DAKOTA'S SUMMER
Dakota's spring and fall profile test remained solid. The only change was with his thyroid. His numbers dropped out of the normal zone. This is not uncommon for a senior Golden. I thought I might wait in putting him on medication but changed my mind because of his age and the fact that he was not as active as he was earlier in the year. He responded well to a minimum dosage and his follow-up test showed a return to the normal zone.
He's enjoyed the summer that kept him busy chasing rabbits. They were a huge problem this year. His frustrations came when they would run under the deck and wait it out. He never took it that seriously and I dare say I was more frustrated than he was.
It's hard to take a dog and rabbit chase seriously when the dog has a stuffed teddy bear hanging out of his mouth. I think the rabbits finally caught on too as they stopped looking for several fence boards to sneak through and simply hid behind one of the arborvitae until Dakota lost interest and went on to investigate another area of the yard.
It did have its advantages in that he got a bit of exercise. He felt that he'd done his job and seemed unmoved that he didn't catch the critter. However, it was a different story when it came to the squirrels. He took them quite seriously. Dakota would usually see them before I opened the door. He immediately went into his "stalking mode." This started before he completely got out of the door. So I would have to stand there until he slowly stalked his way to the edge of the deck. Of course, he did this with the teddy bear hanging out of the mouth too. The squirrels took one of two options. They would casually and slowly change their direction of interest and move toward the fence and climb up to the top and walk along the edge. None of this showed alarm. It was like this had been the plan all along. The second option was to totally freeze, sitting on its haunches and not moving a muscle while letting Dakota continue his stalking until he got within several feet and then they'd turned tail and bolt to the fence, race to the top and run like heck. Dakota would launch into his gallop and lope toward the fence but give up the pursuit about halfway there.
As for his chipmunks he simply enjoyed settling down on the deck and watch them play out in the garden. He continued looking for the one that lived under the arborvitae but either moved to another location or didn't survive the winter. Dakota still believes he will come out of the hole and patiently waits for him to appear. The chips have decided he is harmless and will scurry across the back of the deck or travel around the deck area without a care in the world and only give pause once in a while to see if Dakota has changed his mind.
It's been fun to watch him throughout the summer as he's also decided that it's safe for him to stay out on the deck without me being there too. The invisible leash has stretched quite a bit since last summer and he is not concerned every minute as to my location. He seems to vacillate between wanting me in sight even if I'm in the house to forgetting to look and see where I might be. He appears to be more trusting of his new home and that it will be permanent. I can still see times when he becomes concerned about his security, but it soon disappears and he's back into his comfort zone. A lot of hugs, petting, and talking eases his hesitancy and he's off to chew a bone or get his favorite toy of the day.
posted by Katie | 10:02 AM
