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Monday, January 12, 2009

My Dog, Gimpy, And Her Sidekick, Hop-Along

Saturday, Duncan and I met Brian, Marie and Sophie at Lake Johnson. We did a short walk with them (just a bit over 1.5 miles) and then made a complete loop around the lake. We ended up walking a little over 4.5 miles. Duncan started an odd little thing during our walk. Several times he would drop back and then walk directly behind me for a few minutes, weaving back and forth like he wasn’t sure which side he wanted. While he was weaving, he wouldn’t come up beside me at all, he would just stay right behind me so that I either had to watch his shadow or turn my head and look over my shoulder to see him. And then he’d pop out on one side or the other. I have no idea why he started doing that, but a lot of people got a chuckle out of watching it.

After we got home, I let Duncan crash and took Reyna out, since she’d been rather upset at being left behind. I’d originally planned to take her for a ride to Petco, but she’d been doing really well all week so I decided we’d go for a short stroll instead. Reyna and I walked just over ¾ of a mile. She seemed a bit confused at first, since I was trying to keep her at a fairly slow pace and letting her stop and sniff (normally when we walk, we walk quickly and all sniffing is done while walking; there is no stopping). She did very well with the walk, though – no lagging behind, no signs of discomfort other than insisting on walking on the grass whenever possible. Reyna’s done so well this past week, in fact, that she’s even been playing with her ball a bit more. I actually had to get her a new one just after the holidays, as she finally destroyed the one she’s had since August (a new record for her).

Sunday, Duncan was supposed to start a 4 week class, so we went out to Shelly Lake to get some education. And we did. We learned that the coordinator had pushed the start date back a week and hadn’t bothered to let us know. She was very apologetic when I called her (the other lady who showed up was really ticked when I told her about the change). Since we were there, I decided we’d go for a stroll. The loop around Shelley is about 2 miles, but I didn’t plan on walking that far, since Duncan was limping a little. I’d checked his foot and leg, and I think the problem was just muscle soreness from the day before. The poor guy’s out of shape. As we walked, though, the limp went away and he was eager to go, so we ended up doing the 2 miles. And then we ruined all that effort by picking up McDonald’s on the way home. To keep Reyna from being upset, I got her a cheeseburger, too. Duncan got to eat his in the truck, since I was a bit worried Reyna might try to take it from him.

By the time we got home, Duncan was limping again. And let me tell you, he milked that all afternoon and evening. Don’t worry, he was perfectly fine this morning – completely limp free. Reyna, on the other paw... She was a bit limpy yesterday, so she didn’t get to take another walk. I think she was okay with that, though, since she ate her burger, went outside, and settled down on a pile of leaves. It was a very quiet evening in our house – on the dog side, at least.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe Duncan watches Nascar sometimes when you're not home and he's learned how to draft...

Yeah, Micky-D will get you everytime... Take care of Gimpy and Hop-Along....Love you, Mom

Anonymous said...

Bruno does that same walk behind and weave when we walk to the circle in our subdivision. He makes it look like I'm dragging him to his final destination. I'm sure it's just to make me look like an idiot - a little dog humor on his part. I'm not amused. Mary B.