Dreaming in Black and White

John got up at 4:30 a.m. with a headache, signaling all the dogs to come and try to lure me out of bed an hour earlier than usual. I lay in bed lazily, trying to ignore them, but gave up and hung my hand over the side for them to play with. Of course, Shiloh jumped in clumsily, so I had to keep trying to get him to play gently.

Since I didn’t get up right away, Shiloh jumped back up on the bed to get in a few extra winks, and the girls migrated back downstairs. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep and planned on getting up at 5:30, but then I fell back asleep and had a really weird dream about black and white dogs, black and white hamsters, black and white cats. It reminded me of a line from the movie, Sentinel: Black and white cake; black and white cat.

Flower Forgets to Be Distant

Flower forgot to play hard to get when I picked her up this time. Earlier she ran from me, and when I caught her and held her, she leaned away from me. A few hours later, I picked her up from the dog bed and she didn’t fight me at all. She didn’t lean against me, but she didn’t lean away from me. I rewarded her with lots of kisses, but I know she would have preferred treats.

Later, she let me pet her for several minutes outside and played at my feet when we came back inside. When Dottie and I were sitting on the couch this afternoon, Flower jumped up to sit with us. It’s probably because Brutus, Shiloh’s name for today, is making weird growling noises.  I just love it when Flower comes up and puts her paws on the couch, stretches, and looks at me all loopy.

Candy might be taking her sister’s lead. She doesn’t try to escape so much when I approach her. She usually just sits still. I picked her up and held her twice today for a couple of minutes each time.

Diarrhea

I’m used to picking up the kind of poop that’s easy to pick up, but today was a different story. Somebody must have an upset stomach. Today wasn’t hamburger day, but it’s possible it could be effects from yesterday. This morning, John also hand-fed them from the Fromm salmon sample package.

Later in the day, I caught Dottie pooping next to the training pad, and the texture identified her as the dog with the upset tummy. I picked it up and pointed to the training pad, asking her to please do her business there. About an hour later, she went back to the same spot, squatted and pooped before I could get to her. When I got to the spot, I firmly asked her to use the training pad. I tried to catch her by the collar to sit her on the pad, but she pulled away and I tugged back, saying a little impatiently, “Dottie, use the pad!” and placing her on it. The poor little thing cowered before me. I guess when a doggy has an upset tummy isn’t the right time to train them where to poop.

I picked her up and held her, petting her tummy. All afternoon, whenever I approached her, she cowered down or ran and hid under the table. I felt very guilty for showing my impatience and being too forceful. I have to get on John’s iPad and start reading the “Fearful Dog” book to get some help on what to do in situations like this.

I tried to be very careful with what all the dogs ate today, to avoid any more instances.