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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Speaking of being bored & mopey, Mocha is beginning to perfect his “Please won’t you play with me?” backwards stare. He’ll lie down spread eagle with balls in his paws, then look back at us with these big, sad doggie eyes. He’s a heartbreaker, this one.
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Mocha sometimes sits at our feet while we work, waiting patiently for us to play with him. Did I say patiently? I meant impatiently.
He’ll paw at us, jump up and down to try to catch our attention, or curl up and mope. Here he is moping. Sometimes Mommy breaks and leans over to pet him. Then Mocha is all happy wags. But when Daddy is busy, very little can break his attention (except for stealing an occasional photo, heh). All Mocha can do in those cases is mope mope mope.
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Whine whine whine. Woof woof woof woof woof woof. Bark woof woof. Bark bark bark? Bark?
Whine. Woof woof woof. Whine whine whine.
Translated from Dog:
This is boring. I don’t want to just sit here and wait for Mommy to shop. I want to run around and play fetch. Can we play fetch Daddy? Pul-leeze?
Aww poop. I don’t like sitting and waiting. This is boring.
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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 knows something is up. We’re packing our things and only some of his things – like just enough to be left at, say, Melvin & Cabbie’s place. And no amount of consoling will make him feel better.
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Mocha is not allowed in certain rooms and he’s good about that rule. So when he wants to play, he’ll hang out at the threshold with a ball and give us a sad face. Dawww.
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Whine whine whine. Whimper whine whine. Whimper whimper whimper. Whine whine whine. Sniff sniff.
Translated from Dog:
Where’s Daddy going? Why is he leaving me behind? Why didn’t he take me with him? Is he going to come back? Sniff sniff.
P.S. Gee, get a load of the Natural Balance Dog Treats by the window. Nice product placement, huh? That was totally unintentional. Honest.
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.
