I haven’t written in a while, and I’ve amassed a holy hell pile of post ideas. Seriously, I’ll be busy for a while. So, let’s start with the stuff people are probably drooling for the most, Tansy updates.
The short version is Tansy is doing amazing. In fact sometimes it blows my mind. I have had to catch my breath and just stand there in amazement and marvel about how well she has been doing these 3 weeks home.
Her work is super good. She learned the office super fast, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a brand new area, she is extremely careful with me. I have taken her through the mall, a place where I thought she’d have problems, and there was no problem. It feels so good to be able to move and groove again at guide dog speed.
I’ve noticed something about myself. When I have a dog, I’m a way more confident person. I don’t know why I didn’t notice it with Trixie, but I sure do with Tansy. People are rude to me? I’m more likely to speak up and put ’em in their place. Plus I can just move like a normal person again.
Living in this new town had sort of broken my confidence because it’s so new. I’ve needed a lot of help, I’ve poked along slower, just bleh. Now that I have Tansy, I can move at a human speed, and I’m not having to focus so hard on don’t hit that post, that tree, that door frame, watch the curb. The other day, I was going to work, and humming! I haven’t done that yet in this town I don’t believe.
There are things that Tansy has picked up at lightning speed. For example, I always hated finding the mail room in this building. I don’t know why. But I taught her where it is, and now all I have to do is say check the mail and she walks in there all waggy and happy with herself. She’s also learned where the trash can is in the middle of the parking lot at work, perfect for throwing bags of dog doo. Sometimes she tries to find these things without being cued, she’s so darn keen to find ’em. God dog you’re awesome.
She picks up on obstacles really fast. For example, there’s this counter at the bottom of the stairs at work. After coming down the stairs, when you make your turn, if you make it too soon, ca blammo! And it doesn’t go all the way to the floor…so dog might not pick up on it. She ran me into it a couple times, but soon learned to deal with it. There’s another table like that near my desk. She shmucked me into it once and now is super careful. She friggin rocks. There are also uneven places in the sidewalk that I always seem to trip over. She warns me about them, too!
She’s super confident. I love that. And even if we have to fix our directions a few times, she’ll just go with the flow. That’s awesome. She also doesn’t mind telling people to move their arses out of the way. The other day, Steve and I were in the mall, and we couldn’t continue because there was a crush of people. Then Tansy stuck her nose forward…and…hey! There’s an opening! I do believe Tansy caused that opening. Go Tans!
This poor dog, I swear, has seen four seasons condensed into a couple of weeks. She’s seen an ice storm, some snow, hot summer weather, and more spring/fall weather, and she didn’t seem to care. She has worn all 4 booties with a bit of resistance but mostly goes along with them, will relieve in them, and walked through a thunder/hail storm as if nothing was going on. Go doggie! She sleeps in my office, where colleagues are firing nerf darts at each other. Yes, they do work too, but when the nerf flies, well…it’s everywhere.
About the sleep. When she goes out, she’s ooooout! She doesn’t make dream barky noises, but she isn’t waking up easily. Maybe that deep sleeping will help her be able to keep her energy up longer and have a longer career.
Everything she does, she gives it her all. When she’s working, she’s working hard. But when she’s playing, she’s a maniac. And people wonder why I won’t let her out of harness in places where I let Trixie. You would have no idea the maniac that lives inside this calm, working dog. She’s so funny when she plays. She reminds me of those toy dogs you’d get as a kid. You would wind them up, and they’d run around the room, barking and jumping at random. They would run, bark and jump until they wound down. That’s what she plays like. One second, she’s running around like a total goofhead, the next, she’s sacked out on her poofy bed.
And boy can she tug. She’s tugged so hard that I sprained my finger. Hello there. And I pray to god when I take her to the park to play that she doesn’t start running at full speed. She can pull the flexi right out of my hands. I have learned this. My mom enticed her to start running, and then suddenly she saw that my right arm was fully extended across my body just trying to hold on, and my legs were kind of crossed over each other. She’s like “woe! She’s fast!” Um, yup.
The jumpiness and nippiness, at least with Steve, is getting better, although it will be a slow road. But she’s already figured out what “Watch the teeth” means. She’s also figuring out that even playing with Steve is not allowed in harness. That took a couple lessons.
She’s jumped on a couple people in strange places. For instance, when we arrived at Centre in the Square, a great big theatre that can hold about 2000 people, I do believe the crowd made her lose her mind for a second. Suddenly, she was virticle, and I was in shock! Down she came, and she was fine ever since. I was right about her keeping me on my toes.
Most of her testing, right now, is around the house. Sometimes I have asked her to come and she just looks at me as if to say “Make me!” Ok then, I will! She’s also tried to jump on the bed. Nope, down ya go, ya bedbug. But there have been 0 counter surfing incidents and 0 accidents in the house.
And I don’t think there’ll be accidents. She’s more vocal than Trix ever was. The first few days here, she tended to whine more when we didn’t get up soon enough for her tastes. But one reason she whines is If she has to pee. The other night, I didn’t think she’d have to pee yet, and we were in a cab…whine whine whine shake shake puff puff whiiiine! We got home, and she unleashed on the lawn. Good doggers, that was a long cab ride.
I’ve also learned when she’s in one of these dead sleeps, if she’s jarred awake, she’ll bark. This doesn’t happen as often as when I came home with Trix, but it does. And she has two barks. One sounds all squeaky, and one is big and deep. Weird, weird pooch.
Her and Steve really love each other. It’s quite adorable. Seeing them play together is awesome. And he, or I, can provoke her into doing mad lab loops around the apartment. I really need to record one of these lab loops sessions.
She also likes setting off our doorstop. I don’t think it’s accidental anymore. We have one of those springy doorstops…and I swear she hits it on purpose. Silly doggie.
I also think she likes to taunt the dog we not so affectionately called Shitlip. We now know it’s real name, Bella! Bella? Such a pretty name for such a loud, barky little dog who makes such a foul stench…although I don’t blame the poor pooch for its smell. Take the poor thing out for a walk, please!
One thing I was worried about was my life being boring. But when I think of these last 3 weeks, perhaps my life isn’t as boring as I thought. Tansy has been on 2 greyhound buses, been to the mall several times, been to a comedy show and Yuk Yuks, along with other places on top of work, and when I really think about it, that tends to be the norm more often than not. Last weekend, when we could finally slow down for a bit, she slept like a log! Nope, I don’t think this dog is bored.
And I’m amazed at how easily I could get back into the swing of things, and just pick up where I left off. It’s been a super smooth introduction to my life, and it still shocks me how well everything has gone.
Oh my dear god, I still have more Tansy thoughts. This sucka has to be split. I really should write more often.
