A Visit from Bodhi

Oh dear, over a week since my last post. Don't you hate it when life gets too busy to blog?

Today, we got to have Bodhi come for a visit. Bodhi is a 2-year old Blue Picardy Spaniel and a favorite friend of Cabana's at the dog park. I love how he lays with his paws crossed, so dapper.

Next month, we've offered to keep Bodhi while his owners are away for a few days. Because Bodhi has never been exposed to homes other than his own, we decided it would be a good idea to have Bodhi over for an hour or two in preparation for his real sleepover.

Bodhi was a bit nervous at first, running to every door and window, looking for his hu-mom after she dropped him off, but he settled down after 15 minutes.

I had shut all the bedroom doors upstairs, so I could keep a better eye on Bodhi's whereabouts. But at one point, he ran upstairs and managed to pushed open the door to my older daughter's room. Suddenly, I heard him barking loudly, so I went up to see what was going on. Turns out that Bodhi was scared of the stuffed bear on my daughter's bed. I held it out to him to show him it was a lifeless toy, but he wouldn't come any closer to investigate until I asked Cabana to come and give it a sniff. After he saw Cabana's fearless behavior, he finally realized that Freddy, with his missing eyes and torn-up nose and who used to belong to my husband when he was a child, is relatively harmless.

In the photos, it looks like Cabana can barely tolerate Bodhi! But he really is one of her best friends at the dog park. Maybe she was puzzled by his nervous energy at our house. They played with each other a little bit, but not as much as I had anticipated. The funny thing is, when Bodhi's hu-mom came back for him, he suddenly became his old rambunctious self, going into full play mode, happy and comfortable with his owner present. It can be hard for a dog who is under-exposed to new situations, so I'm glad we got to take it slow with this practice visit. I think he'll do even better the next time.

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Thankful to be Home

Our human family members spent the week of Thanksgiving in Tennessee. Cabana went to stay with some friends of ours, where she got to hang out with two chihuahua mixes, Scooter and Maggie. Cabana had a great time with them.


Cabana got a good report from our friends, and they taught Cabana how to catch treats in the air! It's pretty nice to come home to a dog that's even more trained than when you left.

In Tennessee, as probably in most parts of the world that are more rural than the Bay area of California, dogs don't seem as fortunate as the ones I'm used to seeing. When I went for walks in the morning there, I saw dozens of unfenced, unleashed dogs, hanging out in front of their owners' homes. As I approached, they would bark at me like crazy, sometimes running up to me, trying to make sure I wasn't going to enter their territories. I did my best to avoid eye contact, mind my own business, and continue walking along on the street. A few times, though, I did turn around when a dog got too close, barking at my heels, and tell them to knock it off and leave me alone. Good thing they did what I asked because I don't really know what I would have done if they threatened me further.

It made me sad to see so many unsocialized dogs, dirty and scared. This dog behind the fence barked ferociously, even though his face is so sweet. His skin was covered with little nicks, maybe from scratching fleas or mange. He looked like he had LOTS of health problems. So, so sad.

The dog below barked at me for a good 5 minutes straight and was one of the ones I had to turn around and shush. But later that day, she ended up on my mother-in-law's front lawn. She kept barking at us and was skittish, but when we picked up a stick and threw it for her, she eagerly ran after it. We had made a friend! She didn't really want to be petted, but she loved playing fetch and would hang around for as long as we'd play with her. It turns out this dog is a stray that goes from house to house, getting fed and played with by the neighborhood kids. My daughters thought she was great and wanted to bring her back home to CA with us. It was a nice thought, but not too realistic!

I'm so thankful to be home and thankful to have Cabana back. We went for our walk this morning, stopping to play at the dog park--ahh, nice to get back into our daily routine. I'd say Cabana is pretty darn thankful to have us, too!

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Bucky Backfire

This week, we are dog-sitting. Bucky's family is in Hawaii for two weeks--poor them. We'll have Bucky with us for one week, and then he'll stay with some other friends the following week.

Bucky is a sweet and affectionate 4-year old Lab mix of some sort and has been very well-trained. He is super polite, never crossing thresholds without permission. We don't even have a threshold into our kitchen, but he never comes into it uninvited. His favorite thing is to catch frisbees in mid-air.

Bucky's other favorite thing is PEOPLE--any people. Although he's never aggressive, he could care less about other dogs. In fact, when Cabana tries to engage him in play, he lays as still as possible on the floor, trying to pretend he's sleeping or perhaps even dead! After a few minutes of Cabana excitedly play nipping, panting, and cajoling, she gives up on him. Not exactly the outcome I had hoped for. I was excited to have Bucky come stay with us so Cabana would have a fun playmate, but that plan has totally backfired.

It's been interesting for me to have Bucky here. Now, 6 months since Cabana was career changed, after all my angst about whether to keep her as our pet, I have never had any regrets. In fact, I often thank my lucky stars, believing that truly there is no better dog in the world for us. But when I saw how people-oriented Bucky is, I confess that I wondered if it wouldn't be nice if Cabana was a bit more people-oriented, too.

That desire lasted about one hour, maybe two.

Since I'm primarily the one that's home with the dogs, I have become the center of Bucky's universe. He is ALWAYS so focused on me, waggling his whole body whenever I even glance his way--which is nice in some ways, but also a bit draining. Because he is so solicitous and always wants to be right next to me, it has made Cabana quite possessive. So she has to glom onto me, too, in order to claim me as her human. Now I know how it feels to be too popular. It's exhausting.

I'll take Cabana's independence over a dog with a "needy" disposition any day. Sure, we all adjust and get used to what we've got--but for me, this was confirmation that we really love and are grateful for Cabana, just the way she is.

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