Thursday, August 02, 2007

Diva Misses Her Daddy

DH has been away on a business trip since Tuesday, which means I have been in charge of all dog and house-related tasks (such as watering all the outdoor potted plants).

No one will be happier when DH comes back than Diva.

You see, DH is the one who ordinarily gets home first, feeds her and takes her for her walk. When he is away, this task falls to me. And I don't live up to her expectations. In fact, I fall woefully short, in her estimation.

It's not that I begrudge her her fun. I know she deserves it after being cooped up all day. And on weekends I'm happy to go for long walks with her. It's just during the week we have a different perspective on things.

When I get home from work, Diva is all excited. She is ready to rumble. She comes to the door barking, picks up her ball, and comes running out, wagging all over. She anticipates her dinner (Dinner! Oh boy! Dinner!) and then her walk (Walk! Oh boy! Walk!).

I, on the other hand, am coming home from work. I'm tired. And my feet hurt. (As usual, I've been wearing flip flops and sandals all summer, and because I have flat feet, by August I always develop a pain in my left ankle. This year I have added a new phenomenon: plantar fasciitis. Both of my heels kill me when I first stand up and start walking. I know the only cure is to wear regular shoes with the expensive $300 orthotics that I have somewhere in the house, but I refuse to do this during the summer. So I suffer.)

So, needless to say, I try to get away with as little as possible in the walk-the-dog department. Of course I do walk her. I have to; she refuses to do anything in the yard unless she is desperate, because then she knows I might con her out of walking somewhere at all. Her mother didn't raise any foolish puppies.

But instead of taking her all around both sections of the park, which would be about a mile round trip, I try to take her in different directions so that she doesn't have a route all mapped out in her mind that she is intent on completing. If I try to take her to the park and not go as far as she expects, she'll put her brakes on when I try to turn back toward home, and it is often impossible to move her.

So tonight I managed to keep it fairly short, by reversing the usual direction I take her. After having had a very long day of work, I was looking forward to a relaxing evening.

But because Diva has not had, for the past three nights, the usual one-mile walk that DH takes her on, she was full of energy tonight and would not leave me in peace.

After having had cereal for dinner two nights in a row, tonight I decided to actually make myself something healthier and had a salad. But could I eat it in a relaxed manner? No. Diva wanted me to play ball with her. So I did that while I tried to eat.

Then I wanted to watch a very interesting program on reincarnation, a favorite possible philosophy of mine, on Channel 21 (PBS). Did I get to concentrate on this program? No. Diva decided to bark randomly and loudly throughout the second half of the show. It was never clear what she wanted of me, other than attention (which of course she got). It is possible she was just ranting at me and telling me that I am extremely boring.

I finally gave up and we went up to bed, where she is now sprawled out in her usual manner, her energy finally used up.

Yes, Diva will be very glad when her daddy is home. So will I.

But at least I watered the plants.

7 comments:

Larry said...

Dogs are like kids. The quicker you use up their energy with their favorite things, the faster you can relax and conserve yours.

Mauigirl said...

Yes. There's a saying among Pit Bull rescue groups - "a tired Pit Bull is a good Pit Bull."

I did try to wear her out throwing her ball...

Anonymous said...

Even though we have property for my dogs to run around in, they still look forward to their one mile late afternoon walk after their dinner. The days I can't do it for whatever various reasons, they have the longest faces and make me feel so guilty.

Mauigirl said...

Absolutely. Dogs are the masters of guilt!

Diva generally gets two walks a day - one in the morning, relatively short, and one in the afternoon/evening. Sometimes she gets three on the two days my husband works from home, or on the weekends. Plus she gets to run around in her fenced yard whenever she wants when we're home to keep an eye on her.

She is only left home alone three days a week so she usually has plenty of fun. This was just not one of her usual weeks! But that is the problem - she knows what she deserves! She isn't named Diva for nothing! ;-)

TomCat said...

Now, wouldn't people's lives be much easier if they just wised up and got cats instead of dawgs? ;-)

denverdoc said...

Well I'm a flatfoot too, and I did some flatfoot detective work. I bought the 'relaxers' from Good Feet, which are light weight orthotics that fit into sandals, held in place by little velcro dots, one on orthotic and one on shoe, and therefore movable from sandal to sandal. I don't think flip flops are for aging boomer ladies, however.

denverdoc said...

p.s. the longer you go without arch support, the saggier becomes your posterior tendon that snakes behind your medial ankle bone and thence under the foot. That sucker goes and you've got big trouble.