Puppy Training and Ab Work Outs...

Friday afternoon was another beautiful day, so I opted to walk outside again instead of hitting the gym. The weather would be turning cold over the weekend, and I wanted to enjoy one last day in the sun. My husband had gotten home from work early, and he was going to join me for my walk. It would be reminiscent of our walks on the cruise only without the swaying. As we were getting ready to head out the door, I suggested to my husband he put our dogs away, but he declined. They had already been locked up for most of the day while we were at work, and he thought we should allow them a little freedom. I wasn't sure I agreed, but I didn't disagree enough to challenge the decision. We set out for our walk, but I couldn't help but start worrying about what we would find when we got home.

We have two dogs. Both are rescue mutts. One we found on a rainy Sunday afternoon outside of the Harley-Davidson store where I worked. He ran right up to the front door of the store looking for shelter and food. After a week of trying to find his owner unsuccessfully, he joined our family and quickly settled into the position of resident King Dog. The interesting thing about Zeus is your initial impression would probably be, "Wow, that's one ugly little dog!", but after spending a little time with him, you would start to  view him with rose colored glasses, the ugliness would fade and all you would see is his cute, and quirky personality. Zeus has been part of our home now for about ten years now, and as he has aged, he has grown increasingly more lethargic, and definitely more entitled, but he has maintained his status as the king of the house and number one Alpha dog despite his diminutive size.

Hines is our newest addition. He joined our household a little over a year ago. He was part of a litter of puppies that was abandoned in a nearby forest. My oldest daughter spied him at the local pet adoption fair and once she held him, the deal was sealed. There are few people who meet Hines who don't immediately remark on how cute he is. He looks every bit the scruffy mutt even and he has somehow managed not to age out of that puppy look even though he is almost two years old.  This seems to be his natural defense, as it protects him like a shield from  the constant mischief he manages to find. He is messier than either of our children, but he looks up with his big brown eyes and floppy ears and all is quickly forgiven. Zeus and Hines have helped fill my empty nest moments as no one else could.

As we set out for our walk, I continued dwelling on the trouble that  the pups might find. It didn't generally take long for the two of them to stir up problems. A quick trip to the store for milk could result in strewn toilet paper throughout the house. One particularly memorable day when we neglected to leave the dogs gated in the kitchen for far too long resulted in a grapefruit sized hole in our leather club Love Seat. Curiously enough when we entered the room where the damage had occurred, Zeus had positioned a small pillow on top of the hole and was laying on it. Whether he was trying to hide the damage or point it out, I'm still not sure, but the real guilty party was pretty apparent as he ran up to us happily sporting a piece of foam caught in his beard. I decided if I was going to enjoy my walk though, I had to either turn back around and gate them in or just let go of the my worries and hope for the best. At this point if I turned around, I might not head back out, so I decided to just let go of my concerns,

You can imagine my relief when we did return and the house was still in tact. I was pleasantly surprised as I surveyed the place. Other than a few stray toys, everything was where it should be. I could relax and close out my work out with a quick Ab routine. So I popped down on the living room floor and started my crunches. I had only gotten to my third count when suddenly I felt a toy dropping on my face. Hines was standing over me with his new Hedgehog, and he apparently thought I was playing. Every time I lifted myself up for a crunch, he would pop the toy down on my face. I tried valiantly to push him away, to no avail. After I finished the first 25 reps, I stopped for a break. "Sit", I commanded Hines. And he ever so obediently sat with his little toy in his mouth, and looked happily up at me. "Stay", I commanded, and he watched intently as I laid back down into my crunch position. "Very good", I thought to myself,  and I began my next set of reps. He waited five crunches this time, and then I had a wet hedgehog in my face yet again. I tried once again, to engage him to sit, but the call to play was too much for him and he continued to drop his toy up and down on me as I tried diligently to complete my next set. I finally gave up trying to control his actions and just gutted through the rest of my crunches, adding a little extra muscle work-out from my constant giggling. I had only myself to blame, I had treated Hines as the ultimate Grand-puppy; I had left the training to Charlie and the spoiling to me, and now I was paying the consequences. Perhaps when my Ab work out was over, I'd work a little on Puppy Training.