I long to move out to the country, a cabin in the woods with 100 acres of my land and adjoining a national forest.
But Ziggy? Nah. She just wants to roam free in a subdivision.
She's been really amped up this weekend and I knew we needed to go out this morning, have an adventure.
We headed out. I hit a dead end at railroad tracks and saw lots of open space so out we went and I let her off leash and rather than running free in the wide meadow like area she beelined straight across the street (more of an alley, with no traffic anywhere) and ran to a big boat in a yard and got super excited. So apparently in Ziggy's past she WAS a water dog, but on a boat. Then she went to the front door of the house and stood staring in through the glass door with her tail wagging and a smile on her face as though they just forgot to open the door for her; I'm sure that the inhabitants of the house were very surprised to have such an outgoing Catahoula trying to convince them to let her in.
She would look over at me but she was NOT coming back over to the side without people and she took off down the block. I caught up with her a couple houses down where she was trying to burrow under a fence that had a dog on the other side who was very confused with this whole situation. She turned around to see me walking up with a very happy look - "Oh good, you got here! Give me a hand - let's go under here!" and wasn't too happy when I clipped her leash back on and insisted on not breaking into the yard, but she was ok.
Then I kept driving out to where I planned. We tried to go to the road that I really want to walk on (gravel, little or no traffic, no houses around), but it really is under construction (which is what the strongly worded multiple signs said that forbade entry, but I had to try) and I saw people working with heavy equipment, so we turned back around.
We went where I let her run off-leash before and she ran right down to the swamp and I heard a lot of splashing so she was chasing something in. She was running fast and free and when she got too far up I called out and told her that and she cheerfully looped back and started to run back to me but then something caught her eye across the street and she beelined down the ridge and over. I shouted but she was not coming back and then a car appeared so I didn't want her to run back . I followed and she was investigating a bunch of garbage somebody had dumped (that's such a thing here, ugh), and she peeped out from behind an old mattress. "Look! A treasure trove!" she was delighted to report. I called her to me and she came and I gave her a treat and some water and clipped her back on. Sigh.
Then we walked along the levee and it was fine because it's really cool right now - a big storm just rolled out and another looks to be rolling in. Usually it's miserable to walk on a paved levee in the summer, it just radiates so much heat and the direct sun is unbearable. But this was pretty enjoyable, but she kept trying to pull me down the levee and over to the houses where there were people and dogs.
Ziggy loves people and dogs more than she loves being alone with me. She is very gregarious and thrives on a party. She is so NOT like me.
But maybe I need to get over my idea that we need to live off the grid somewhere, letting Ziggy have a life of chasing wild animals. She is a city dog, who loves population density and Popeye's. Unfortunately for her I will not ever intentionally let her run free on city streets, which is her very favorite thing to do. Fortunately for me, whenever that happens she comes back and/or cheerfully lets me catch her pretty quickly.
It's pretty clear from today - she has no interest in running away from me, she just wants to have fun. Even when she was taking off away from me, she was keeping a close eye on where I was and making sure I was following her. If it weren't for roads, I likely would have run the other direction and called her and I'm 95% sure she would have followed.
Now, I need her to not take off at all, and I need her to 100% come when called, and I need to be able to trust her judgment (that she won't piss off alligators who can eat her). She will always want to have fun, which is really pretty darn charming. She delights in life. This is what is good about having a dog, the belief that the world is a fun place to explore. I have a sidekick for whatever comes down.
And she is not to 100% obedience yet, and maybe she never will be, but she will continue to improve.
And we will keep trying to find good places to let her run free, because that is the only thing that can take the edge off for her ... and probably for me. She is the city mouse, but I am very much country mouse. We'll find our common ground.
But Ziggy? Nah. She just wants to roam free in a subdivision.
She's been really amped up this weekend and I knew we needed to go out this morning, have an adventure.
We headed out. I hit a dead end at railroad tracks and saw lots of open space so out we went and I let her off leash and rather than running free in the wide meadow like area she beelined straight across the street (more of an alley, with no traffic anywhere) and ran to a big boat in a yard and got super excited. So apparently in Ziggy's past she WAS a water dog, but on a boat. Then she went to the front door of the house and stood staring in through the glass door with her tail wagging and a smile on her face as though they just forgot to open the door for her; I'm sure that the inhabitants of the house were very surprised to have such an outgoing Catahoula trying to convince them to let her in.
She would look over at me but she was NOT coming back over to the side without people and she took off down the block. I caught up with her a couple houses down where she was trying to burrow under a fence that had a dog on the other side who was very confused with this whole situation. She turned around to see me walking up with a very happy look - "Oh good, you got here! Give me a hand - let's go under here!" and wasn't too happy when I clipped her leash back on and insisted on not breaking into the yard, but she was ok.
Then I kept driving out to where I planned. We tried to go to the road that I really want to walk on (gravel, little or no traffic, no houses around), but it really is under construction (which is what the strongly worded multiple signs said that forbade entry, but I had to try) and I saw people working with heavy equipment, so we turned back around.
We went where I let her run off-leash before and she ran right down to the swamp and I heard a lot of splashing so she was chasing something in. She was running fast and free and when she got too far up I called out and told her that and she cheerfully looped back and started to run back to me but then something caught her eye across the street and she beelined down the ridge and over. I shouted but she was not coming back and then a car appeared so I didn't want her to run back . I followed and she was investigating a bunch of garbage somebody had dumped (that's such a thing here, ugh), and she peeped out from behind an old mattress. "Look! A treasure trove!" she was delighted to report. I called her to me and she came and I gave her a treat and some water and clipped her back on. Sigh.
Then we walked along the levee and it was fine because it's really cool right now - a big storm just rolled out and another looks to be rolling in. Usually it's miserable to walk on a paved levee in the summer, it just radiates so much heat and the direct sun is unbearable. But this was pretty enjoyable, but she kept trying to pull me down the levee and over to the houses where there were people and dogs.
Ziggy loves people and dogs more than she loves being alone with me. She is very gregarious and thrives on a party. She is so NOT like me.
But maybe I need to get over my idea that we need to live off the grid somewhere, letting Ziggy have a life of chasing wild animals. She is a city dog, who loves population density and Popeye's. Unfortunately for her I will not ever intentionally let her run free on city streets, which is her very favorite thing to do. Fortunately for me, whenever that happens she comes back and/or cheerfully lets me catch her pretty quickly.
It's pretty clear from today - she has no interest in running away from me, she just wants to have fun. Even when she was taking off away from me, she was keeping a close eye on where I was and making sure I was following her. If it weren't for roads, I likely would have run the other direction and called her and I'm 95% sure she would have followed.
Now, I need her to not take off at all, and I need her to 100% come when called, and I need to be able to trust her judgment (that she won't piss off alligators who can eat her). She will always want to have fun, which is really pretty darn charming. She delights in life. This is what is good about having a dog, the belief that the world is a fun place to explore. I have a sidekick for whatever comes down.
And she is not to 100% obedience yet, and maybe she never will be, but she will continue to improve.
And we will keep trying to find good places to let her run free, because that is the only thing that can take the edge off for her ... and probably for me. She is the city mouse, but I am very much country mouse. We'll find our common ground.
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