More Guilt

Aside from guilt, not walking your dog has other consequences, chiefly that your dog doesn't get his shpilkes out. Our Best Friend is not a destructive dog.  He never chews on the furniture, doesn't grab food from the counter, and almost always comes when called.  Note the "almost."  When he's full of shpilkes, he doesn't listen.

Last week was Rosh Hashana.  For three days before the holiday, I shopped, cooked, and sometimes even cleaned.  I didn't walk the dog.  The kids took him outside for five or ten minutes every so often and threw a ball around, but it wasn't close to enough.  I could see him getting more and more restless as the week went on.

And Now For Something Completely Different

This post is not about dogs.  Anyone interested in only dogs should skip it and go on.

As previously stated, I am actually a cat person.  On Saturday night I got a call from my friend Ben.  Four kittens were in an empty lot two blocks away-- what should we do with them?

As Ben explained, it immediately became clear that these were feral kittens who had been discovered by curious children.  Now the kittens were scampering about, attempting to follow the children home, and generally about to go play in traffic.  The mother, of course, was nowhere to be seen.

Perks of Dog Ownership # 3

This morning, the Middle Child, exhausted and sleep-deprived, let slip through her fingers a container of milk.  It hit the floor with a thud, splashing milk half-way across the kitchen.

Before we could even say, "Oh no!", Our Best Friend was in there, cleaning the floor of every last drop.  A paper towel or two picked up what he missed.  The floor wasn't even sticky.

There's a lot less floor-washing to be done when you've got a dog on mess duty.  But it's a good thing it wasn't chocolate milk.

Guilt

A few weeks ago, one of our dog park buddies made the casual comment, "Our Best Friend really needs to live on a farm, where he can run outside all day."  I've been haunted by that remark ever since.

When we first got a dog, I thought it would force me to get more exercise.  Who was I kidding.  I've never been a morning person, so walking him before the kids get up for school doesn't happen.  I'm too tired at night.  During the day, I'm too busy.  And to top it off, the weather won't cooperate either.

We just ended a brutal week of heat, with humidexes up to 104 F (40 C).  In spite of my anti-a.m. nature, I got up at 6:30 one morning, 7:00 another, and took Our Best Friend to the park to get his shpilkes out before the heat made it too difficult (and dangerous).  But half an hour twice a week isn't enough exercise for a dog his size.

It also rained like hell this summer, which ate into our dog park time. Several times, we were all prepped to go, and just as we were getting the leash and the poop bags, it went pitch black outside and the heavens opened. It puts a damper on outdoor activities. One evening I ignored the ominous warnings; we were there for less than ten minutes before we ran back to the car with thunder ringing in our ears.