Boxer Walk 2009

After last year’s experience with Otis trying to lunge at every dog he encountered, I thought it would be best to go on a solo mission with Zoe to this year’s Boxer Walk for Minnesota Boxer Rescue. Although Otis has made some improvements, the walk would have been far too overwhelming for him (and us).

It was a beautiful day– blue skies with a few fluffy white clouds, and slightly humid. I had been slightly concerned that it would rain (even though we need it), but it cleared that morning.

I saw Tori, who had been instrumental in Zoe’s rescue, and we chatted for a while. She has a dog who, like Otis, sticks her tongue out when she sleeps. We compared phone photos of our sleeping dogs and marveled how we ever got any sleep ourselves (she has twice as many dogs as I do, so her bed is much more crowded).

We met Cullen, a white boxer who is available for adoption. He and Zoe sniffed each other amicably. I didn’t realize until after the walk that he had dog aggression issues. I never would have guessed.

We walked around the block for the official walk, and then Zoe laid down in the cool dirt in the shade to rest. She behaved incredibly well, sniffing other dogs and doing lots of play bows when she encountered a particularly frisky dog. Zoe loves everybody. She loved a couple puppies a little too much, not realizing that they were about as big as her head. But no harm was done and she had a good day. I was glad that I brought her, because the socialization was good for her.

I met three different people who had lost dogs to cancer. Two of them were foster families who had lost foster dogs to lymphoma, but it still hit them pretty hard. On the way back to the parking lot, Zoe and I walked with a man and his dog. His previous dog had also succumbed to lymphoma. By the time they diagnosed the disease, the dog’s kidneys had failed and it had died two days later. He said that dog had spoiled him for all other dogs, and I knew exactly how he felt. He had owned other breeds before, but he realized he couldn’t have anything other than a Boxer from then on, and I could relate. He seemed very happy with his new dog, although he said it had taken some time for them to bond. It amazed me how many other people had gone through what we had.

If you’re interested in seeing pictures from the Boxer Walk, I posted some on my Flickr page.

Fireworks

I view the coming of the State Fair with a mixture of anticipation and dread. Anticipation for the baconlicious culinary delights that await me, but dread for the fireworks that will inevitably scare the crap out of the dogs (namely Otis).

Otis is pretty traumatized by loud popping noises. He gets jittery when we go for walks and we pass by roofers or people hammering random things.

So far, it’s been OK. We didn’t even hear the fireworks until last night (Sunday), and the dogs were both settled in for the night on the bed. We heard a few pops, but neither of them moved. There was even a weird moment where we thought the fireworks were over for the night, but they resumed a few minutes later. Neither of them budged. I’m hoping this trend continues.

Ninja Otis

We’ve been playing this game with the dogs involving the laser pointer. We watch them chase it across the floor and up the wall. They both try to snap at the red dot as if they can eat it.

Little did we know we’d been training them for a higher mission. A few nights ago, there was a fly buzzing around the bedroom. Tim grabbed the flyswatter, but every time he got close, the fly disappeared. It flew out of the room and we just let it go, hoping it wouldn’t disturb us as we slept.

Otis was in the office next to the bedroom, and we heard the sound of jowls smacking loudly together and paws hitting the floor after a jump. Tim got up to investigate, and he found the offending insect lying in a motionless heap on the bathroom floor. I was especially impressed that Otis took the fly out, yet managed to not swallow it. His stomach is a delicate ecosystem, and the slightest thing can upset that balance.

For more of Otis’s recent exploits, go here.