Good, Bad and Painful

April 16, 2007. It has been a strange and sometimes painful couple of days since I last wrote. My howling and barking during car trips with Renee and Tom has continued. Strangely enough, I am completely quiet when it is just Tom and I. Because of this Renee has tried an experiment with me. She has taken to riding in the back seat with me.

That worked pretty well, because I remained quiet until we hit those pesky railway tracks. But, then I threw a twist into the works. I liked sitting in back with Renee, but then, I like sitting in the front seat even better. So, I figured, she’s back there and that front seat is open and calling to me. Well, I just very casually slid into place on the seat and took my place beside Tom.

Everyone got a big laugh out of that as I sat there so proudly looking out the window. Poor Renee. Hey, it’s ok, I still love you, but I still want to sit up front. You may call shotgun, but I’m still the one with the big teeth. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Yesterday, Tom took me out on the park for a run. We were out there about 35 minutes when a fellow showed up with a black lab that I had never seen before. I went over to say hello, welcome to my park and to introduce myself. That went well. After the introductions though, when Tom called me, I chose to stay and play.

The lab was chasing his ball and I was chasing him. He started growling and snapped at me warning me off. I went back over to Tom, but didn’t stay long. I went back to play with the lab some more. I made another major error when I passed between the lab and his master and got too close. This prompted another warning from the lab.

Finally when he was chasing his ball, I decided to herd him up. That was it. He snapped and came after me and we got into it pretty good. I was losing big time when we were separated. I had a cut on my nose and he had a mouthful of my white fur.
Later in the day, Tom and Renee took me for another big walk around the lake. I really enjoy going there. I was on the long lead the whole time, but I can’t go off-leash at this point as there are lots of baby birds around in nests on or near the ground.

Today Tom and I went to the park again in the morning and after yesterday’s experience you would think I had learned my lesson. That was not the case however. A lady arrived about the same time as us and she had a very nice golden retriever. I had to go introduce myself again.

The introductions went well, but when Tom called me back I refused to come. I went outside the fence, I disappeared from view and I forced Tom to come all the way across the park to get me. When he did finally catch up, he put me back on the leash and we went home. The sum total of my run today? 10 minutes, that was it because I disobeyed. Hopefully I will get another chance later today.