Jeez, my dog is nuts. All afternoon on Sunday she was a giant brat. she tried to steal kitchen towels when we cooked, she tried to get into the bedrooms to find things to get her in trouble, she barked up a storm every time we let her into the backyard, she was impossible to walk on a leash, she was just generally full of piss and vinegar yesterday. She ate my broccoli right out of my raised beds. She used to be very good at staying out of them, now she thinks she has free reign of my vegetables. We had such a lovely morning too. We took her to the giant 8 acre dog park in Vancouver and she came to us when we whistled for her. She was so happy and she had such a great time with the other dogs. Seeing her running full speed to join back up with us was the greatest feeling. By noon yesterday I was convinced we had the best dog ever. That quickly changed once we got home from the doggy park.
After an afternoon of her shenanigans, you’d think she’d be all tuckered out and ready for a quiet night. But last night she woke up three or four times and barked like crazy. Might be opossums or a skunk in the backyard, or maybe she’s just plain nuts. Getting woken up in the middle of the night by her crazy loud barking is just painful, and if I had a bad heart, it would have been downright dangerous. She scared the crap out of us.
This morning she had no interest in the backyard. She wanted so badly to go to doggy day care, she just sat by the front door and stared at me. I don’t even think she was in the backyard long enough to relieve herself and I hate bringing her down there fully loaded, they have enough poop to deal with. This is so unlike her, she loves the backyard. The first thing she ever wants to do when we get home is go in the backyard and make sure all her sticks are still there.
When I picked her up tonight, Tristan said he saw blood coming from her back left paw. I gave her a peanut butter kong to try and settle her down and I tried to look at it but she doesn’t want me to mess with it. It looks like one of her claws got caught on something, the blood is between her toes. Maybe she pissed one of the other dogs off, she has been so extra bratty the last couple days. The pads are a bit swollen on that foot but she isn’t limping. She probably just pulled a nail while scratching her neck. This morning she also had another one of her hiccup fits. She’s just been getting physically worked over the past few days between the bee sting and all the doggy park excitement. And I think the Benadryl gave her a case of acid butt because she was afraid to poo Saturday night. it was really sad to watch her whimpering and running around the backyard hoping if she picked a different spot to poop in, the pain would go away. I think she just maybe needs a day of very little excitement. I’ve got to do a webex demo tomorrow morning to show all the work I’m doing and keeping her quiet during the meeting is going to be challenging. I’ll have to get some extra special kongs ready for her.
Uggg, I’m having one of those moments where I feel overwhelmed and frustrated and I feel like her progress is being undone. I blame myself for not taking her on more walks. She has got to understand that pulling just isn’t going to work. We have another “advanced dog obedience” class on Wednesday and the thought that I put her in an advanced class is laughable to me right now. I blame myself for having too much work right now. I blame myself for not finding enough for her to do. I blame myself for knowingly getting a teenage border collie. I try to tell myself that she’s going to mellow with age and that every other person with the same breed says the same thing “Yeah, those first couple of years were painful.” I think about how ironic it is that if we have a kid, Mississippi will be older and mellower by the time the kid becomes hyperactive terror-on-wheels age. I might get some satisfaction out of it though, seeing her getting tortured by a small child could be sweet revenge for all the pain she’s been putting us through.
We leave for New Jersey on Friday morning. When I initially booked a week of boarding for her at Roxy’s, we were in a very painful period with her. The thought of having a week long dog break sounded so amazing. Now the thought of leaving her for a whole week sounds so terrible. I love my little monster. And although I know she’ll have a nice time with all her buddies, I think she’s going to be upset at our being gone so long. I hope she forgives us… I hope she wants to come back to us. Maybe she’ll decide life at board and care is more fun than our boring house. I never thought a dog could make me feel so guilty. Sheesh, and she’s so bratty.