My plan for today was to walk Fritz around the neighborhood, then head out to the house to clean out the office. Most of the stuff in my old office is no longer salvageable.
Things didn't work out that way, though. I didn't start walking Fritz until 10am. We had just turned the corner on Kalispell, when Gretchen comes speeding around the corner. She had gotten out of the yard and ran to join us. Her running got Fritz pulling on the leash trying to go after her and I struggled to keep him on the leash. My priority now was getting Gretchen back in the yard.
I took Fritz back to the house to be able to capture Gretchen. I guess I had not properly latched the side gate and she had pushed her way out to freedom, but then how did she get out of the back yard? Once she was back on a leash, I took her for the 2.35-mile walk that I had wanted to take Fritz on.
All the neighbors around CC have dogs and she knows where they all are now. There is a German shepherd across the street and a mountain dog around the corner that jumped his fence to get to Gretchen. (And the owner blamed me for allowing Gretchen to talk his dog to jump his own fence!) She ran from house to house trying to taunt any dog behind the fence. She came back to me panting after her attempts were unsuccessful, so getting her back in the yard was easy as she needed water.
But just minutes later she was out the yard again. That ungrateful bitch!!! The neighbor across the street came by to tell us she was on the loose again. Now I was perplexed. How was she getting out?
Trip (CC's husband) checked the fence and placed large rocks around holes Gretchen has been digging under the fence. Can she squeeze under an opening? She is a thin dog for sure, but not thin enough to squeeze under three inches. I still wasn't satisfied with how she is escaping the yard.
She got out three times. "Dogs!" exclaimed Jay (another housemate of Tripp's) as Jay walked out to his car, aware of the drama. By then it was 11am and I had wanted to be at the house by then. On the third escape I saw her in action: She ran to the southern edge of the chain-link fence, jumped and then used the links to push herself up and over the fence to freedom. Fritz ran after her, but he's too heavy to pull himself over the fence and began whining because he was alone now.
My only option now was to lock Gretchen in her kennel. I hate doing this, but I can't have her running around this neighborhood annoying others. The kennel is 4' x 8', so not much room to move around in. I will have to take her on walks when I get home every day for her exercise.
Shortly after that ordeal was resolved, I heard from Susan. She had gotten a flat tire on her way to a hike nearby and was stranded in Whetstone. She was supposed to meet me at my house after the hike to pick up Sweetie's medication. We were both late for our plans and ended up meeting at her house at 1:40pm. I had wanted to see Sweetie anyway as it's been a few weeks. Living in one spot, having dogs in two spots and working full time gives me little time to just sit around and chat with Susan.
Susan had called a few days ago saying she didn't think Sweetie had much longer, as she whimpered in pain all the time and was very restless.
Susan and Sweetie were in front of her garage, in the shade, as I pulled up. I could see the pain in Sweetie's face even from from the 30 feet distance. She reminded me of Zeke's face shortly before he died. She has aged a lot this past year. Her muzzle is greyer and her movement slow. If only she could speak!
Susan wanted Sweetie to pee in her front yard, but she was having trouble walking. But once she defecated, she walked better and slowly followed Susan back into her house.
I ended up staying with Sweetie and Susan until 6pm. Susan is very gentle with Sweetie. Sweetie paced from inside the house to outside for a good hour before she finally lay down and napped. That's when Susan and I sat down and chatted, like old times. We talked about our old dogs: Allie, Zeke, Minnie.
Sweetie has an appointment with Dr Jackson on March 12th. I plan on being with her. If Sweetie's pain can be managed with medication, I want to prescribe her that. But if the blood test reveals cancer anywhere, I'm OK with letting Sweetie pass on humanely. Letting her go will relieve her of her chronic pain, but it ill devastate me as she's the last connection I have with Kevin. Sweetie was Kevin's dog and she adored him.
Needless to say, I got nothing accomplished at the house. Will try again tomorrow.
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