Oddities of Ember

 

Anybody else have a puppy that "sits" while drinking from their water bowl?  This strikes me as a bit unusual, but maybe I'm wrong.

Thursday in Emberville has been less than stellar.  It started out by mommy letting herself sleep a little longer, so breakfast was half an hour late.  Ember was not pleased, and gobbled her breakfast so fast she gagged and vomited it onto Mommy's carpet.  Sigh.  Note to self:  Never oversleep puppy breakfast time.

She's was on two leash walks in the morning, one before mom went to work out, one after.  During the one after, a young couple asked if they could pet her, and I responded "as long as she behaves herself".  Well, Ember rolled onto her back and somehow managed to get her harness off kilter with a leg in the wrong place... her chest strap was half on her belly.  The young man volunteered to help "fix" the harness placement, while I switched the leash to her collar.  Only he made it worse, putting the chest strap on top and the top of the harness on her belly.  Yikes!

Anyway, with both of us working on keeping the puppy in line, got it fixed.  Since this was the beginning of the walk, we were able to get a complete walk in.  But then I tried to get her to go pick a poo spot in the back yard, and she just lost all patience with the little flags.  They were blowing in the wind, and I was kind of half paying attention, as I was also trying to find her last two poos to pick up!

Anyway, at this point it was collar and leash only, and Ember was grabbing the leash and playing tug, and then decided to go after my ankles because she didn't want to be deprived of her prizes (the flags... she pulled 3 of them out of the ground, and I wrestled to get the plastic out of her mouth).  Long and little of it is that Mommy ended up both saying "Ouch" loudly, and bleeding from both hands.  My shoes and shorts both have blood spots on them, because I bleed really well from the hands.

I ended up manhandling / luring her back inside the house, then I went outside on my own to finish the Poo patrol.  I came back in, and of by then I was so frustrated that I was weeping.  Little one licked my wounds and gave that concerned puppy look that they do whenever their human melts down.  She brought me her pupsickle container, as a suggestion?

Anyway, I put her away for the time it took her to finish her treat.  We tried outside again after this, but it was still not working, and I unclipped the leash and did the "treats up the steps" that again, lured her back inside.  I felt like she SHOULD need to poop at this point, but she was clearly saying "nope".  Well, it's her little body!  She should know.  But she isn't that great about telling me.

I started asking her "are you feeling OK?"  She could be teething.  I have two pop-in-the-freezer style teething rings for her, and she seemed quite intent on one this morning.

So... Mommy was feeling a little lost and low today.  The shower conversion folks called yesterday to say they want to start on Monday June 10th, and it will take about a week.  The irrigation guy for the landscapers has yet to show up or communicate where I am on their schedule, so I e-mailed the landscape head dude to let him know about the shower work, and also about the flags and my frustration with not being able to let the puppy run loose in her own backyard "indefinitely".

Oh, and it's "Give to Lincoln Day" again... every year, right?  They give credit for matching funds every day in May leading up to it, but I kind of like the tradition of the day itself.  I did take a few minutes to designate my favorite local charities to have my gifts matched.

About 2 p.m. Ember indicated she wanted to go outside, finally, and she was good about allowing me to clip on the leash.  We went out the front and she did both kinds of business.  While we were out there, Frank and his human (Susan) came by, and Ember was just on collar and leash, but I held her while Frank and Susan went on their way.

The clouds were gathering, and we did get a little rain.  Ember went outside on the deck, and then down to the patio, on leash, in the rain.  We were still on the patio when a big rumble of thunder crashed, and she bolted for the stairs.  We calmed down, but a pattern is emerging of a puppy who is scared of certain other dogs (including Frank), loud noises, etc.

Anyway, she went back in for some quiet time an hour and a half ago, and it's about time to start thinking about some supper for the pupper!

Despite this kind of day, LOVE is strong for this little one, and that makes LIFE good!  Spark on!