Watcher had a WTF?? moment and I had a WHOA! moment last night.
I was on my way out the door to visit a friend, and at the last second I put Watcher's collar on and brought him with me. I'd never taken any of my dogs there, but because Watcher truly adores Brianne ( 3 y/o human of the household :) ), I thought they'd both enjoy it.
Once there he enthusiastically bounded out of our Van, HUGE grin on his face, gleefully following me to the staircase where we needed to climb to the second floor apartment.
One paw ever so lightly touched the first step up, and then the WTF? look.
Watcher Data: Not once in his entire life had he seen/done stairs. He was born and raised for the 1st year of his life in a *reputable* puppymill ( I'm working on a post about *reputable* animal mills, soon to come ), of which the kennels were ground level. Then he came into my home where their are only 2 steps to come in the front door.
He watched me walk up halfway, about 10 steps, and he fucking freaked. He ran the length of the building and back in the blink of an eye, ran to the bottom step and valiantly attempted the dreaded ladder to hell again.
FAIL.
His anxiety increased a million fold because I, his reason for being, his ability to live and breathe ( those are Watcher's thoughts, not mine.... he's one of those dogs that truly believe that, or maybe it's *separation anxiety* that all those so called self experts think, whateva) was getting further from him.
I went down and tried to cheerfully entice him up "c'mon Watcher! let's go! let's gooo!!" Nuh uh. I tried cajoling "c'mon babe, s'okay let's go up Watcher". Nuh uh.
While taking him back to his safe spot, the Van, I realized that not one of my dogs had walked up stairs. They have sailed over 6' 10" width raised 2' garden boxes when shrieked at by moi, jumped 4' high temporary garden partitions to help me garden by digging the holes (o m g *scream*), scaled a 4 tier flower shelf, but never walked up stairs.
A bit ago I started thinking about making them a sort of "playground" in the yard. A fun agility type of playground. ( easy instructions Here ) I'm thinkin' I need to incorporate some stairs in there.
Buck had a WTF moment last weekend when hubby took him to the vet. He would not get on the scale. No way, no how. He kicked it clear across the floor -- one of those big platform motherf*ckers. We had to weigh him at home -- 68# at 7 months and getting b-i-g-g-e-r.
ReplyDeleteBeen there. The scale at a Vet's is a weird thing. It should NOT be a weird thing, but it is.( It's just a teensy step up and stand for a sec! )
ReplyDeleteI think our canines are reading our radar in this aspect. I mean, when ever I go into a Vet's office it is because something is wrong.
My internal stress carries to them.
I'm thinking anyways....
I'm laughing at your descriptions of what your dogs have done!
ReplyDeleteThey sound like fun,in that never
a dull moment way!
Beans liked to help by digging out all my bulbs,right after I planted them,one after the other,lol
My neighbor's pit bull and border collie x used to visit us and get freaked out by the furnace. They didn't have one at their house(people up here are big on woodstoves)so when mine turned on the first few times,they would race from vent to vent,heads cocked,perplexed looks on their faces. It was hilarious to watch.
You're such a nice mama to build your gang their very own playground.
About the only time my four see stairs is when they go to Samantha's, their groomers - and have to walk up a zillion stairs to reach her shop. I dread the day when the large old ones will be too arthritic to make it up under their own steam!
ReplyDeleteI remember the first time I tried to teach Sam, a German Shepherd (RIP), to swim. I waded into the water while she stood their gaping at me in disbelief. Tail between her legs, she came when I called, pooped in the water, and raced back out. I swear she was saying "NOT ON YOUR LIFE!" She never did learn to like water.