03-01-2014, 04:08 PM
I'm out on the daily dogwalk, maybe you've seen pictures. It's raining. I'm walking around the radio tower near my house which has a slight path that strikes fear deep into my heart. Mainly because on rainy days, it is incredibly slippery and has put me on my ass at least twice. But the dogs need to walk or they will eat the house. And this is the only entrance onto the radio tower road if the gate is closed.
So, we walk through the drizzle and on the way in, luck is with us. A car is just leaving through the gate. I don't have to walk the path of death. I release the dogs and we make our way around the radio tower. Rain falls. The dogs drink from puddles despite my admonitions. I take pictures of Mordor..
The time comes for us to leave. I say those small prayers that we will meet another car on the way out and the gate will be open. Two cars pass me on the way to the gate but I am not the runner to make it to the gate before it automatically closes.
As the dogs and I approach the gate, a fellow dogwalker approaches us with his well behaved Doberman, from the other side. For some reason, he stands just on the other side gate while I leash up the monsters. Then I realize he is going to open the automatic gate once I have Maeve and Dani secure.
Sure enough. He goes to the hidden control panel and enters the code. The gate swings open and I am spared the terror and potential humility of walking the goose greased path.
Simple. Except for the part where Maeve won't take her eyes off the Gate Opener's Doberman. Simple. I tug. Except for the part where Maeve resists. The leash slips over her head. She darts through the gate after the other dogwalker. Maeve stops and stares at me as the gate closes between us. Swear words erupt. Faithful dog Dani looks up at me to wonder how I am to solve this conundrum.
Well, the day before when I had walked the path in the rain, I had done it without dogs, too. When I was done, I called for the dogs and they came as if they had forgotten their natures and were momentarily obedient.
I figured I could just stand at the hole in the chain link fence people use to bypass the gate and call for my good girl. I called a couple of times, using the command that promises a treat as a reward. After a few tries, Maeve got the message and trotted around the brick wall to my hole in the fence. Dogs don't fear the path the way I do.
Here's the thing, Maeve likes to be bad. She receives tremendous pleasure from being off leash and racing up and down the streets. When she turned the corner and saw me holding the treat in one hand and the leash in the other, she saw an opportunity for mischief. Nothing makes her happier than being chased by daddy.
She spotted the other hole in the fence about ten yards down and decided to go for it. She trotted just fast enough to beat me to the opening. She raced by me out into the street.
More cursing. Naturally, I walk the dogs in the late evening when people are coming home from work. Cars drove by as I tried to get Maeve out of the street. I'm sure I got a lot of weird looks from my fellow Heights residents driving by. We spent five or ten minutes running back and forth across the street through the slowing cars.
Maeve headed back towards the locked gate looking for another opportunity. I saw this as my chance to box her in since the gate was in front of us, there was cinder-block wall to the right and a wrought iron fence to the left. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Maeve would soon be safe on her leash again.
Dani sees herself as the disciplinarian of our dog pack. When I tell Maeve get in line or reprimand her bad behavior, Dani barks at her or gives Maeve a good chomp on the hindquarters. As I approached the cornered Maeve to put on her leash, Dani decided now would be a good time to assert herself in this dispute. Why did she have to be the only one on-leash as her sister ran the streets?
Dani lunged forward interjecting herself between me and Maeve. It gave Maeve the room to avoid me and head back to the street. More cursing.
Maeve stopped, deciding she had enough of walking around in the rain and wanted to head for home. She stopped at the edge of the street and allowed me to put on her leash.
Just another day in the Heights.
(FYI: During this post, the power flickered on and off throughout the house, shutting down the computer. I was about half-way through this post and feared it lost. But the magic of the buffer kept it safe while I rebooted the computer)
So, we walk through the drizzle and on the way in, luck is with us. A car is just leaving through the gate. I don't have to walk the path of death. I release the dogs and we make our way around the radio tower. Rain falls. The dogs drink from puddles despite my admonitions. I take pictures of Mordor..
The time comes for us to leave. I say those small prayers that we will meet another car on the way out and the gate will be open. Two cars pass me on the way to the gate but I am not the runner to make it to the gate before it automatically closes.
As the dogs and I approach the gate, a fellow dogwalker approaches us with his well behaved Doberman, from the other side. For some reason, he stands just on the other side gate while I leash up the monsters. Then I realize he is going to open the automatic gate once I have Maeve and Dani secure.
Sure enough. He goes to the hidden control panel and enters the code. The gate swings open and I am spared the terror and potential humility of walking the goose greased path.
Simple. Except for the part where Maeve won't take her eyes off the Gate Opener's Doberman. Simple. I tug. Except for the part where Maeve resists. The leash slips over her head. She darts through the gate after the other dogwalker. Maeve stops and stares at me as the gate closes between us. Swear words erupt. Faithful dog Dani looks up at me to wonder how I am to solve this conundrum.
Well, the day before when I had walked the path in the rain, I had done it without dogs, too. When I was done, I called for the dogs and they came as if they had forgotten their natures and were momentarily obedient.
I figured I could just stand at the hole in the chain link fence people use to bypass the gate and call for my good girl. I called a couple of times, using the command that promises a treat as a reward. After a few tries, Maeve got the message and trotted around the brick wall to my hole in the fence. Dogs don't fear the path the way I do.
Here's the thing, Maeve likes to be bad. She receives tremendous pleasure from being off leash and racing up and down the streets. When she turned the corner and saw me holding the treat in one hand and the leash in the other, she saw an opportunity for mischief. Nothing makes her happier than being chased by daddy.
She spotted the other hole in the fence about ten yards down and decided to go for it. She trotted just fast enough to beat me to the opening. She raced by me out into the street.
More cursing. Naturally, I walk the dogs in the late evening when people are coming home from work. Cars drove by as I tried to get Maeve out of the street. I'm sure I got a lot of weird looks from my fellow Heights residents driving by. We spent five or ten minutes running back and forth across the street through the slowing cars.
Maeve headed back towards the locked gate looking for another opportunity. I saw this as my chance to box her in since the gate was in front of us, there was cinder-block wall to the right and a wrought iron fence to the left. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Maeve would soon be safe on her leash again.
Dani sees herself as the disciplinarian of our dog pack. When I tell Maeve get in line or reprimand her bad behavior, Dani barks at her or gives Maeve a good chomp on the hindquarters. As I approached the cornered Maeve to put on her leash, Dani decided now would be a good time to assert herself in this dispute. Why did she have to be the only one on-leash as her sister ran the streets?
Dani lunged forward interjecting herself between me and Maeve. It gave Maeve the room to avoid me and head back to the street. More cursing.
Maeve stopped, deciding she had enough of walking around in the rain and wanted to head for home. She stopped at the edge of the street and allowed me to put on her leash.
Just another day in the Heights.
(FYI: During this post, the power flickered on and off throughout the house, shutting down the computer. I was about half-way through this post and feared it lost. But the magic of the buffer kept it safe while I rebooted the computer)
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit