February 8, 2006
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Edited to add: The reason I don’t go out and look around back there is that my knee is bad enough that I only walk on concrete these days.
I can’t figure out what’s going on around here. Over a week ago, Bridget, my German Shorthair, started going outside all the time. I figured because I’d hurt me knee and we weren’t walking anymore, she finally just got so bored she was willing to brave the constant rain on these little tours she’d take. I could see her making her way around the perimeter of the yard, starting in an area she’d never shown much interest in before. The backyard is probably half an acre with old-growth firs and suddenly she is spending all her time between the trees and the fence. In and out all day long.
She thinks she’s a lap dog and in the evenings when I get in my ratty old Lazyboy, she likes to cuddle on top of me. But lately, even when I think she’s asleep, suddenly her head will pop up and she’ll look outside. Sometimes she’ll leap off and growl, standing by the door out to the patio. She’s always been such a pussy. Before Bella died, the old Brittany, and there was some reason to bark, Bella would charge out the dog door, way too old for that sort of thing, while Bridget would lean up next to me and whimper. So she thinks there’s someone or something out there that’s not dangerous.
The really upsetting thing is that she’s not eating like she used to. When I went to the mountains there was a dog that could have been her sister; same age, same size. They fed their dog more so I came home and upped her food. She gobbled all that down like it still wasn’t enough. But when this whole going outside all the time thing started, she quit showing much interest in eating. In the morning her dinner would still be there and now when I put food down she eats it later. After she spends a lot of time outside.
Two nights ago I thought I smelled fish and sure enough when I smelled her breath it smelled like cooked fish. And Saturday, after I’d been gone all day, instead of being wired like she used to be after a day of sitting around all alone, she seemed exhausted.
Right now she and the cat are trying to catch a shrew the cat brought in. It’s hiding under the treadmill and — Uh-oh, the dog caught it. That’s the first time they ever played together. Maybe that’s part of it. Maybe they’ve started hunting together. That seems unlikely.
Comments (16)
she’s doing what animals do. i mean, right now i’m wondering why i ate an entire bag of organic potato chips in one sitting and washed it down with orange juice with vitamin power. we – animals – are completely inexplicable.
I hope she is not eating something outside. Have you gone out and checked the yard? Judi
Could someone be loeving food around? Fish?
Maybe she is looking for a boyfriend.
i pretty much lead a dog’s life…listening to a wider variety of music as i do
RYC—i’m sure the people you know weren’t raised in Jamaica listening to Dylan the getting into the blues because they saw the Stones on the Ed Sulllivan show and was listening to Hendrix BEFORE he played Monterey and worked in the neighbourhood where rap originated and went to the bar down the road after work where Duke Ellington & them kind of dudes hung out and i’m sure the 78s collection i used to have was a bit more diverse that your entire record collection…and let’s not forget i got into classical guitar about a decade ago
VERY few records i haven’t heard…
I’m guessing it’s some food/animal outside. The coming of spring makes my best friend, and many other animals, more energetic and less interested in food. I would love to meet your dog. I want to call her a puppy, because all adorable, soulful dogs (and other animals – my cat, my husband) are puppies. Even when you’re worried, you write beautifully.
More!
Is someone dumping fish in your back yard? :>P Maybe you should take her to the vet to make sure nothing’s wrong?
i’d check the yard and make sure she’s not getting into anything and also to check her stool.
I, too, thought maybe it’s time for a vet check up if her breath is fish-like. And I love eating that cream gravy shit…it makes me sooo happy!
Those are my comments to other people yes.
I think you have a chapter here, for some reason I enjoyed your descripton of the mystery of the wandering dog.
oh the joys of doggie-parenthood– I guess I’ll find out now.
sure sounds like she’s getting a bit of a meal outside.. fish smell.. ew!
Could someone be feeding her…or leaving food outside that she can get into?
I had a cat that would bring in live mice all the time…and then lose them. It drove me crazy.
first, sorry I haven’t been here. I’ve been, well, nowhere intersting, just effed in the head as usual. Bridget might have what we called a “gitty.” She has to go outside to get something and she won’t stop until she gets it. When my dogs have had them, their attention can break and they can be normal, but when the gitty is around they forgo food, lovins, and playtime to go outside and look for the gitty. Usually the gitty is a mole that has been burrowing underground nearer to the surface and causing them annoyance with the noise only they can hear and often there is more than one. Some dogs ears have a way of picking up odd sounds due to the flaps on their ears pointing downward. Cats don’t dig very much so that may be why the cat is waiting also, it won’t hear exactly the same thing, but it will pick up on the dog’s alertness. And dogs do dig and they find all kinds of stuff on their way to get the gitty. The fish smell could be expained this way in that she might have dug through something. After the gitty is gone, the dogs tend to hang around the spots and investigate further for a while just to make sure, but eventually they get back to normal. I’m not sure if this is her problem, but it sounds like it. If you should invesitgate be very careful as there will probably be holes that are difficult to see. I hurt ankles this way.