Oh no she didn’t.
We left Mocha in a kennel this past weekend. When we picked him up, he had on an additional garment. A bandana. Around his neck. Which Mommy later fashioned into an old lady head scarf.
Poor, poor, poor lil Mocha… Does he look happy? I think not.
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You know what’s great for traveling with a dog? A dog hammock car seat cover. It drapes over the rear seats, so your dog can sit back there without falling into the foot-space below the seats. These covers are also generally water-proof (for potentially wet accidents) and washable (for those same accidents).
They work better in sedans and SUVs though. I have a two-seater with small rear seats. The dog hammock seat cover just barely covers those rear seats. If Mocha’s not careful, he can still slide into the bottom foot-spaces. Or, if I’m not careful and stop short. Fortunately, whenever that happens, Mocha just gives me a goofy look, then returns to the seat. Good ole’ resilient boy.
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Woof woof woof. Woof woof woof. Woof woof woof.
Woof woof bark! Bark! Bark bark bark!
Translated from Dog:
I love playing a game of Hide the Ball. Especially in hotel rooms. Although sometimes the ball rolls out from under the bed, where Mommy and Daddy can get it.
Which means I have to scramble out and get it back, quick! Ahhh! Must get the ball back quick!
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Back home, we never let Mocha on the furniture. He abides by those rules faithfully.
When we’re out and about, we don’t let him on the furniture either. He abides similarly.
But this weekend, we decided to spoil him a bit. We let him climb onto the hotel bed. And joy of joys, he loved it. He nestled right between us and fell asleep straight away. It was like having a furry, stinky baby next to us.
Fortunately, he didn’t pick up this habit. Once back home, he didn’t even try to get on our bed.
Good boy! I hope you enjoyed this little splurge!
This past weekend, we took Mocha up to San Francisco and went for a nice run in Golden Gate Park. The little boy loved it. Especially the off-leash area, though the sounds of the city put him on alert a few times.
I guess Mocha’s a country boy at heart; the noisy city just ain’t for him!
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Mocha has been a bit of a difficult dog ever since we left him in a kennel. We’re not entirely sure if it’s the kennel’s fault – they have a good reputation amongst other dog owners in the area and I doubt they mistreated Mocha in any way – though the act of leaving Mocha alone for a while may have triggered his anxieties. Since we rescued him from an animal shelter, it’s possible he was abandoned by his previous owners and started to worry when he felt we were abandoning him too.
However, Mia and I are both busy working professionals with busy schedules. At least once a month, we have to travel or leave Mocha alone for most of the day. We hate doing it, but it’s not always possible to bring Mocha along with us, especially when we’re staying with friends who are not comfortable with dogs either.
So for long trips, we leave him with Melvin & Cabbie’s parents, who take great care of him. Every time I watch them wrestle, I see a great big smile on Mocha. It’s so obvious that he loves being with other dogs.
Which leads us to conclude that his recent behavioral problems may be solvable by getting a second dog. Another solution would be more exercise and activity, which we’ve been trying. A second dog, however, could play with Mocha and give him the social interaction that he craves. Also, we’re not always able to give Mocha the exercise and activity he needs because of our aforementioned schedule. Perhaps a second dog could.
Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. A second dog presents its own challenges, such as increased costs, time to find the right companion, additional training needs, etc. We also know of a few more long trips we’ll need to take. We can’t expect Melvin & Cabbie’s parents to take care of four dogs. Placing two dogs in a kennel for weeks would be damn expensive too. And we couldn’t bring our dogs along on a trip to another country either.
So what do we do? Sigh. We don’t know yet. We’re hoping more exercise, training, patience, and love can help the little guy. Hopefully that will be enough.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Tho… I don’t think Mocha had a very happy one himself.
We dropped him off at a kennel back in September. Since then, he seems to have developed a case of stranger anxiety. At least, that’s my theory.
Before the kennel, he didn’t bark much. After that, he’s been getting increasingly vicious. I don’t think it’s aggression, since his body language hints at fear more than anger. Neighbors, strangers, odd noises at 2AM in the morning, he’ll bark at anything scary.
Then at a camping trip, he lunged at some friends with bared teeth. The growls were a distinctive, “Stay away from me” warning. Lunges are now part of his daily repertoire too.
I watch enough Dog Whisperer to know that us – Mocha’s owners – could be triggering this defensive move with our own anxiety. So we’ve worked hard to maintain a calm & assertive demeanor.
The other problem could be a lack of exercise. However, after alternating days of three-mile runs and dog park romps, he’s still a barking, growling, lunging mess of anxiousness. We might not be exercising him enough though; he might need a marathon to tire his ass out.
Which leads me to why Mocha was in a crate on Thanksgiving. We visited some friends who have young children. Admittedly, we were a little worried about how Mocha would react to them, but remained calm & assertive when introduced him to the others.
We had him on a loose leash while I stood in front of him in a calm, dominant stance. He had on a new PetSafe Bark Control Collar we purchased.
And what did he do?
He barked and lunged at the children. :( He also lunged at an aunt and both parents of the children. His teeth almost bit through their mother’s pants.
This resigned him to an evening in the crate alone, unfortunately.
It was great to see family and friends this Thanksgiving. But for me, the weekend was dampened with concerns for Mocha. What are we doing wrong? What can we do to help this poor guy? Maybe we ought to call up Cesar Milan one day.
Mocha’s staying with a friend this weekend while we’re away. Being the concerned parents that we are, we asked the friend how Mocha’s been doing.
“All’s well,” the friend wrote. “He had lint on his nose at lunch yesterday. We’ve been walk/running a lot… He is def high energy.”
Not sure how he got lint on his nose exactly, but yup, our little Mocha is definitely one high-energy dog. Thanks for dog-sitting him!
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We took Mocha to Big Sur this past weekend. His friends Melvin & Cabbie came along too.
During the trip, Mocha was… difficult. Since leaving him at a kennel, he’s been insecure & nervous, which has manifested as barking at strangers – mostly men, but sometimes women & children too.
At home, this means 2AM barks that wake us and neighbors up. At Big Sur, it meant snarls & growls at our friends. Sigh…
We’ve been trying the exercise, discipline & affection technique that Cesar Milan recommends. We’re also still trying to get him comfortable with a clicker, though he still cowers from it. But perhaps we need the help of a professional dog trainer.
So dog trainer hunting I go. Hopefully I can find a good one nearby. Poor little fellah seems to be pretty insecure these days. I hope some good training will help.
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I don’t think Mocha is ready to go home yet. He’s happy to see us and everything, but the little fellah had so much fun that he just can’t bare to leave his bestest buddies now.
C’mon boy, don’t you miss us? Maybe one day we’ll get you a buddy of your own too… Wink wink. Maaaybe…
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Mocha is a playful 1-year old 25 lb mutt we rescued from a local animal shelter. He loves to run, play, and eat. Don't you?
Mike is was the proud owner of this adorable little guy. We miss him terribly every day.
