DOUG

POST # 348

DOUG

 



Say hello to Doug, the latest in a string of  dogs whose name begins with the letter "D".  Don't be deceived by Doug's placid look though.  He is without a doubt a handful to control, when I take him out for his daily walks.  Doug walks me, not the other way around.

 

Just the other day, we began our "stroll" down the street, and for reasons unknown to me (which I would  only discover yesterday), Doug began to bark.  As far as I could tell, there was nothing around for him to be  barking at, and yet he continued.  And when Doug barks, the entire neighbourhood hears it.  The ground almost vibrates.  You get the picture.  Anyhow, as we continued on our way, we came up to a house not far from here, and just as we were passing by, the owner came out into his yard, and began a rant about "@#*&$% dogs" and he didn't let up.  To say that he was somewhat unhappy would be an understatement.  I apologized on behalf of Doug, and we continued on our way.  Once we were around the corner, the barking stopped, and it was a pleasant journey for the remainder of our walk.

 

Fast forward to yesterday.  I decided that we would do our walk around the neighbourhood in a clockwise direction compared to what we had been doing prior to that.  Everything was going fine until we got close to this same house with the ranting neighbour.  Doug happened to be preoccupied with some fragrance wafting out of the bushes, and so he didn't see what I saw.  And what I saw, was a cat.  The cat was at the yard of the ranting neighbour.  Perhaps this is what Doug had been barking about earlier in the week.  As soon as he saw it, he began to bark and then he started pulling me along in that direction. Doug is without a doubt the strongest bonehead that I have ever had the opportunity to care for, and I had to use all of my strength to hold him back.  I had both hands on his leash, and he was pulling me along as if I wasn't even there. He almost pulled me to the ground. Thankfully we made it past the  house, at which point I quickly distracted him with a piece of kibble, and the drama was over.  The barking mystery from before had now been solved, and in the future, I plan to find another area to walk Doug.

 

Once home, Doug could relax, and find one of his many favourite toys to give to the house sitter in order to begin the never ending game of catch.

 

 

 

 

It's early days of this sit, and Doug continues to feel me out as we go, but it appears at this stage that he's happy with all of the attention that is paid to him, and I think that our time together will continue to be a pleasant one indeed.

 

maximizing my moments,

 

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer