Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Hurrah!! Sassy came inside today.
It was on the 13th that Sassy followed my son into the house and then stayed in all night and part of the next day. Then for the next 6 days she again decided she didn`t wish to come inside anymore.I thought I had lost again.
Well, here it is the 20th and for some reason she decided to come into the house this morning. She stayed in all morning, went out for a very short time and then wanted to come back inside. I am more puzzled than ever. It is 4pm now and she is still inside. She went to the door a few minutes ago. I asked her if she wanted to go out and she headed back into the laundry room and laid down by the back door. It is a bit damp and chilly out today and maybe that has something to do with her coming inside. But last winter she stayed out all thru the cold winter- she never came in once.
Boy, she sure has a lot of energy. I haven`t accomplished much today. She spent all morning wanting to play. It is good to see her inside and wanting to play. She got so excited that she started barking. She is usually very quiet unless she sees a squirrel or cat going across my property, or someone she doesn`t know goes by my house. She is very active when outside and likes to play. Yesterday when I was playing outside with her she ran around me and her heavy chain tripped me up. As I went flying, I grabbed for the shed I built beside my side porch. Thank goodness my hand caught the shed and I was able to steady myself or I would have landed face down onto the paved driveway. That is my only worry when playing with her outside- fear of falling. A couple years ago my Dr told me to be careful not to fall or I would break my hip. I hope he was exagerating, but just in case I am more careful.
Sassy is such a strong dog that she just runs and snaps a regular dog chain. We had her on a run when she was younger and she just kept pulling those long hooks right out of the house or shop. So we gave that idea up and we drove a metal fence post deep into the ground, but she kept pulling it out. We finally bought some cement, dug a hole, filled it with cement and set about a foot of the fence post into the cement. That finally held her. The chain she is on is soo heavy that I hate putting her on it, but nothing else can hold her. She runs so fast that there is no way I would ever catch her if she got lose. The last time she got lose was over 4 years ago. She snuck out when Walt had opened the door and off she went. Calling her to come play, holding out treats, nothing worked. Finally she went into a neighbors yard with their dog and the neighbor managed to catch her for us. Being alone now, I am very careful to keep her hooked up. If she keeps coming in, I will have to start watching when any of the family stops by so they don`t let her out. We used to keep the side door locked so they had to knock giving us time to catch her before the door was opened. If she keeps coming in, i will have to go back to locking the side door that everyone uses.
Wow, she sure is playful today. My bro stopped in this afternoon and was he ever surprised to see her inside. He said "You finally got her to come in. How did you do that?" I told him that his guess was as good as mine, she just came to the door and when I asked her if she wanted to come in, she didn`t back away and go off the porch.
I just had to stop and play with her some more. I don`t want to refuse playing with her while trying to get her to like being inside again. Now it is almost 5pm and she is still inside. Who knows, maybe this will become a habit after a while. it sure would be good if she does stay inside on the cold winter nights. I would be relieved as I was a wreck all last winter worrying about losing her in the cold nights. She is already 10 and a half years old and her face hair is turning from black and white to a dull gray. She is starting to look older and I worry about losing her.
She isn`t standing in the hall and whining like she used to do. So, maybe she is finally going to accept the fact that he isn`t coming back.
When one of my Uncles died his horse was given to another uncle who also lived on a farm. The horse refused to eat and they tried every idea the vet offered. Bucky, the large work horse was just missing his master. Even after Bucky started eating some, he still didn`t show his strength anymore. He looked like a real old horse with no will to live. He only lived a little over a year and he was a strong healthy horse when his owner died. We knew he died from lonliness for his owner. So, I know how some animals lose the will to live when they lose the owner who raised them from a baby. He was born on the first farm and grew up to pull wagons, the plow and other farm equipment. He didn`t do this hard work on the second farm.
Walt used to walk up to Sassy and talk to her like you would a horse. When he told her to back-up, she would start walking backwards in front of him and as long as he kept saying "back-up, come on, back-up", she would continue to walk backwards. Walt used to get a kick out of watching her. Walt was never a dog person till I got this dog. When he spoke, Sassy listened and if he raised his voice, she obeyed him. With me, she would still keep trying to get me to play longer. I would have to tell her "all done" before she would stop teasing me to play longer. Even though I was the one she followed all over the house, she did show him respect. I do feel that Walt dieing here in the house has a lot to do with her whining every time she needed to walk by the doorway to the living room. Maybe it took her 2 years to realize he wasn`t coming back. Maybe she feared she would disappear like he did if she stayed inside.
Maybe she is starting to realize that I stay inside and I am still here. I am happy to have her in with me. I hope it continues, especially with the winter weather on it`s way.
It got up to 62 F today. I need some more dry warmer days to finish painting the house, plus the side porch floor also needs to be repainted. So far I only finished the front of the house last week. I should have done the painting last month, but there was just too much else needing to be done. I have all the insulation in the shop waiting to be stapled up, plus the Lauan board to put over the insulation. This I can get done on the rainy days if I have to. I managed to get 4 of the earth boxes empties, still have 3 more to get emptied. I clean out all the plants and roots and then add the soil to the cement block flower garden beside the driveway. It makes things there grow better the next year. My garden is over for this year.
Thanks to everyone who sent the wishes for Sassy to come back inside with me.I greatly appreciated it. Who knows, maybe your wishes helped. Keeping my fingers crossed that she keeps coming inside. Would even cross my toes, but then my shoes wouldn`t fit. :):)
Well, here it is the 20th and for some reason she decided to come into the house this morning. She stayed in all morning, went out for a very short time and then wanted to come back inside. I am more puzzled than ever. It is 4pm now and she is still inside. She went to the door a few minutes ago. I asked her if she wanted to go out and she headed back into the laundry room and laid down by the back door. It is a bit damp and chilly out today and maybe that has something to do with her coming inside. But last winter she stayed out all thru the cold winter- she never came in once.
Boy, she sure has a lot of energy. I haven`t accomplished much today. She spent all morning wanting to play. It is good to see her inside and wanting to play. She got so excited that she started barking. She is usually very quiet unless she sees a squirrel or cat going across my property, or someone she doesn`t know goes by my house. She is very active when outside and likes to play. Yesterday when I was playing outside with her she ran around me and her heavy chain tripped me up. As I went flying, I grabbed for the shed I built beside my side porch. Thank goodness my hand caught the shed and I was able to steady myself or I would have landed face down onto the paved driveway. That is my only worry when playing with her outside- fear of falling. A couple years ago my Dr told me to be careful not to fall or I would break my hip. I hope he was exagerating, but just in case I am more careful.
Sassy is such a strong dog that she just runs and snaps a regular dog chain. We had her on a run when she was younger and she just kept pulling those long hooks right out of the house or shop. So we gave that idea up and we drove a metal fence post deep into the ground, but she kept pulling it out. We finally bought some cement, dug a hole, filled it with cement and set about a foot of the fence post into the cement. That finally held her. The chain she is on is soo heavy that I hate putting her on it, but nothing else can hold her. She runs so fast that there is no way I would ever catch her if she got lose. The last time she got lose was over 4 years ago. She snuck out when Walt had opened the door and off she went. Calling her to come play, holding out treats, nothing worked. Finally she went into a neighbors yard with their dog and the neighbor managed to catch her for us. Being alone now, I am very careful to keep her hooked up. If she keeps coming in, I will have to start watching when any of the family stops by so they don`t let her out. We used to keep the side door locked so they had to knock giving us time to catch her before the door was opened. If she keeps coming in, i will have to go back to locking the side door that everyone uses.
Wow, she sure is playful today. My bro stopped in this afternoon and was he ever surprised to see her inside. He said "You finally got her to come in. How did you do that?" I told him that his guess was as good as mine, she just came to the door and when I asked her if she wanted to come in, she didn`t back away and go off the porch.
I just had to stop and play with her some more. I don`t want to refuse playing with her while trying to get her to like being inside again. Now it is almost 5pm and she is still inside. Who knows, maybe this will become a habit after a while. it sure would be good if she does stay inside on the cold winter nights. I would be relieved as I was a wreck all last winter worrying about losing her in the cold nights. She is already 10 and a half years old and her face hair is turning from black and white to a dull gray. She is starting to look older and I worry about losing her.
She isn`t standing in the hall and whining like she used to do. So, maybe she is finally going to accept the fact that he isn`t coming back.
When one of my Uncles died his horse was given to another uncle who also lived on a farm. The horse refused to eat and they tried every idea the vet offered. Bucky, the large work horse was just missing his master. Even after Bucky started eating some, he still didn`t show his strength anymore. He looked like a real old horse with no will to live. He only lived a little over a year and he was a strong healthy horse when his owner died. We knew he died from lonliness for his owner. So, I know how some animals lose the will to live when they lose the owner who raised them from a baby. He was born on the first farm and grew up to pull wagons, the plow and other farm equipment. He didn`t do this hard work on the second farm.
Walt used to walk up to Sassy and talk to her like you would a horse. When he told her to back-up, she would start walking backwards in front of him and as long as he kept saying "back-up, come on, back-up", she would continue to walk backwards. Walt used to get a kick out of watching her. Walt was never a dog person till I got this dog. When he spoke, Sassy listened and if he raised his voice, she obeyed him. With me, she would still keep trying to get me to play longer. I would have to tell her "all done" before she would stop teasing me to play longer. Even though I was the one she followed all over the house, she did show him respect. I do feel that Walt dieing here in the house has a lot to do with her whining every time she needed to walk by the doorway to the living room. Maybe it took her 2 years to realize he wasn`t coming back. Maybe she feared she would disappear like he did if she stayed inside.
Maybe she is starting to realize that I stay inside and I am still here. I am happy to have her in with me. I hope it continues, especially with the winter weather on it`s way.
It got up to 62 F today. I need some more dry warmer days to finish painting the house, plus the side porch floor also needs to be repainted. So far I only finished the front of the house last week. I should have done the painting last month, but there was just too much else needing to be done. I have all the insulation in the shop waiting to be stapled up, plus the Lauan board to put over the insulation. This I can get done on the rainy days if I have to. I managed to get 4 of the earth boxes empties, still have 3 more to get emptied. I clean out all the plants and roots and then add the soil to the cement block flower garden beside the driveway. It makes things there grow better the next year. My garden is over for this year.
Thanks to everyone who sent the wishes for Sassy to come back inside with me.I greatly appreciated it. Who knows, maybe your wishes helped. Keeping my fingers crossed that she keeps coming inside. Would even cross my toes, but then my shoes wouldn`t fit. :):)
# posted by Dotm @ 9/20/2006 05:29:00 PM 
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my best wishes for many more years with sassy.We had an alsatian Helga who refused food after my father's death even tho' he died in a place that was 1500 kms.from our place.She died within 2 months of my dad.
Yes Hip gramma, Lots of animals do miss their owners so much that they just give up wanting to live.
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