glenmar
Posted : 6/6/2006 5:51:06 AM
Unfortunately, I can't take him back to the breeder, since he was the result of an opps litter of MINE. Neither Thor or Sheba act like this, and Sheba is totally velcro.
If I let him out of his crate before Thunder in the morning, he goes tearing to Thunders crate like he wants to kill him with the barking, snarling, etc, yet DH can let him out and he quietly walks up the stairs to be let out. However, on Sunday Todd did see what a jerk he was being when we were out working on the lawn.
I must have a sign on my forehead that either says "I LIKE cutting long grass and weeds" or "I need the exercise" cuz this is the second house in a row that I've gotten that has out of control growth that we have to knock down. At this point, no one has gotten to explore the entire property....it's only about an acre surrounded by 300 plus of nothing, but bordered on three sides by the big jack pines. At this point, I don't want them, or me, roaming around in the long grass and we're working as fast as we can trying to get it SHORT and unattractive to snakes as quickly as possible. DS cut most of the front yard and the dog yard and part of the back yard last week.....but we've had a ton of rain so it didn't even look like it had been cut. Finishing it up was on the weekend list but it rained all day Saturday and Sunday, despite working on it all day, it didn't get finished. There is still about a third of it to finish.
I don't think that DH disbelieved me, but I do think that he thought perhaps I was exaggerating. He saw for himself on Sunday and it bothered HIM so much that he shut Shadow in the garage for a bit. And please remember that it's an enormous garage, even with half of it barricaded off with ceilings you need an extension ladder to get to the rafters, so it isn't some tiny dark place that we were putting him.
This move was stressful only because the owner didn't LEAVE like he was supposed to and I had to do a lot of Plan B ing.......but once I realized that the stress was actually causing allergic type, system wide reactions, I stopped letting it get to me and just tried to go with the flow. Because I had chicken pox as an adult, I carry the herpes virus in my system, and severe stress often triggers a shingles attack. Just last week I was thinking that with all that had NOT gone according to plan A it was amazing I wasn't a mess of shingles, and bam, two days later it started. And I *think* that the only stressor right now is Shadow.
I'm not entirely settled yet, but the stuff I haven't finished is stuff that I could finish if someone just had time to help me with things like shelves that are too heavy for me to lift to install. The lack of upper body strength is a big source of frustration to me. I would have had the blasted grass cut a week ago if I could start the darned mower by myself. So I do get frustrated that my body won't let me do the things I want to do.
Maybe Shadow is just reacting to me. Maybe the not being settled completely is showing in some ways that I don't realize. But honestly, mostly it's the little stuff, like the right bedding in the guestroom, and odds and ends scattered around in our room, that I don't see during the day so I don't think to do something about. Then at the end of the day I go, oh crap, I still haven't done X, Y or Z. Guess I should do a walk through and make myself a list and just get more systematic about attacking things. It's the little clutterey stuff that bugs me.
So maybe its all me. He certainly doesn't act this way with Todd, with the exception of the dreadful barking on Sunday....but he was barking at ME. And I can almost understand him barking when I'm using the weed trimmer or the lawnmower cuz they make BIG noises, but when I go out to sit on the back deck? Or to put sneakers out there to dry in the sun?
Our front deck is enormous...it's about 30 foot wide and runs the entire length of the house. In the afternoons I take the dogs out there when the sun is hot in the backyard and usually sit out there with them once Todd calls that he's on his way home. FIVE dogs mind me blindly. For Shadow I had to put gates up to keep him on the deck. There are black bears in this area and I don't really want him running across the driveway and getting into the deep woods and into trouble. And he is the one who flat out refuses to listen to me.
So, we're getting into a vicious circle. Every day I resent his behavior more, and I *think* in reaction, every day it gets worse. I'm at a loss. I truely don't know what to do with him. And I surely don't like feeling this angry at him all the time.