Here We Go A G A I N

Today while Rascal was outside, he saw a squirrel and he took off. Apparently, a 60+ pound dog running at top speed, is enough force to break apart a collar at the snap. And it did. And he was gone.

Since it was so muddy we figured he'd come back when he was tired and we left him alone. But then I looked out my window a while later and saw an older man walking his two dogs and Rascal standing in the middle of the street, looking interested. I threw on my shoes, grabbed the leash and ran out the door.

The man had time to comment that Rascal didn't listen and then he went home.

So I figured I was out here, might as well get Rascal.
Rascal gave me the doggy equivalent of the middle finger a couple times during this whole mess and kept running.
Much to my dismay he ran all the way down the street and crossed the very busy street parallel to the one we live on. He almost got hit by a car. And then he crossed back over and ran down the next street.

He starts sniffing around someone's flowerbed and all of a sudden this lady sticks her head out of the door and starts swearing at me, telling me how I have to have my dog on a leash blah blah blah. I politely (as possible) told her that he had broken his collar and I was trying to get him but she was just really rude. It made me even angrier. She had no idea how angry I was at Rascal or how hard it was to catch him, or even get him to stop running away. And he didn't even look like he was about to mess up her yard or poop in it so she had no right to talk to me like that.

But, moving on.

Muttering mean things under my breath I continued to chase rascal up and down the street until i decided I was ready to give up. Then Rascal caught sight of the dog that belongs to the family I babysit for. I crossed the street and was petting the dog and here comes Rascal trotting up like he was ready for me to open the gate. So i got him... and walked him home.

We passed an old lady who had come out to look at something in her yard. She had two stacks of bricks and one of the stacks had fallen over. She was loudly saying that she didn't know who did it but she'd get him or something like that.

So now all of our neighbors hate us. Not that I care... but.
Only one person stopped to help us. He gave me some treats to try and bribe Rascal but he only ate them really fast and darted away before I could, and then he brought his dog outside to try and help get Rascal's attention.

Anyways, Rascal was covered in mud.
Covered.
And he smelled like poop.
And he was a mess.
So I gave him a bath and he's still not completely clean but we ran out of hot water so he'll have to wait. I also cut a large knot of burs out of his tail.

So, Rascal's Christmas list looks like this:

Obedience School
Fence
Shock Collar

I think my dog hates me...

Today we came home from lunch and I stepped into my room and noticed the smell of dirty diaper, then the sight on my bed. And i was so mad.

Rascal had taken one of Joshua's diapers from the bathroom and chewed it apart, on my bed.
I've yelled at him plenty of times to get off my bed before and so he knows he is not allowed up there.

He tears up my clothes,
He tears up my sheets,
He tears apart dirty diapers on my bed,

maybe he's trying to tell me something.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

THIS IS THE THIRD BED SHEET OF MINE THAT RASCAL HAS TORN UP.
HE HAS RIPPED UP MY NEW (AND ONLY) FLANNEL ONE THAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS LAST YEAR AND TWO OTHERS AND IM SO MAD AT HIM RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!

HE IS ALSO WELL KNOWN FOR CHEWING UP AND DESTROYING VARIOUS ARTICLES OF CLOTHING AND BARFING THEM UP LATER.
HE DOESNT RUIN ANYONE ELSE'S STUFF EXCEPT MINE.

I DONT KNOW WHAT HIS PROBLEM IS BUT IM FED UP WITH HAVING TO COME UP TO MY CLOTHES RUINED AND MY BED DESTROYED.

Bring Out The Big Guns

Today we went to the pet store and we bought a pinch collar for Rascal.

We took it home and I put it on him. We even went for a walk.
He pulled against me once and quickly learned --with a loud yelp-- that was a bad idea.
He was actually well behaved for once. He didn't drag me down the street and he didn't run over to see his friends.

Now, imagine all the things we can do! We can go to the park! We can go for enjoyable walks at home (or away) for once. We can rule the world! Okay, maybe not that yet, but we're working on it.
But now we can actually enjoy taking him for walks instead of dreading them. And that'll be good for everyone involved.

Forget R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I decided that since Rascal had been good for a while I would give him a little chance to prove himself.

He sat a whole three yards away from me and i was going to make him sit and stay and then call him to come when i opened the door.

Well when I said "come" he took off running.
Not on his normal route.
He had to stop and scare a couple kids first and then decided to visit every backyard he could get into on the parallel street to the normal one.

If there's one thing i hate, its going onto other people's property.
He totally blew me off. My calls fell on deaf ears and he just ambled along unless i got too close then he would dart.

Ussually everyone chases after him running and screaming and its just a game to him.
So i thought either i would let him get run over, get mauled by an angry rottweiler or catch him easier.

That theory went down the toilet.
I made Jake go home because he does more damage than good half the time and only makes Rascal run faster.

Finally after trespassing about 50 times a guy came out of his house and called Rascal. It was the guy, me, or try to get past me and down the drive way.
So he dodged the guy and came my way, finally.

So I don't know what to do. Its times like these I wish someone would hit him with a car and he'd learn his lesson and never ever run away again. And that's a really bad thing to think about your dog. And there's no form of discipline that will fix this. We've tried everything and he doesn't care. Sometimes I just want to let him run and see if he'll ever come back, other times I have cried or been on the verge of tears because I don't know what to do.

Happy 1st Birthday

Today was Rascal's first birthday. We didn't really do anything special. He was actually really bad today. He ran away twice and was playing with the cats.

But he's really grown up a lot since last August when we got him.

Rascal

We've been taking Rascal for walks and playing with him almost every day.
So it makes me especially mad when he gets the occasional chance to be bad and he takes it and makes it as bad as he possibly can.

Today I put him outside and the chain to his choker collar broke so he figured it out pretty quick and took off with his ball.
He's figured out he can cut through our neighbors' unfenced backyard and run up the street in front of our neighbors' house and find his buddy's house.
Then he runs around like some wild crazy animal and is almost impossible to catch.

So now Rascal lost his favorite toy and now we dont have a choker collar.

Walking back to our house he was a perfect little angel, walking right where he knows he's supposed to walk. Funny thing is he never walks JUST beside me at MY pace. He's constantly pulling and sniffing and trying to chase after squirrels which makes me really mad.