Monday, March 21, 2011

Spring?

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens

We had a gorgeous weekend this weekend: sunny and relatively warm. We took lots of walks, and just enjoyed the coming spring. The front of my house gets full sun all day long, and really just COOKS, so my bulbs there tend to come up a bit early. Yesterday, I got to enjoy this:






I'm just going to pretend that they're not calling for three inches of snow today. I'm going to pretend that our radar loop does NOT look like this:


In other news, Dakota has decided that she is no longer going to be a doormat, at least not when she's on leash. Every time we walked her this weekend, if we saw another dog she would wait until we were fairly close and then throw herself to the end of her leash and bark viciously.

This is no way for an AKC Good Citizen to behave and I'm really upset with her. With one exception, the other dogs were calm and good and did nothing to encourage her behavior. She's in BIG trouble. I can't have a dog who behaves that way, so she's going to have to go through some serious attitude adjustments. It's true that many dogs act different on-leash than off, and this is true of her -- she's still fine running around at the dog park, etc., but this could be the beginning of a problem. So it's back to the drawing board for her. Bad dog.

How was your weekend?

==========================




You Are Kind



You have a broad perspective on life. You are very understanding and forgiving.

You prefer a quiet, peaceful existence. You don't like noise in your head - or in the world around you.

For you, there's no such thing as too much calm. Having time to think is a gift that you treasure.



Not even close,except maybe the "time to think" part.

8 comments:

Dru said...

Do you know what could have caused the change in her behavior on the leash?

I love seeing yellow flowers on a spring day. Makes me smile and feel good.

You Are Energetic

You may seem scattered to those around you, but there is a method to your madness.

You are good at juggling many balls in the air. You definitely know how to multitask.

You are driven and motivated. You crave success, and you always follow your dreams.

You make responsible decisions, and you can be counted on in a crisis. You have your head screwed on straight.


This is 75% accurate.

My weatherperson said we're getting that 4-letter word that I do not want to hear on Wednesday. I'm hoping it's a mere inch or less.

Have a great Monday.

Maria Zannini said...

I wonder if Dakota's behavior has anything to do with her recent confinement.

(considering it was kennel cough--she'd be right.)

I know it's not good behavior, but before punishing her, I'd make her walk in another direction for a few tries or put her in a sit as the other dog goes by.

Marianne Arkins said...

Dru, we have a little schnauzer on our street that's left to run around loose and unsupervised and he tries to attack Dakota every time we walk. She started acting aggressive toward him, and I wonder if it's rubbing off on every dog.

Maria, we actually don't "punish" Dakota -- she'll get a correction if she misbehaves (usually a sharp tug on the leash) and an "NO". Normally, I'd try to stop the behavior before it started, but this was something new, so I didn't even KNOW to anticipate it, especially since she was acting normally (tail wagging, etc.) when she first saw the dogs. We have many reactive dogs in our agility class who will bark and lunge at her (something she ignores in class, but again -- she's off leash there), so I think I'm going to use them as therapy. LOL...

Sarita Leone said...

Love your crocuses! Gorgeous.

Yesterday I spent an hour weeding the daffodil garden on the hill. I uncovered some of the tips but have a long way to go before the area is back to "normal" so I'll be working out there a lot...when the snow clears.

Angelina Rain said...

Those flowers are beautiful. I hope you don’t get snow. We’re supposed to get snow at the end of this week too. I hope that doesn’t happen. It sucks you’re going to have to retrain Dakota. Can I send you my dog? He could use a lesson or two. He doesn’t bark or growl at other dogs, but he whines and cries when he sees other dogs. I guess he wants to play but I just can’t knock on my neighbors doors and set up play dates for him.

Brandy said...

I wonder what caused the shift in Dakotas temperament? I hope you find either a reason, or she stops soon.
Our weekend was stressful and I'm grateful for a modicum return to routine today.

Blessings for a good day.

(and I keep telling you, you need to move down here. I'll be kind and not share what our temps are today.)

Melissa McClone said...

Pretty flowers! Did you get snow?

Hope the issue with Dakota is an easy fix!

Marianne Arkins said...

Sarita, I would out plotting my garden in the sunshine yesterday ... now it's buried in a good 4" of snow.

Angelina, thanks for your "no snow" thoughts, but sadly ...it's been snowing ALL DAY LONG.

Brandy, if it were up to me, I'd move south in a heartbeat.

Melissa, oh ... we definitely got snow. UGH.