Still Naughty

Jake drinking out of the lake after being told not to jump off the dock.

Last night my husband and I were at obedience class with our 5 month-old Lab puppy, Biggby. The class was covering “problem behaviors” such as jumping, barking, etc. As I was taking notes, I decided to make a list of Jake’s problem behaviors. Making this list was easy, as Jake’s problem behaviors are endless. Here is what I came up with:

• Sink Diving
• Counter Surfing
• Trash Diving
• Dishwasher Dish Preperation
• Barking at nothing
• Barking at people coming into the house
• Barking at cars
• Barking at bikes
• Toilet Drinking
• Not Listening…to ANYTHING

His latest old-three-legged dog escapade involves some of these behaviors (not listening, barking at bikes), but also includes a new one: chasing bikes. It all started out as a simple trip to the dog pen. In the past, I had not leashed Jake for the few feet walk from the house to the pen. However, due to the increase in “not listening” lately, I had been leashing him for these trips. It was a scorching hot day (95+ degrees) when I took Jake and Biggby out on the front porch to leash them up for the trip to the dog pen. I leashed up Biggby. As I was taking Jake’s leash off of the hook, a cyclist turned down our road. What I hadn’t realized was that the screen door had not latched properly the last time I had come into the house. At the exact moment I reached for the leash, Jake spotted the cyclist and busted the screen door open. It is important to note that I had not yet put my shoes on, as we keep all of our shoes on the front porch. As Jake roars down the driveway towards the road, I yell at and run after him, shoeless, with Biggby in tow. By the time I get outside, Jake is gone. He has cleared the driveway and has taken off after the cyclist down our road. I have been running in and training for 5Ks for the past year, but I can’t keep up with Jake. I actually think he is faster now than when he had four legs. Luckily, our road is a very low traffic road with approximately 10 residences. However, as I am running down our gravel driveway, I am worrying that he could reach the very busy crossroad that is less than a mile away. When I reach the street, I see the cyclist with Jake in pursuit. But I also see someone out for a walk. Why one of our neighbors was out for a walk in the hottest part of the day on one of the hottest days of the year I do not know, but I am forever grateful he was there. As Biggby and I ran down the road, the neighbor yelled out “What’s his name?” Upon my response, he called Jake, which slightly slowed him down and the neighbor was able to grab him. When Biggby and I caught up, I thanked him and grabbed Jake for the return trip home. Of course, Jake wasn’t up for going home, and stubbornly sat on the side of the road. Therefore, I had to drag an old, three-legged dog by the collar with one hand, and in the other try to control a very excited puppy on a leash. By the time we got back, I was soaked with sweat and the bottoms of my feet were slightly burned from running on the hot asphalt. Jake, on the other hand, wasn’t any worse for wear. But he did want a drink.

The moral of this story? Make sure the screen door is always latched and NEVER underestimate the speed of a 14 year-old three-legged dog.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 at 7:47 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.