Today I’m blogging from home because Mum is a little mad at me. I had a setback at work this week and she thought I needed a little time off. It wasn’t because of snoozin’ on the job or even because of sniper attacks. It was because I took it upon myself to create a new job title: Dog the Bounty Hunter: you break the leash law and I’m coming after you!
I love the Fall because I get to push my treat ball around a little longer, sniff the new stuff a
Whoa, he’s big!
little longer and play with my friends a little longer. Mum loves the Fall because she gets to work with me. This isn’t treat tasting kind of work, it’s more like back to school. Instead of ignoring other dogs to avoid sniper attacks, I get to meet and greet well-mannered pups. For my own reasons which I’ll get to later, I feel threatened by overly excited and rambunctious dogs, so we still avoid them. This week a woman came in with her big Golden. She respected that Mum told her that we couldn’t meet and she took her dog around the corner. The Golden had another plan and came right at me. My reaction, though not right, is understandable when being rushed at by a dog outweighing me by 50+ lbs while completely cornered. I clocked him right on the nose.
Mum checked to see if he was okay. He was. His owner was okay too and apologized for allowing him behind the counter. Then, on her way out she said “Who knew Winnie was so vicious?”. Me? Vicious? Huh? I was virtually trampled!
Bossing a couple of pups around
You see, I wasn’t always this way. *Cue the sad violin solo here* I started out as an awesome store dog. I loved all the pups that came in. I’ll share some photos of me playing with dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds. One day, when I was about 7 months old, I was resting on my perch on top of the counter at our old space when a newly adopted big German Shepherd came into the store. He jumped up onto the counter and grabbed me. I was very scared and to this day I’m not a fan of shepherds but I still loved all the other dogs. Then, a couple of months later, I startled two dog-aggressive terriers and they snatched me out of my bed, Pterodactyl style. At this point, I still liked most dogs. Finally, a little while after that, I was leaving the store with Mum when an Australian Shepherd hanging out with his owner on our bench put two holes in my nose. Then it was on. Sniper force activated. All dogs are threats.
It has taken many hours and many dog meetings for me to not feel pressured to sniper attack any and all dogs that come into the Digs. Many may think why still bring me to the store? I come to the store because I love it! I love all the goodies and seeing my friends. I have people and dogs that visit me on a daily basis. Not all dogs end up being good store dogs. Having a constant flow of people, kids and dogs coming into your space can be very invasive at times. My brother Cooper found it to be too stressful. He couldn’t get comfortable. For a dog to be uncomfortable and tired for 8+ hours a day is too much. He makes a special appearance every now and then, but after about 20 minutes, he’s whimpering at the door like a big baby. I, on the other hand, have no problem ignoring most people and dogs. I don’t let customers interrupt my beauty sleep.
When we decided to move from across the street, Mum and team had a few ideas to help
Frankie and I snuggling in our nook.
us dogs feel more secure. They thought that by creating a cozy little nook, we would feel safe and hidden. They also thought that by making it somewhat tight quarters behind the counter it would deter others from entering. Unfortunately, most dogs don’t understand that the areas behind cash registers are for employees only. When this happens, our safe little nook becomes a tight, trapped, corner of hell. To remedy this, our Mums block dogs (and people) from entering. When the occasional dog or person pushes through (it happens) we react one of two ways. We either give in and get out of cozy bed to say hi or… we act out of fear. Imagine how you’d feel waking up to a big slobbery stranger in your face.
Aren’t I cute? Showing off my scarred nose thanks to an Aussie.
I’ve done many things I’m not proud of. I tried pushing a perfectly well behaved German Shepherd out of the store by force. I got a little snippy at a lovely little Cocker Spaniel. Last week, I didn’t even have to see Rocco and Muddy the Bulldogs before barking at them “Don’t you come back here!”. Sorry guys. I know I look perfect, but I’m not. Mum says she isn’t giving up on me and is making me book a session with Auntie Jen. She’ll whip us both into shape. In the meantime, I’ll be back at work soon. . . snoozin’ and avoidin’.
Until next time . . .
XOXO
Winnie
