20 posts tagged “dogs”

What is the most flattering compliment you've ever received?
Submitted by Squelsy.
"Talking to you helped me so much. You made me feel better about myself, and your suggestions were fantastic. We can get through this now. I don't know what I would have done without you." Thatl was from a lovely lady with a kelpie who'd been in several dog fights. I took her away from class and we just walked and talked for about an hour and a half. This comment came when she saw me the next week.

I mean ... WOW. It's things like that that make me love being a dog trainer so damn much.
I've recieved all the most moving and meaningful complements from people i've worked one-on-one with at dog training. Mm, warm and fuzzy ^^

There are things I probably should do, but I can't. I need to write. Not about anything in particular. It's just been too long, and my headspace needs sorting.

I look out the window at the darkness and ponder, as the music swells and swirls around me. I walk to the door and whistle for the dogs to follow. It is warm, so I wear a short skirt and no jumper. We are the only ones in the park. The grass is deliciously new beneath my feet as I look up at the stars and dance for them because no-one can see me. I love the sky at night. When it is clear you can look up and see the familiar constellations overlayed on a glittering backdrop of the milky way, and try to expand your imagination far enough that it can encompass the whole galaxy. It doesn't matter if you fail - it's the trying that counts.
The spell breaks with the sound of shattering glass. The dogs have wandered away, lost in their own universe of earth and smells, so far from where I was. I call them and they don't appear. For a second dread sinks icy teeth into my stomach: what if I never see them again?
And then the whisper of a tiny body racing towards me, the flooding relief as I lift her in my arms and lose myself in her fur. Our heartbeats slowly settle into synchrony again, and together we sigh as we realise  we were thinking the same things. We could never leave each other. Peace reclaims my soul. We walk home together, me and my friends, my dogs, my children.  There are people walking down the street, and they smile at me. I wonder why people are afraid  to go out at night. I wonder if they miss the moon and the whisper of warm night air through the gum trees.
Shadows move before me, flowing hair and silent grace; I wonder if it is a side of me or a lie told by the silvery light to make me happy.
I curl up in my chair and slowly sink into myself, start to feel lost again. As my dogs fall asleep in carefree innocence I wonder if I should be doing work, wonder how long I can put it off before it is too late, wonder why I would do that to myself, and find no answers that I can accept. And yet I cannot move. Instead I write, and I listen to music, and I let my thoughts out to play.
I think about how in gaining new things we lose old things. I think about taking risks and regretting nothing. I think about fear, about serenity and apathy, wonder if there is a difference. Something clicks and I start to think in moving pictures and suddenly words aren't adequate anymore.
Walking blind
Betrayed by the slink of skin on skin
Legs whispering to each other as you move
A light comes on
A different kind of blindness
Soothing nothings are shared
Under a flutter of fragile wings
As a moth batters itself senseless against clear glass
Darkness returns in a rush
Was it soon enough to save it from itself?
The sound of a hand running through clean hair
The tinkling of a tiny silver bell
Sink into the pillows and keep on falling
Is the world moving or is it me?
Patterns and flashes
Things that have been
Things that could never be
Things I would have said
If only time would stop long enough for me to think
This is not my life now
Nameless, I explore a familiar world
Remember all the things I have done
I save a damsel in distress
But they see me and give chase
I run, panting, through the long and winding tunnels
Rabbit feet pounding the earth
But they are waiting for me
As they raise the knife to end my life, I scream
And the white roof of my room is so far above my head
For a second there is a shiver as the scene fades
Then I realise the world was not mine
I was recalling things which never happened
I will never remember these hours I spent
I return to my life ignorant
Perhaps it is for the better
But I'll never know
Breathe in
Breathe out
Blood
Laughter
Holding each other close
Afraid of the dizzying heights that apear in the chasms between every person
Trying to close them
Wondering if it is futile
Hoping it is not
Fearing that it is
Then he glances up and smiles
And together we sigh as we realise  we were thinking the same things
And the distance doesn't seem so very far after all
I drive home
I am alone, but the stars are watching me
I love the sky at night
And sometimes it only matters that you try

There is a natural disaster headed your way. You get 4 standard sized canvas grocery totes to fill with valuables and provisions to bring with you to a safe place. What would you put into your 4 bags and why?
Submitted by dejablu503.

Merry in one bag, Mystic in another; lighters, billy can, dried spaghetti, rice and some dog food in another so we don't starve and water in the last so we don't die of thirst. Everything else can pretty much go hang.

Who was the last person you offended?
Submitted by May.

There's this guy at the RSPCA who has the dog walking shift just before me, and there's about 40 minutes of overlap. Everytime he sees me, he scowls at me like I'm something on the bottom of his shoe. I don't know what I do to offend him. Look scraggly perhaps? Or maybe one day the wind changed on him and he just always looks like that.

Ya, the last post was a tad too enthusiastic for its own good. So shoot me.

Anyway ... more updates.

A couple of weeks ago my great aunt Ingrid came to visit. She stayed with grandma for most of the week, but we had her on wednesday. She's been living in America for the past 50 years, but she still sounds charmingly Swedish. I can't believe I've never met her before. She's an animal trainer and always has been. And she's so nice and friendly and loves everything. Particularly my dogs. =D
We took her to the Wallaby Yards and showed her newborn wallabies - little tammars. So cute. Then we went to GWSC so I could get them to sign a thing saying I can do my exams there, and all the teachers talked to me and said "Come back if you need help anytime! Really! Or just visit! Anything!" Nice to be missed :P Then we went to Melbourne Uni, but the O-week bbq was already over (aw). We ate at the union building, then went to the zoo. I got a couple of good pics of a snow leopard. The Orangutans were SO COOL - one of them swung up the the viewing platform, saw us all watching, and covered itself in a box. From time to time it would peek out, see us still watching and try to hide better. Eventually it gave up, waked over reaaally close to the glass, staring into the eyes of a little boy, hypnotised with his nose pressed against the window. Then a little girl came and shoved him out of the way, and the orangutan got bored and went and got it's box, then lay down to watch the other orangutans - but it got too absorbed and leant too far over, and it lost it's box over the edge! He was like ... crud. I love the zoo : )
Then we went to see the wild bat colony. Bats are great. Like huge, flying rats (with big sharp pointy teeth : E3  < emoticon with teeth.).
On saturday we went to the zoo agin, so Viv could get more pics (she went to the zoo with school on friday). I drove there and the traffic was soooo shithouse. Of course dad and Viv insisted on sitting still for half an hour everywhere to get the perfect shot. I was a tad bored by the end of that. But oh well. They did get some good shots.

Last thursday I took my dogs to TAFE for show and tell. Everyone loved them =D

On saturday I Marie and I went to Jess's place to watch Torchwood (why can I never remember the name of that series? Argh)
And today I went to Josh's place. I got there before he did, and his dad had NO idea who I was or why I was there. That was kinda funny.
Josh helped me with maths and we ate way too much. He spent ages trying to convince me to eat fish. He lost. I am the champion of obsinance. Then we played scrabble and cheated (why would you play if not for the fun of cheating?). And one of his rabbits is seriously aggro. It is the monty python rabbit. Yay! ^_^

And apart from the normal paraphenalia of stuff I do (like fat pony walking, yoghurt-drop-feeding rats and getting my dogs to tell me whether they prefer Mama Mia to Sex Bomb), that is mostly all. Toodles!

PS heat is bad. I dislike heat muchly.

PPS driving is now 44 hours, 15 mins and counting. I have my first lesson on wednesday.

Probably won't post again until nano starts, but you never know. School started again today, which was actually good 'cos I've been missing everyone something awful.
On the holidays since my last post I:

• Gave some talks to mum's students about dog training. I took Merry and Mystic and gave some demos. It was fun. I also got to see a Search and Rescue dog being trained. Mystic went mental, but that's just Mystic being Mystic.
• Watched Ratatouille. Fun movie. I liked it.
• Went to some more lectures and various other boring things
• Accidentally spent 5 hours studying maths
• Had a dog trial. Merry's first run in Excellent class for Jumping and Strategic Pairs. She ran very nicely for me, we got clear rounds :D (overtime, but shh, she doesn't know that!). We also had Excellent Snooker and Novice Agility. She didn't weave very well, grace a la fact that I haven't been training her much lately. But otherwise nice runs. Well done Merry : )
• Read Animal Farm. Easier to read than 1984. The pigs are evil ... corruption sneaks in all too easily. Then I fell asleep on the floor of mums office. I actually felt less bruised when I woke up than I had before, which was surprising but good.
• Aaaaaand ... yeh, not much else. I should be studying more than I am. At least if I don't get into Uni it doesn't matter at all. I feel sorry for people who need to do well ... stress and bother. Erk.
  
• Oh ... and I decided to sign up for NaNoWriMo. I'm insane. More so because of the fact that I'm actually looking forward to it ... Yes, I must be completely off my rocker. Just shoot me now.
  

Show us one of the world's great mysteries that you're dying to hear the explanation for.

Dog shedding

I have been having bad dreams again. I dream that people die. I dream that I am being tortured. I dream that friends hang themselves in the lockerbays, and I am the only one who cares.
Last night I had a long and complicted dream. In it, a girl drowned. Today, I found that my favourite quail has drowned.
And I get scared sometimes, you know? Scared because sometimes I know things when I shouldn't be able to. Scared because sometimes I don't know things when I should and there are too many closed doors ...

But anyway. Today was a reasonably good day up until the point that everything started going wrong. I took my dogs for a long walk. I felt happy. I fell on my bum in the middle of a stream and laughed. I'm gonna stop writing now because I only want to remember the good things.

Maybe I won't have to dream tonight.

What decision changed the course of your life? 
Submitted by Ally.

Every moment, opportunities arise and slip by, often unnoticed. The future is ever changing, a fluid mosaic of possibilities. So I cannot really say what would have happened had I done this instead of that.
However, there are moments when you make the choice to do something out of the ordinary, and you can almost feel the course of your life shifting. When you do something extraordinary, something you would never normally dare to do.
I remember one such moment.

I have always wanted a dog.
I can't really explain it, I just always had this huge longing within me, a sure and unshakeable knowledge that something was missing. I was luckier than most, I could identify exactly what that thing was - a dog. I needed a dog. I needed a loving companion who would be there for me, waiting in that big empty house when I got home. A friend who would walk with me, play with me, live with me. I wanted more than that ... I wanted to lie down at night and hear a heartbeat. I wanted to run my hands through fur. I wanted a living, breathing, thinking, feeling dog.
One day, I dared to write this down. I wrote for a long time and I don't even remember what it was anymore. And I left it where my parents would find it.
But they never did.
And every day, my heart grew a little colder, and every night soft pillows whisked away my silent tears.
I wrote again.
But they never found them.
They never looked.
I knew it was silly, but I felt as if they were doing it on purpose, because they didn't care...
One day, I took my letter, and I put it in their hands.
Then suddenly I realised I couldn't bear it. My heart, written out on paper, my intense and private suffering, and they were reading it.
I ran to my room and I wept, because I knew that they would say no, because all those years they had said no, because that was the 'sensible' thing.
And they called me to the kitchen.
I went reluctantly.
My mother had been crying.
She had seen my broken heart, and the unhealed memories came back sharp and fresh. Sterile white rooms, sickly kind psychiatrists, locked doors.
Her tear filled eyes met my own and I turned away.
There was too much emotion, and it hurt.
We talked, the three of us. Mum wanted us to move into the country, where she thought we would be happy. She read it too deep. She doesn't understand things like dad does. Dad always understands. He realised that all I really needed was a dog.
And, amazingly, it was agreed that I should have one.
And I went to my room and cried myself sick.

Months followed where I spent hours at the computer, carefully checking every breed and source to see what my dog would be. I caught myself so often thinking it was just another empty dream. It was too good to be true. But true it was. Papillons were early on the shortlist, but we considered every other option because we had never really thought of ourselves as "small dog people". But when we found a two year old retired breeder, the opportunity was too good to pass up. That was when we met Merry - or, as she was at the time, Mary Rose.
I won't say that it was love at first sight. This love was a more subtle thing, creeping up on us, growing stronger every day as I got to know her better. Within a few weeks, it felt as if she had been a part of our lives forever. When I look back now, I cannot imagine a life without her in it, although I must have lived one. I think that this is what love really should be. Every day, even now, I love her a little more. It is a love that is beautiful and eternal.

And that was the decision that changed my life. The decision to share my feelings. The decision I will never, ever regret.

I also wanted to share my psychology storybook, which is what I drew a lot from in my english SAC which I posted yesterday.

Voices everywhere, laughing, shouting. Bodies forced together, squeezing, pushing, shoving. Smells of cheap perfume, overpowering deodorant and sweat.

Julie bowed her head against the overwhelming mass of sensations. She held her breath and tensed her muscles as she forced her way through the crowd, feeling others doing the same. Here. Her locker. She turned the combination of the lock and opened the door, quickly snatching at a book that threatened to slip out onto the floor. Hastily she shoved in the books she was holding and pulled out the ones she would need next, then slammed the locker closed and made her way back through the crush of bodies and into open air.

Julie was new to North Amerdale Secondary College. For the last 12 years of her life she had lived in Perth with her family. She had been happy, and she had two good friends, Amy and Sarah. Then her father had been offered a job in New South Wales, they had moved, and her life was turned upside down.

‘The Ancient Egyptians worshipped many gods. Amun, King of the gods; Ra, god of the sun; Isis…’

Julie tuned out and slumped back in the uncomfortable grey plastic chair. Who cares what the Ancient Egyptians worshipped? She thought. It all seemed so…useless. Irrelevant. Boring. She started doodling in her book. Notes on the river Nile were soon buried under swirls and dots and stars.

‘Julie!’ Her head snapped up as she finally realised the teacher had been talking to her.

‘Um…what was the question?’ The teachers glare and a few snickers made her cheeks glow.

‘I said, who was Anubis?’  He growled.

‘He…um…uh…’ she stammered.

‘Pay attention, Julie.’ Snapped My Grey, and turned away. Julie slumped back in her seat, embarrassed. The other kids smiled and turned from her too. It’s not like any of them pay attention. She stared at her paper. Suddenly, a loud BING, BING, BING cut through the sound of many muffled conversations and sent everyone grabbing for their books.

‘Wait!’ shouted Mr Grey. ‘Don’t forget to take notes on the website I told you!’ A few people mumbled their assent, then everyone rushed to the door. At least when nobody sits next to me I don’t get tripped up, thought Julie, as she too left the room.

‘Hey Neo! I’m home!’ she called as a big tan dog raced to greet her, barking in excitement. ‘Yes, I’m happy to see you too!’ she laughed as two huge paws hit her shoulders and her face was thoroughly washed.

Neo was a German Shepherd-cross who they had adopted from a shelter in Perth two years ago. Unlike Julie, the move hadn’t phased him much, though he didn’t like the fact that he was alone all day now, since both Julies parents worked and she had school.

Julie pushed him off her and kissed his head.

‘Wanna go for a walk?’ she asked. The already hyped up dog started running in circles in his excitement. She knew she shouldn’t get him this worked up, but seeing him happy was the only fun she had these days. She grabbed his lead and ball.

‘Nobody talks to me at school.’ She confided. ‘They all have their friends. They don’t like me. I wish we’d never moved. I miss Amy and Sarah.’ Neo flashed her a happy doggy grin and went back to sniffing. Julie smiled. It was amazing how Neo could always make her feel better, even though he never understood a word. His joy in life was just infectious. \the grass crunched slightly under her feet, dry after a hot summer. Warm air blanketed her as she strolled slowly past tall eucalypts. She heard insects chirping. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath that smelled of warmth and plants and open space. If only her whole day could be like this, everything would be just fine.

Stray leaves tickled her back as she leaned against the tree. A stout green bush separated her from the warm, black, ugly asphalt where boy and girls shouted and called out, some running, some hitting balls, most just milling around. It had been like this since the first day of year 8. She had no-one to talk to, nothing to do. She sat down. Riffling through her diary, she found a spare piece of paper. She began folding it absently.  She remembered Amy teaching her last year how to fold a paper crane. The memory brought a smile to her lips. After many false starts, she got it right, and a slightly wonky and disproportioned paper crane sat in her hands. She smiled at her handiwork, pleased that she could remember how to do it. She looked for another piece of paper, and found one. This crane looked much better. As she looked up, a pack of girls from her class walked past. They glanced at her out of the corners of their eyes.

‘What a weirdo,’ she heard one say.

‘Totally.’ another agreed. The other girls all giggled. They rounded the corner of the building and were gone. Julie looked at the crane in her hands. She imagined its paper face staring back. Weirdo.

‘Julie! You got a D on your maths test?!’ her mothers voice. Loud, shocked, disappointed. Julie stood across the room. She stared fixedly at a black spot on the kitchen tiles. ‘Why did you get a D? You’re always such a good student!’

Julie continued to stare.

‘Julie!’

‘I don’t like the teacher. He’s really boring.’

‘That’s not an excuse! If you tried, you would do well! I expect better of you, Julie.’

Julie turned and walked away, mind seething. She climbed the stairs to her room and flopped onto the bed. At least it wasn’t new and crappy like everything else in her life had become. She stared out the window, but didn’t see trees. She saw the maths testing front of her, and felt that sinking feeling in her gut as she knew she’d done badly. Saw sheets of work being handed to her with marks worse than she’d ever received. The look on teachers faces when she made her excuses for homework not done. The look on her mothers face. Disappointed. Her gut churned. She hated making her mother unhappy. More images flashed past. The look on peoples faces when they saw her. Blank or confused, mostly. Who is this stranger? Mocking expressions on the faces of those who did know her. Those who laughed at her. She heard them often, when her back was turned. The weirdo. The silent girl who sat alone, who did nothing but stare while the others talked and joked with their friends. That’s who she was, who she’d always be. The weird one. The odd one out. She had never felt so alone.

The bed dipped as Neo leapt up beside her and sniffed her face. He lay down and she wrapped her arm around him and held him close. He cared. He did. She closed her eyes and the images came back, of a world where she could never fit in. Nobody else cared. No-one.

‘I hate them, Neo.’ She whispered into his neck. ‘I hate them all.’ And a single, glistening tear drop fell onto his fur.

‘Julie?’ Her mother called. Julie walked into the living room, where her mother was leaning back on the sofa, magazine in hand.

‘Yes?’ She asked.

‘I was thinking. Why don’t you do something after school? I’m sure you’d enjoy it.’

‘But I don’t want to.’ Julie stated bluntly.

‘Come on.’ Said her mother plactatingly. ‘How about sport? Or drama? There are plenty of things around if you look.’

Julie raised her eyebrows and started to turn away.

‘How about you do something with Neo? He’s been bored at home.’

‘Like what?’

‘I’ll have a look, if you would be prepared to do it. Would you like to do something with Neo?’

‘Mm.’ Julie mumbled a non-committal assent.

Her mother looked at her over the top of her reading glasses.

‘I’ll have a look.’

It was three nights later when her mother brought it back up.

‘Julie, there’s a dog agility club near here that runs on Saturday mornings. You know agility, with the jumps and tunnels and things?’

‘Yes, mum, I know.’ She said, slightly annoyed by how little her mother thought she knew.

‘Well, do you want to?’

Julie thought about it. Then the thought about Neo, and the answer came.

‘Yes, OK.’

Little terriers, rough collies, staffies, border collies, kelpies, all sorts of dogs everywhere. Julie watched a black poodle being directed over a raised plank and into a tunnel, which it did with abundant exuberance. Neo strained on his leash, making it a struggle to hold him. His bark joined a chorus of barks from other dogs at the sidelines. An instructor in a fluorescent yellow jacket approached her with a smile.

‘First timer?’ she asked.

‘Yes.’ Replied Julie, as Neo jumped gleefully at the instructor. She thumped his side and grinned at her.

‘Beginners’ class starts in 10 minutes, when the advanced people have finished. You sign up at that table with the other newbies. I’m Beth. What’s your name?’

‘Julie.’ Said Julie. ‘And this is Neo.’

‘Hello, Neo. Well, I’ve gotta run. I’ll see you later.’ She walked away, still smiling. Julie couldn’t help but smile too. She walked over to the table to sign up and pay, then watched the last of the advanced classes. There was one girl her own age with a pretty tri-coloured Shetland sheepdog. Julie watched as they ran over a see-saw, over 3 jumps and through a tunnel. They were fast and accurate.

‘Could you do that, Neo?’ she asked her dog, who had calmed down a little and was now sitting and staring out at the other dogs.

The girl popped a treat into her sheltie’s mouth and walked over to the side. She saw Julie and walked over.

‘Hi…nice dog. I haven’t seen you here before.’ She said in a friendly voice. Neo began straining on his leash, trying to get closer. The girl obligingly stretched out a hand for him to sniff. ‘You  look kind of familiar. Do you go to my school?’

Julies eyes widened in recognition.

‘Oh yeah! I’ve seen you around.’

‘That’s cool. Anyway, you’ll love agility. It’s awesome fun. My name is Liz, by the way.’

The following Tuesday, Julie was meandering aimlessly around the school, trying to kill time until the bell went. Someone had dropped a pile of books on her head in the locker bay that morning, and her head still hurt where the corner of a book had hit her. As she was rubbing it absently, she saw Liz walking down the corridor with three other girls, talking about something. She smiled uncertainly at her. Liz noticed her and grinned broadly.

‘Hey!’ she called. Julie’s small smile was replaced by a real one.

‘Hi.’ She said.

‘Do you think dogs are cooler than guys?’ she asked suddenly. Julie was a little surprised by the question, obviously something to do with the conversation that had been going on, but said,

‘Dogs, definitely. They shut up when you tell them to, and they’re much cuter.’

‘Ha.’ Liz grinned and the other girls smiled. ‘I win. It’s three to two, Sandry.’ The girl called Sandry shook her head, and they turned to go.

‘Catch you later, Julie.’ Liz called.

Julie was a bit shocked. Well, she thought, that was a first. Maybe not everyone hates me…