Hi all.We have had,or should I say I have had three nasty experiences in the last two days regarding our little Dawson. Yesterday he quietly came and laid by my side.I was unaware and got up from the outside table and nearly trod on his head!!! Today I was sitting on a chair and moved the position and once again he was there and I didn't know and was lucky not to hurt him. The final straw was a few minutes ago when the backdoor slammed just as he was coming out into the garden and what might have happened isn't something to think about. So today door catches are a must and we must start thinking dog at all times nearly to the extent of paranoia.
Car doors too - OH banged Poppy's head with the car door when she was little and it took her YEARS to get over her aversion to his car. Also (and this is really terrible) I nearly ran our puppy over after we'd only had him for two weeks. OH shut the dogs in the house, then opened the gate for me, and I backed my car into the driveway. As I opened my car door to get out, there was little Merlin right by the car door, wagging his tail.. The front door was shut, but he'd gone out through the back door... We were both aghast, and I can hardly bear to think about it even now. A really bad accident can happen in an instant.
I am just loving the image of Dawson coming to lie beside you, so quietly you don't know he's there. So I will add to your observation about inexperience. My add is, sometimes very good puppies are a hazard in a way that makes us appreciate some commotion from them. I am pretty aware and Oban is 9 years but still, I fear one day I will run over his ear with my office chair. He likes to lie under my desk, beside my feet. The chair is on wheels. I could jump up suddenly (a cat scrabble outside, a cat induced crash inside maybe) and roll over his ear.
It's a bit like having toddlers, I am risk assessing everything LOL. Our back door slammed yesterday and we were all in the garden - it really made me jump and I thought thank goodness one of the dogs wasn't near by. In the kitchen I always get twitchy about pans with boiling water or hot oil - checking the floor as to where the puppy is - she moves around silently. Shame dogs don't check us out - I have several bruises on my feet where Red has dropped toys on me!
Bless you xx They soon learn to get out of the way of clumsy folks (e.g. me!). But yes, I know what you mean. Doors can be a special kind of menace. My pups have to go on trains, trams and buses a lot - they never keep their tails out of harms way from feet, wheelchairs, prams etc - and when I tuck them under they flop them out again .
I had two ferrets until fairly recently. We learnt with them to never walk anywhere, only shuffle. No saying when a ferret would run out and position herself under your foot! We looked like a pair of geriatrics shuffling around the house all the time I'm sure you'll get used to his little ways!
We have to check our blind spot every time we step backwards in the kitchen as Alfie's favourite place to lie is right behind you!
The one we have to watch is tiny Nelly ! Sam is a little hard to miss , although he does have a penchant for lying across doorways , and just as we are stepping over him, he stands up ! Nell is a liability, being so little , I live in fear of standing on her x
I think everyone can relate to this one way or another. I am constantly looking where Harley is when I'm cooking or cleaning as she likes to follow me and stands behind me!
I learned the "chihuahua shuffle" (which sounds similar to the "ferret shuffle") when I had my chi fosters and still do it now as I am auntie to chi girl Fine and she is at my place a lot. Don't worry, little Dawson will survive (and soon become and much-harder-to-miss BIG Dawson) and "thinking dog at all times" will soon be second nature.
LOL, try doing laundry with kittens around. The only place for me to put the stray Mum and her four babies was the laundry room. Once they were able to move around EVERY single wash was: load washer, count kittens - 1, 2, 3, 4. Move wet clothes to dryer, count kittens - 1, 2, 3, 4. Put new dirty clothes in washer, count kittens - 1, 2, 3, -- 4? Where's 4? Stop dryer, pull stuff out, no 4. Where's 4? Panic setting in. Ah, there she is in her bed asleep.
I'm still mad at OH for two puppy accidents - he stepped on Quinn's paw her second day home and she cried and ran to me holding her paw up and he also shut her paw on the car door early on (not all the way). The good news is she likes him and holds no grudge (unlike me)!
My friends oh damaged her kitten so badly by walking on it that it had to have .surgery. HE was not popular for some time
This sounds very similar to our incident with Alex. The other day my son shuffled the footstool and one of the legs unfortunately landed on Alex's right paw. Alex yelped and ran towards me, shaking his paw in my face. We were all rather distraught, and my son was crying. But thankfully, within minutes all was okay and Alex was back to his usual self running about the place. I was so worried thinking that he would be really hurt, but he was fine, and it's finally taught my son a lesson to be cautious at all times.
