, and then losing function in her leg. A CAT scan revealed that she had two subdural hematomas, which led to the brain surgery. A “drill and drain,” as she delicately puts it.

I went to visit Susan last week a few days after she came home from the hospital and I was amazed when she greeted me at the door. I pictured bed rest and malaise – it was brain surgery, after all -  but not Susan. She was weak but doing well.

Susan’s dog (and my former student) Allie has been her constant companion since she returned home, as if Allie can sense that Susan is not quite herself right now.

Don’t you just love that about dogs? That ability to sense when something is different, or when someone needs special attention?

Allie’s all, “Yup. I’m pretty awesome.”

My office used to look like a 9-year old girl decorated it:

I spend a ton of time in the room, and I wanted it to be bright and goofy. (You can’t get much goofier than a rug from the Mary Kate & Ashley line. Yes, it’s an Olsen twins rug.)

After five years of working in my pink paradise, it was time to redecorate with a grown-up sensibility.

New walls, new rug … it looks like a “normal” office now. But look closely and you’ll still find some residual dog trainer goofiness. Like my dog-fish:

A print from one of my favorite dog-artists:

My mention in Washingtonian Magazine’s “Best of Pets” issue:

And various dog tchokes:

The new rug was a reject from our family room. It didn’t quite work with the orange walls (yes, our family room is the color of a Cheeto), but it looks just fine with the neutral beige in my office.

We rolled out the old-new rug and I stopped in my tracks when I noticed this:

Zeke. He always claimed new beds, rugs, blankets etc. by raking his nails on the item. I remember him making those marks during the five minutes the rug was out in our family room. It made me happy to see them.

The verdict on my new and improved office? It works, but I do miss the pink a little.

Remember Faith and Hunter?

Seems young Faith has developed a punishing jumpy-greeting habit since I worked with her, so I went back for a refresher course yesterday. When I walked in the door and her paws hit my gut, full force, I knew that I had my work cut out for me.

We brainstormed some management techniques, like tethering Faith on a leash a few feet away from the door so that she can’t bulldoze her affections when people come over, and offering her a very high value chew so that her over-active mouth is constructively occupied. (Not the antler – two more “no thanks” votes in this household!)

Hunter, ever the good boy, followed us around with a grin on his face:

So do I think Faith can tone down her greetings?

Sure, if her people practice diligently, and if we just:

I thought I’d found the next great dog chew at that trade show last month, but thus far the reviews from my canine students have been mixed at best. The chew is great in theory: it’s a piece of a naturally shed deer antler. Long lasting and splinter-free … sign me up!

Or not. Here’s Ollie, deciding between his regular bone or the fabulous new antler:

After a sniff and a few licks, he opted for the old bone:

I’ll continue testing it on my canine clients (for the record, Sumner didn’t like it either), but the antler cost nearly $10, so my mind is just about made up.  We’ll stick with the proven winner.

Welcome Bossy readers! Many of you have mentioned signing up for the LOTL RSS feed (very cool- thanks!) … please let me know if you have any difficulty doing so. I’ve heard that there are kinks, and if so, we’ll un-kink it together!

This pose looks familiar:

My first session with super-adorable Pumpkin, Cricket’s cousin, was reminiscent of my first session with Gigi. Pumpkin preferred to sit on her person’s lap and watch me warily, not sure what I was all about.

We did manage to grab a few “sits”:

And she did several lovely recalls for her people. (Not for me, of course. I was too scary.)

The good news is that my former fraidy-cat client Gigi managed to overcome her nervousness about me by lesson #2 (she turned out to be a superstar student), and I’m sure little Pumpkin will be able to do the same.

Here’s to new beginnings at our next lesson.

We weren’t expecting this:

I heard rumors of “snow,” but I didn’t realize that they actually meant it! Like, real put-on-your-boots-and-shovel snow, instead of the apocalyptic quarter inch we normally get.

Sum was thrilled. Fresh snow turns on his turbochargers:

We played fetch:

But the ball kept getting lost in the drifts:

Sum didn’t want to come in:

But after a final farewell to Blue Ball:

And a quick shake-off:

He was ready to go. He knows we’ll be back later.