Minnie is fat

I've told Kevin this past year that Minnie is fat. He always said that she was muscular. A photo I took a few days ago convinced me that Minnie's girth is alarming. Her chest is now 34" (neck is 22"). She's gained 35 pounds in the four years we have had her.

This past week Kevin has changed his mind and now has called Minnie "LardAss" and is more impatient with her. Her more incessant growling at the other dogs are always food related. She doesn't want anyone else getting to the food bucket. She does have a food obsession that I must work on. She is active but she also likes to eat. She has become food aggressive now toward all the other dogs, including mellow Sammy who barks back at her because that is all he can do at his age. We've separated Minnie at night from the food bucket. With Minnie out of the area, Sadie feels more comfortable and has been eating the dry kibble when Minnie is not around. But when she sees Minnie approaching to claim the food bucket as hers, Sadie backs away. I think her fear of Minnie attacking her is why she lost weight earlier this year; she was afraid to eat! I've now seen her eat well late at night when she is alone. Our dogs are grazers, so they can help themselves at any time to the kibble, but both Sammy and Minnie are obese. Walking them alone isn't going to make them lose weight. It's time to crack down before we kill Minnie with food.

Kevin said that Minnie was growling at Sweetie earlier this week when he was in the kitchen, then growled at HIM when he reprimanded Minnie. That's when Sweetie almost attacked Minnie, as a way to protect her "dad." She is a fearless, tough fighter. This is a first, Minnie growling at either Kevin or me. We can't have aggressive dogs in this pack. So I must do something constructive that won't harm us, the dogs, Minnie, or jeopardize anyone's safety.

I must now try harder to keep Minnie's diet regulated better. I must remove the food bucket at night, or I have Sammy and Minnie separated in the main bedroom while I linger in Eric's old room and stay up and read. I love reading late at night when things quiet down. I will also force Minnie on more walks late at night, down the dirt road and back, to give her special attention. I don't want to take the dogs to the Oaks all the time as I don't want to put attention on myself. Two Tuesdays ago an unmarked county sheriffs vehicle drove down the road while I was walking Sadie, Zeke and Minnie off leash. The sheriff deputy said nothing and just waved at me, but now there's proof that I hang out there in the late afternoon, after all the other dog walkers are gone.

I am even thinking of taking Minnie with me on my summer road trip. I had planned on taking Sadie and Zeke already, though, and a third dog would be too much. Is a third dog in the van even feasible? My plan was to leave in early June for Washington state and explore more of the coast, the border with Canada, and come down the eastern desert. I must be back before Kevin leaves for his flight to Boston in mid-July.

Of course, the weather always plays a factor. Two weeks ago the local meteorologists predicted another hot fire season, as we haven't had any significant rain since early February. That storm we had on April 10th didn't bring much moisture in the valley, and what fell in the mountains quickly was soaked into the soil. We have had strong winds for most of this month, too, and leaves continue to yellow on our area trees.

Tonight's walk was just a mere mile though. The winds kept me from going out earlier, and I should have. It was close to 6:30pm before I got to the Oaks, and started the entire five-dog pack on the single track along the creekbed. We weren't far into the walk when I spotted a curious coyote across the creek stare at us all. Oh shit. Coyotes like to prowl right before dusk. I was curious to see what the dogs would do. My curiosity was quickly answered: only Sweetie took off after the coyote, who revealed to have another dog by her. She yelped with excitement, much like Zeke does when he's chasing rabbits. The other dogs stayed by me and watched. I'm assuming the dog was her older pup. The pup seemed wanting to play, but mom wanted none of that. What started as Sweetie chasing after the coyote quickly turned into the mom dog turning on Sweetie. Even the pup then chased after Sweetie. For a few seconds she was lost behind a few distant trees and tall grass, so I didn't see all that transpired. She showed no fear, and luckily she outran the coyotes and came back to me. The coyote did not cross the creekbed to get any closer to me. I had my arms raised and yelled in a deep voice "Arrrrrr!" which must be Coyote for "back off, bitch!" because the coyotes kept their distance from me.

While this incident lasted only a few minutes, it was a reminder that I must not endanger my dogs by taking them into coyote country. This area around the Oaks is open fields of tall grasses, studded with gambel oaks. Lots of critters live out here. Sweetie's rear left thigh was wet from coyote slobber, which tells me the mom dog did try to snap at her legs to bring her down for the kill. No blood or puncture marks, thankfully, and she didn't seem bothered at all, or shaken up. The other dogs kept sniffing at Sweetie's wet spot, then continued running around the coyote-free area while I finished the 1.2-mile loop slowly with Sammy. Once we got back to the van, we drove home. I was in no mood to walk the usual 3-mile distance so late in the day.

This is my first encounter with coyotes so closely. While I hear them howl around sunset, I've never had one get so close to any of my dogs.

Lesson learned. Again.