This and that

Good morning everyone.  I hope that you all had a great long weekend with your canine companions.  We did for sure, got lots done around the house and spent most of our time at home. Luke and Elsa had a great weekend as well.  When they weren't out on their runs they spent the day hanging outside with us.  We worked on door boundary with Elsa a bit, she is amazing.  She is probably the fasted to have caught on to this lesson out of any of our dogs; although they have all been great at it.  As a tiny puppy she learned the rule and we just keep proofing it.  Enforcing is the secret to door boundaries.  We did a bunch of gardening out front with the door open while she lay watching us. She is such a good girl.

Their Dad took them down to the canyon where they love to run but Luke took a major wipe out yesterday.  He ran up a small hill and came tumbling down apparently.  Taking a head dive into the dirt and tweaking his whole body.  Poor guy lost his footing and has really injured his front left leg which is his bad one.  He spent much of yesterday hobbling from resting spot to resting spot.  Last night I gave him a tramadol before bed,which is a pain killer that is safe for dogs to take.  It may have helped for the pain but made him extremely restless.  It was a rough night, not much sleep for any of us.  He may have a bad sprain so it could be a while until he is up and himself again.  I will give him a couple of good rest days and hopefully that will help.

So there will no walk for Luke today or probably the next few days at least.  Not an easy task when your dog gives you those "puppy dog" eyes.  There are many things that you will have to do as a canine guardian that are not easy.  Emotions play a huge part in the life we have with our dogs so doing things that are upsetting for them is never easy.  But as the caretaker we must do things that are best for them and often that means leaving them behind.  So Luke must stay at home and heal; it won't be easy looking into those eyes when Elsa and I head out but it has to be.  He will not know why he does not get to go but at least he has gotten accustom to having alone time.  I often take them for walks on their own and this is one of the reasons why.  If dogs spend their time together always then times like this can truly be unbearable.

Luke is a very emotional guy; being injured puts a great deal of stress on him.  Staying behind and not getting to go for a walk is stressful but it will probably still be harder on me and my heart strings.  At the moment he is sleeping as is Elsa after a very rough night.  Hopefully he will feel a bit better once he warms up for the day.

Now go for a great walk with your dog.  :)