On Wednesday I was running around in the backyard with Alfie and Katharine, playing a new training game, when I stumbled into a mole hole -- rolling my ankle to the side with my whole weight on it. (Note to readers: Do not try this at home!)
I've heard of molehills, but here the moles only seem to make little burrows...
Pop, pop -- ooohhh, that can't be good, I thought -- but surprisingly, it didn't hurt too bad. Not one to let a little incident like that slow me down, I went through the rest of my day normally. Up and down 3 flights of stairs at my brother's office more than once...cooking dinner...running errands...all you other moms out there will understand!
That night I went to church as usual, but unlike usual, I had a tough time concentrating because all of a sudden, all I could think was: OW, my foot hurts! By the time church was over, it was quite swollen and I was in such pain I had a tough time driving home. (Husband Tim wasn't with me and Charissa's not quite old enough for her drivers' license, alas...) To make a long story short, the doctor confirmed my suspicions on Thursday: torn ligaments that'll take a while to heal.
How to explain this to a certain brown dog I know? He's been sniffing my splint, sniffing my crutches, and you can tell he's trying to understand what's going on and why I'm acting so strangely. Poor boy, now he has to wait for his walk until the kids are done with school. He's got far more energy than he knows what to do with...never a good thing! Like most dogs, he tends to get into mischief when bored and frustrated.
Who, me?
His favorite attention-getting device is to grab something he knows he shouldn't have, then parade with it in front of us in an attempt to get us to chase him (the best approach is usually just to ignore him!) He did this so much yesterday, that today he's on leash at Charissa's feet and seems more or less resigned to being good.
Both Charissa and Katharine have been spending extra time playing and practicing obedience with him, though, and they're really doing a good job. There's nothing quite like watching them work together, or the pure joie de vivre of them playing a round of fetch in the backyard.
Practicing "wait" at the steps...
Nice "heel"!
"Watch me!"
For extra credit...practicing "down" on a little wall!
Let's just hope they don't step in a mole hole!
2 comments:
OH, I've done that same thing. I hate mole holes!!! Every time I've found a snake I put it in my yard to try to kill those things, but my neighbor keeps killing the snakes :-( He thinks my dogs will keep out the moles, but doesn't understand that my dogs are not allowed to dig. SIGH! Good luck with those buggers!
Ack, that must be so frustrating! I can tell you like to "do", and there's nothing worse than when something keeps you from "doing", or makes you do much less than you want. I'm glad your girls are stepping up to the plate to fill in with Alfie. It will be a good learning and growing period for everyone, I'm sure, including Alfie!
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