January 6, 2009
-
Baron Is A True Wimpy Dog
I know I have told you before that Baron is a wimp. It applies to both cold and rain. Any other conditions do not bother him (wind, bright sunlight, dismal days, etc.). But snow, cold and rain make him a wimp. He will actually run and hide rather than go out into it, regardless of how badly he has to pee or chit.
For example, yesterday we had an overcast, drizzly day. I knew Baron had to pee because he kept going to the door and barking. As soon as he put his nose out of the door and felt the rain (which was more like a heavy mist most of the day), he would dig in his paws and back up. No way was he going out in THAT.
This went on for literally HOURS. It got so that he was at the door every five minutes. I finally had it and actually dragged him out the door and stood in the rain myself calling him down from the deck. I walked around in the wet yard, calling him while he stood like a sentinel at the top of the stairs. After about five minutes of urging (and I think the rain, which had gotten more vigorous during this interlude), his bladder finally did him in and he came running down, gave a token sniff to his favorite spot and peed like a race horse. Then he ran over to his OTHER favorite spot and took a huge dump. I had to laugh except I was soaked and ran into the house. It took him another few minutes before he came bounding back. He ran around and *danced* with his relief.
I told the Beast that the next time HIS wimpy dog needed company to get his butt outside, guess who was NOT going to do it???? Three guesses and the first two don’t count. I went and changed my clothes while Baron celebrated his bravery and relief by running and jumping around while the Beast chased him with a towel, trying to get him dried off.
Well, today it POURED. I mean it, it came down like I haven’t seen a rain in quite a while. It also rained almost the whole day long. We had both flash flood warnings and flood warnings, it was THAT bad. My back yard had about two inches of water in it. It’s not like we haven’t needed rain in this area, we’ve been in a drought situation for several years. Nature seems to be making up for it now since we are WAY above normal now. I think if we get a few more storms like this come through here, we might actually be back to normal again.
That means we had the same situation with Baron when he needed to *go*. And dig in his heels, he did. The Beast tried everything, including walking him with an umbrella but the dog doesn’t know he should stay UNDER it to keep from getting wet. He didn’t like getting his paws wet either. All he wanted to do was go home but he finally peed and headed back towards the house. He didn’t want to spend another minute out there for anything else. The same went this evening. When he started his going to the door every five minutes, I locked myself in my computer room and told the Beast *YOU wanted a doberman, YOU go outside with him this time, not me.*
I found out that he didn’t take Baron out. He told the Princess to take him for a walk. Her boyfriend was here so she didn’t argue. But, she found herself dragging him down the driveway and out onto the street. He wouldn’t move. He finally tried to make a break for it back to the house, dragging her with him. If not for her boyfriend, he might actually have dragged her since he IS strong. Especially when he wants something bad enough and all he wanted was to get out of the rain.
The Princess came into the computer room (her dresser is in here, remember) and changed into dry clothes, muttering and swearing under her breath. Even SHE told the Beast..*It’s YOUR dog. I can’t help it that he’s such a wimp but I refuse to drag him and try to get him to pee.* So, now he has no choice. All the capable women in this house have now HAD it with Baron. I swear I will kick his butt out the door and lock it. He has a dog house in the yard. He can always head for it to get out of the rain but I’ll be darned if I am going to be a doorman for a dog that won’t go out in the rain when he needs to answer nature’s call.
Chewlee hasn’t been feeling well. We don’t think it’s a cold and it doesn’t seem to be teething. But she isn’t her normal, cheerful self and she is sleeping more often. Not as long, but more often. She usually only takes an afternoon nap right around 11:30 or 12:00 and she sleeps for an hour and a half. For the past couple days, she’s gone down for her nap as usual around noon but sleeping for just an hour at the most. Then, around 3 or 3:30, she is ready for another nap. That one will last an hour. Tonight, at 6pm, right after eating dinner and taking her bath, she started saying *night night* and she meant it. She found her blankey, asked for a ba-ba and, without waiting for it, opened her bedroom door. I looked in and she was trying to hoist herself up into the crib. It was funny because she REALLY wanted to go to bed. We did, however, manage to distract her and told her to lay down on the pillow I put on the floor of the living room. She did that and lay there quietly with her bottle for an hour. The only reason she didn’t go to sleep was because Baron kept going over and bothering her. HE wanted to play. She just wanted to pet him. By 7pm, she started getting really cranky and crying to go night-night so the Princess finally put her down.
I told the Princess that she might just nap for a little bit (I know the feeling) and, sure enough, after a half hour of rest, she was ready to get up again. She will probably stay up until around 9 and then go to sleep for the night. Right now she is bounding around the house with Baron following her. They seem to be having fun and they both are getting exercise so who cares?
We were under three different weather alerts today:tornado watch, flash floods and flooding. It’s definitely been a wild weather day. At one point, the wind was so violent, I went outside to check the clouds and look for signs of a tornado. If there was one, it wasn’t close enough for us to even get the hail so I was relieved. Wind I can take, a tornado…no thanks. Been there once (had the roof taken off from over our heads in the middle of the night). Don’t need to repeat the experience, thankyouverymuch.
We lost our internet and the TV for about 15 minutes each since they are both satellite services. That wasn’t all that long, I know, but I worry when the weather is bad enough to affect them both. I figured that meant that the worst of the weather had passed over us and was heading to somewhere else.
I just checked my weather beetle and there is more rain expected tomorrow. *sigh* Another wonderful day with the wimp dog. Then it’s supposed to be sunny but cooler for the rest of the week. I’m so glad. I am a sun person. I LIKE the sun and blue skies. It’s my favorite type of day. I don’t mind the cold as much if the day is bright and sunny. It always feels colder when the day is dismal even if it isn’t, know what I mean? In my own way, I am a wimp, too.
So, here I sit in my flannel jammies with both socks AND a pair of fluffy slippers on because the weather is supposed to drop down into the 30′s tonight. I have both my down comforter AND an electric blanket on my bed and I even have my bedspread on it. I want to be WARM when I sleep. The Beast tells me that the temperature of my body rises when I go to sleep. This only happens during the winter. I’ve heard of such things happening to mountain climbers and those Sherpa people in the Himalaya mountains. I guess that it wouldn’t be too far a stretch to figure that anyone who hates the cold like I do could do it on some instinctive level if the mechanism is there for us to *tap*. Stranger things have happened. I can’t be the only non-mountain climber/non-Sherpa person to do it. He (the Beast) claims that he has always snuggled close to me when he gets cold just because of that. I know that I sometimes wake up with my hairline sweating but thought it might be from being too warm with all my *aids* on the bed. Guess that’s NOT the reason at all.
It’s time for me to fold some more clothes. I’ve neglected doing my own dirty clothes because of trying to get the blankets, comforters and sheets from our company taken care of between taking care of Chewlee and preparing meals. I’ve also been keeping Chewlee’s clothes up and, occasionally, some of the Princess’s stuff. I almost died when I walked into my bathroom to take a shower while the baby was sleeping and my hamper was overflowing. It was mostly the Beast’s stuff but…even so! When I folded his underclothes, I discovered that it has been 12 days since the last time I did them. Oh well. I guess I need to make a list……LOL
Love you all. Take care of yourselves and live every day like it is your last. Tell those you love that you do. Love deeply. Laugh often. Smile when speaking on the telephone. That smile affects your voice and it will help the person on the other end of the line by lifting their spirits. Try it sometime.
