Not quite a week ago I was taking the dogs for their last walk of the evening when Zeke saw, heard or smelled something (or thought or hoped he saw, heard or smelled something) in the woods behind the house. He took off. I tried to stop him, and he jerked me forward a couple of steps as I tried to brace with my right leg. I came down hard on that leg and a sharp pain stabbed through my knee. I fell and rolled over. I held my leg up to my chest and hoped that the pain wouldn’t last long.
Of course I had to let go of the leash, but Zeke made it only about 30 feet before the leash snagged on a tree. After the pain eased, I limped down to him, grabbed the loose skin on his neck and explained that he should not do that again.
He said nothing.
My right knee is still giving me problems. Not much right now, but enough that I need ibuprofen for it. If I take ibuprofen before bed, my knee feels better when I get up in the morning, but I have to take another dose before I walk the dogs. For a few days I had to take little baby steps when going downhill. I still have to be careful, but it’s improving. I wasn’t sure at the time, but it looks like it’s going to stop hurting eventually and I won’t need to start shopping for a new knee.
I should have been better prepared. Zeke had been staring out into the night from the sliding glass door in the living room. When we went out, he had his alert look: head up, ears up, tail up. It’s hard to get him out of that mode if he thinks there’s something out there, but I should have tried harder. Or, I could have just let him go when he took off and not tried to stop him.
He’s a good dog most of the time. He just needs a little tweaking in the obedience-in-the-face-of-critters-in-the-woods department.
My dog, Flike, is easily trainable and can learn a command quickly. But when he’s in manic mode he doesn’t hear and can’t obey. Libby’s dog, Queequeg, is what we call “willful” which is to say he refused to learn or obey most commands. I think it’s just that he doesn’t take training as well as a Border Collie. Q is a Pomeranian. And when we’re in the woods, we have to keep him close since I’m sure he’s seen as dinner by a lot of critters out there.
Sorry about your knee.
Pablo — Queequeg sounds a lot like Lucy, the little miniature pinscher we inherited from my mother. I think she’s actually pretty smart, but boy is she hard to train.
That sounds pretty painful, Mark. Knee injuries are no fun at all. Really glad to hear that it’s healing. I tore a ligament in my right knee many years ago. I remember it took a while to heal.
Every now and then, now that we are without a kitty cat, I think about getting a dog. Then I think, Wow I must be crazy!
Robin Andrea — My knees have been giving me problems for years. I thought this was going to be the final straw, but I think I can go a little while longer on the old knees. I think a dog is an excellent idea. They can accompany you all on your walks, and the right dog won’t pull you down and ruin your knees. None of my dobermans would have done anything like that. And now here’s Leah:
hey Robin,
I’ve had cats all my life…but these 4 in & out door cats are about to drive me crazy!!!!!!!!!! And now the 2 sweet outdoors cats act like they want to come in. I had thought at one time I would want a Whippet. I just don’t know any more…
I’m just innately drawn to dogs. When we’re out in town and we see a dog in the back of a pickup truck or in the car with the windows part way down, I always go over and say hello. Sometimes they bark, so I walk away, but mostly they’re so happy to have some company. I don’t touch them, but I always talk to them and tell them how good they are. I do always pet the dogs that are left outside of supermarkets while their humans are inside shopping. I just love doggies!