St. Valentine's Day Massacre

February 14, 2007. The day of love, although for me it has so far been one of disobedience. The day started off great, I woke Tom up with kisses at 7:30 AM. We had lots of cuddles and played tug-o-war with my Kong on a rope. Then it was time for a nice brushing and I sat patiently while it was being done. I even lay down and reveled in the nice feeling of it.

It is a cold miserable, grey, rainy day today, perfect for getting out on the park for a run. That way there should be no distractions like other dogs and people. The birds are still there and they bug me, but we’ll deal with it.

Tom started out throwing a new ball for me. It is a soft plastic hockey ball, which I will chase, but I don’t like to fetch it. After two or three tosses, Tom replaced the hockey ball with a tennis ball. That fixed things right up and I was chasing and retrieving that fine. I like the fuzzy feeling in my mouth. Things were going great at first with obeying commands and then those birds started on me. So I chased this one big seagull and disappeared from view over the hill. This is a big no-no and when I came running back, Tom put me on the leash and made me wait for what seemed like forever.

When all of the glaciers in the north had melted, at least it felt like that to me, Tom freed me up for another try. Things were again going well, until on one retrieve I saw two ladies walking a small kid way off in the distance. I dropped the ball and took off. I ran right across the street without looking and it’s a good thing no cars were coming, because I never would have seen them. Tom was yelling commands at me the whole time, but, I was not listening.

I ran right up to the three people. One lady picked up the little girl and I started barking at them. I think I really scared them, and I sure made Tom mad. He came and got me and put me on the leash and we went straight home. No more running this morning. I am now sitting in exile and I know Tom is not happy with me. I will try and bounce back later today, like I did the last time I screwed up so bad.

I spent the rest of the day today “sucking up” to Tom and have been extra especially good. I have listened to all commands and things seem to be patched up. I’ve just been at my sweetest, since I know I’ve been in trouble. The exile lasted only an hour and then I was out of the proverbial “dog house”. I hope we will go for a walk later tonight, but with the way it is raining, I’m not even sure I want to go. Even going out to pee is a really quick, jump out the door and get back inside. Wow, is it ever wet.