June 02, 2003
Dusty meets some Sandicast Dog statues in a storefront on Queen West
"Hey! Look at these dogs! I need to bark at them. Grrrrrrr!"
10:00 p.m.
Today was one of those days that seem intended by fate to remind me that when it comes to communicating with my dog, I'm not *quite* there yet.
*sigh*
We went to the vet's early this morning - nothing like a vaccination to start your day out right! Actually, Dusty doesn't mind the Vet, in fact she enjoys the huge amount of treats that she gets while we're there. And we showed off for the other pet owners in the waiting area too, with Dusty demonstrating her entire repetoire.
The vaccination made her groggy and grumbly. Even after a nap, she wasn't quite herself, but I dragged her to High Park anyways. I didn't *literally* drag her, but it felt that way at times. People in the neighbourhood must think I'm nuts. I pretty much had to coax Dusty all the way to the subway station. She dawdled, sniffed, tried to eat cigarette butts - whatever. But she didn't want to move very fast (usually, I can hardly keep up with her).
Once we arrived at High Park she forgot all about her reluctance to walk and raced around happily, but she was clearly tired and her energy was lagging by the time we headed back. When we got home, she walked into the kitchen, layed down and fell asleep.
We hung out for awhile and read (I read, she slept) until I heard the ice cream truck. I took Dusty out with me to get ice cream (I ate ice cream, she ate liver treats). After we came back inside, Dusty paused in the foyer and looked at me. It was probably a really significant look, but I'm pretty dense sometimes. No, I didn't get the message at all and shortly after we walked into the apartment, she had an accident.
*sigh*
I stopped her mid-stream and took her outside. Then I cleaned it up. This is the first accident since March and, of course, it's totally my fault. Poor Dusty. She *did* try to tell me.
So let's see how I'm doing here: Dusty is dog-tired and I take her for a romp in the park. Dusty has a full bladder and I make her come into the apartment, where she has no choice but to go on the carpet (I was really pushing the water at the park, afraid that she would get dehydrated - I'll bet her poor bladder was about to burst!).
Not a good day, but that's the good thing about days like this - tomorrow will certainly be better. Right?