Time outs

Monday was one of those days I'd love to forget - a day full of chaos and crap (literally), piss and dreams of a dog free home.  Actually the drama started late Sunday night when I met the transport of new Washington foster dogs.

Shorty, fully loaded, frightened and wondering why this complete stranger was pulling him by the collar out of a crate let loose.  I didn't realize he was letting loose until the warm pee had soaked through my jeans and the sleeves of my thick polar fleece jacket. At that point I turned him to face out and we turned into a living version of one of those peeing cherub fountains. With real pee though. And there we stood for what felt like forever, me trying to keep hold of him since he had only a loose collar and no lead on at that point.

Thankfully little Balboa was angelic because after unloading him we pulled Cody off the van. Cody has a long history of being a scared and misunderstood dog.  He was transferred to New Rattitude to be fostered with Blair Meek of Merry Paws Training, in the hopes that we can help get him to adoptable.  Cody was understandably freaked out from losing the first family he connected to and then having a long drive in a van full of dogs. Since Cody does have a bite history his crate couldn't be opened.  It was just loaded into the back of our CRV.

Cody in his double gated laundry room "den"

By the time we got home it was 12:30 am.  Cody was gated into the laundry room where he proceeded to lift his leg and unload 24 hours of piss on my washing machine.  So I cleaned that up while he paced the room and growled. I'll be honest - he scared the hell out of me and I didn't enjoy sharing a little 5 x 8 food room with him. Then it was into the shower to wash off all the pee and dog stink and to bed at 1:45am.

Shorty and Balboa were handed off early monday morning so when I came home from work it was the normal crew of 4 plus Cody in the laundry room. After 30 minutes of trying, Cody was lassoed with a slip lead and we went outside for a potty break.  It was a bit stressful for both of us.  Then Langley, Neah and Frodo went out.  Langley in his excitement had peed the crate.  I set to cleaning that up and Frodo, freaked by all the stressed out energy, peed on the dining room table leg.  So, I cleaned that up, picked up Tilly to bring her outside.

This is where it got ugly. Langley, for the first time out off leash since early August, pushed past me into the back yard and went into full compulsive poop eating mode.  I spent 45 minutes attempting to catch him while he snarfed down about 2 cups of rotting crap in the lower inaccessible flower beds.  The end result was me with a sprained thumb, twisted ankle (it's very steep and slippery down there), ruined coat, crap encrusted tennis shoe and a flailing Langley. I was talking to myself as we went back in the house and saying "don't kill the dog, don't kill the dog" like some twisted mantra.

Oh, and then I went into the kitchen and stepped in a turd that Tilly had left behind.  It was one of those rare days when everything seemed to go wrong and the result we me frustrated, angry and really disliking dogs. I was in desperate need of a time out so I didn't undo in anger all the work I've done to help these dogs understand people are not angry, crazy unpredictable beasts.

Everyone got crated with frozen kongs for dinner and I went downstairs with a big glass of wine, Italian crackers and herbed chevre, my laptop and the intent to not leave the basement until about midnight. 

And it worked.  Today the dog lover is back, on the floor in the laundry room telling Cody that he's okay and doesn't need to growl, wrestling with Langley and Neah, hanging out in the kitchen with Frodo and Tilly so they get some foster free quiet time. Sometimes it takes a long time out to get back on track.  I highly recommend them.