I Literally Scared the Piss Out of the Dog

So, for reasons that don't really need to be gone into, I got really made this last evening. Really, really, really mad. I have not been so mad in a very long time. I was shaking with anger. And it was just one of those things that you have to let out or else you'll explode. So I engaged in some therapeutic throwing and hitting of inanimate object---the sort of stuff that makes a satisfying mess but in no way damages persons or property (and was intended to be as such---I was mad but I definitely didn't want to hurt anyone or anything like that).

Well, at first Zim was fine with this. In fact, he thought I wanted to play and I even took a couple of breaks from my rage to play with him. After all, none of this was his fault and I knew he didn't know what was going on, so I wanted to make sure nothing but good stuff was directed at him. And that worked great for the first couple of outbursts. The third one, though, that scared the hell out of him, I think because unlike the other two times he was within a couple of feet when I lashed out (not at him or even in his direction, just closer to him than I had been before). Well, that did it. I scared him horrible. Touching him made him stiff and nervous, licking his lips. His tail dropped and he wouldn't take any hamburger from me. Finally, after he'd spend some time holed up under a chair he came out and peed on the upstairs landing. I'm pretty sure it was because his bladder was just too full to be that scared.

I felt pretty horrible about it. We took him on a walk right afterward (immediately after we peed we decided we should have done that earlier), and that seemed to help---in fact after we got back he has even taken the time to thoroughly lick my hand when offered, but I still can't help but worry that he's still wary of me. Normally, I'm his safe place. I make things okay, or at least less scary. I'm scared that I've really damaged that. I probably haven't, really---after all, he seems to have mostly forgiven me already and it's only been a few hours (he's curled up at my feet in bed right now even), but I do worry that it's now lurking in his head that I can be unpredictable and that maybe I'm not so safe after all. Hopefully he'll quickly decide that I really am safe and go back to thinking as he always has---that I would really never hurt him---but I've never scared him like that before (he doesn't really scare easily) and where I feel like we are now is a long was from where we were this afternoon---him cuddled up close and using my back as a pillow.

Have I mentioned I feel really bad about the whole thing? Because I really do. I was trying not to scare him, to show him that even if I was mad, the only thing directed at him was going to be love, but obviously that didn't go terribly well.

The lesson from all of this? If I'm going to be that angry, I think I need to find somewhere I can be mad where I'm just not around the dog at all. It's just not worth it when the dog is around, even if I feel better. I never want to scare him like that again.

Zim's Exciting, Active Day

So, Zim had an exciting day yesterday.

First, he went to daycare because Fathead and I had finals (bleh!). We left him there until about 4:30 because we figured there was really no point in cutting short his fun. He hadn't been to daycare since the Thursday before (almost a week!) so we thought it would be good for him to have a nice, long day at daycare.

Then, about an hour or two after we got home, a friend called wanting me, him and Zim to go to the dogpark, because he'd finished a take-home final and wanted some social interaction outside and he figured that was the best way to get me to go out. Zim was napping, so I hemmed and hawed, but I did agree. So we harnessed Zim, took his car tether out of our car and put it into my friend's and we were off to the dog park. Even though he'd been at daycare all day, Zim got all excited when we got to the dog park and did have a good time. There was even a kid there, probably around 6 years old, that Zim loved. They played chase for quite a while (trading off who was the chaser and the chasee) and Zim just thought it was the best thing ever (my little boy loves kids).

After that, we left and picked up Fathead, who'd been napping, and went to grab some food. Since we had Zim with us and it was a nice day, we decided we wanted to go somewhere that had outdoor seating that would let us keep Zim with us, so we went to Jupiter's. Zim was relatively well behaved, although we had been sitting quite a while before he settled---he wanted to explore the who place since it was new---and he did find something to bark at very briefly (not sure what). Still, he was good and he even met some new people, which is always something I love to see happen when we take him out. Socialization doesn't end past puppyhood and we still try and take Zim everywhere we can. This was only the second time we took him with us somewhere to eat, though, and with the nice weather I think we should make more of a habit of it. Being able to go out and bring the little dog is an awesome thing.

Finally, we went out and got some ice cream at Jarling's. Because somehow my friend still had room for ice cream and the have entirely outdoor seating that allows dogs. While we were waiting there, Zim saw one of his daycare buddies, a yellow lab named Luke.

After that, we went home and Zim collapsed into sleep shortly thereafter. Fathead probably took him for one last walk before bed after I fell asleep myself, but other than that, he's been asleep ever since---somewhere around 12 or 13 hours. Puppy is pooped.

Zim is the Daily Grown Up Puppy!

Click here to see Zim's write-up on the Daily Puppy.

Zim's Relations

Since I just found out that Zim is a Taro grandson, I thought I'd post some pictures of some of his relations, just for fun.

Zim's Sire, Kisaragi no Souten go Amamisou (Ike):

Zim's dam San Jo Jewel of Denial (Jewel):

Zim's grandsire through his dam, the most popular Shiba Inu Sire ever in the United States, Tenkuu go Etchuu Wakasugisou (Taro):

Zim's full uncle through his sire and the 2011 Nippo Champion, Kisaragi no Kouten go Amamisou (Kouten):

Zim's half-sister through his dam, Royal's Once You Go Black (Beyonce):

Zim's half-sister through his sire, Royal's Mistress of the Night:

For more information about Zim and his relations, check out his pedigree.

Too Funny.

Sharing this "witness statement" from a K9 in Britain because, as someone who interns with a prosecutor's office and actually prosecutes cases (well, traffic tickets), this strikes a special point of humor for me because witness statements are such an everyday thing to me.

Picture from the Huffington Post Article below

Original Article from the Huffington Post

Zim's Professional Photos, the Final Product

Done by the wonderful Angel Sallade (her Facebook Page and website), here is the final product of all the professional photos we got done of Zim.

Home Again (Well, Sort Of)

So, we're not actually home, as in living in Champaign again, but we are home in the sense that Fathead and I have returned to our little precious after having gone to NYC for New Year's and being unable to take Zim with us (we were crashing on couches and no one had a pet friendly apartment).

Zim was, predictably, very happy to see us. We came right inside without even unpacking the car because we missed fuzzbutt and he immediately mobbed us (well, mostly me but there was some indecision) at the door. Once he was done, we spent a couple hours visiting with my in-laws and telling them about the trip with Zim sat in my lap soaking up the love.

While we were gone, Zim had been staying with my in-laws and by all accounts he had a very good time. One day he went up with my in-laws to see my sister-in-law's house. Here, he met with Molly and they had a rousing good time chasing each other all over the uncarpeted house. And, predictably, he was a very good traveller for my in-laws while they drove there and back. He laid down and went to sleep and not a peep was heard from him, which was apparently not what they were expecting (possibly because he's a lot more barky at homes that aren't our home).

On a different day, he got to go bird watching with my father-in-law all day and again had a rousing good time. Even more shocking, he did not scare away the birds. So he spent the whole day out, being active and sniffing and peeing on things to his little heart's content. He even got to see a small owl up close, which he barked at (just once) and which was entirely unbothered by him.

Other than that, Zim spent the whole time either being walked around or recovering from his activities by being dead to the world. He also ate pretty well, which I was somewhat surprised about. Apparently the key is to gently warm his food in the microwave and then to make sure you mix it so there are no hot spots. Apparently they spoiled him even more than I do (although I'm now planning on warming his food for him myself). Hell, I even saw him sucker my mother-in-law out of a bit of cookie and she's not even an animal person (as in, doesn't particularly like animals and is basically indifferent to them).

So, this was the longest we'd ever been away from Zim (four days) and I do think it was a rousing success. He did very well and was very happy, which I'm very pleased about.