Monday, April 13, 2009

The Pain of Rain

We're not sure Jan appreciates how much effort it is for we 3 woofies to walk her several times a day. But we care about her, so rain or shine, in sickness or in health, we make sure she is well-exercised daily. We take her on long walks, stopping to eat acorns or take a pre-pee sniff. We pull in 3 different directions to give her arms and back a good stretch. Thanks to us, she should be in excellent shape.

But we realize no matter what we do for her, she will never be content. Just always complaining.

Last year she complained all summer that because of the drought we've been in for several years, we had no lawn. Only weeds. Which she was forever swinging at with a weed chopper.

This spring we've had rain, rain and more rain. And did we ever have a lawn! But was she happy? Nooooooo! She complained she had to go out in the rain every day to swing the weed chopper at the tall grass. We thought it was great having such a lush dining table so we could graze outside and hurl inside.

After rain, before mowing






And then last week we had a sunny Thursday. A friend dropped off a lawn mower and Jan shaved our lush dining table. We cried at our loss. Jan moaned and complained about how much her whole body hurt because the tall grass was so hard to push a mower over. We barked at everything -- kids, bikes, cars -- on our walks to drown her out. We couldn't get her moving faster than a crawl.

After mowing




We thought she would do better after a day or two, but we didn't realize there wouldn't be any place for her to sit down at the car show to benefit the Humane Society on Saturday. When she finally got home, we were so excited to see her we rushed her right out the door and up the street.

Did she appreciate it? Well, let's just say we wished we were wearing ear plugs. She moaned and groaned and barely moved. No, don't pull! Stop yanking! Slow down! Stop! Don't move! Get back here! U-turn, let's go home!

We really felt unappreciated. And yesterday was the same. Today is another rainy day, so not only did she move "in reverse," she refused to walk through big puddles, so our walk was even shorter. We haven't been able to take her on a proper walk since last Wednesday. And she needs the exercise!

At first we considered trading her in for a newer model human. But we decided we'll give her another chance.

Mainly because we felt kind of sorry for her when her friend called after she got back from the benefit yesterday and said he will be dropping off the lawn mower again early this week because more rain is coming (it's here!) and his little mower can't handle tall grass. Her side of the conversation consisted of, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" So he's going to bring his riding mower instead.

Looks like we'll all be on comfort alert for .... however long it takes her to recover. It better be soon or we'll have to start training her to walk properly on a leash all over again.

Sheeesh, a dog's work is never done!

(s) Buddy, Merci & Samaritan

PS -- The woofies aren't the only ones on comfort alert. We kitties have been waiting longer (and patiently) for our food and spending more time sitting on Jan so she won't fall out of the chair. So we're a big help too!

But, oh, dear, Jaaaaaan, it's time to clean the litter pans! Nooooooooooow!

(s) Crystal, Cotton, Cyndi, Percy, Cameron & Rusty

26 comments:

  1. A kitties and doggies work is never done...

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  2. Tell your mom to send us some rain. Our grass is all brown and crunchy. And some have fires eating their grass.

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  3. We do not gets it? Why wud a bean complain of exercise? I mean really, us kittys and woofies do it - after a nap that is.

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  4. I like to munch the luscious green grass and then Mom complains because I too hurl it around the house (but I try to be careful and only do it in the basement where it's not so hard to clean up.) We have gotten lots of rain here, but the guy with gray hair and a beard who's married to Mom hasn't had to get the lawn mower out yet. I think it's still been a bit too cold to get our grass to grow too long yet. But, it's coming. My Mom can't wait till it gets warm enough to sit out on the deck.

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  5. I know exactly what you mean. The quality of a walk is determined by the weather/landscape conditions, blah blah. My Mama could use a good workout too but there's too much mud! There's no such thing as too much mud, right?? Hope you all had a great Easter!

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  6. Hey guys,
    We are studying hard to improve our vocabulary. Could you pleases askes Ms. Jan if the 5 letter "B" word associated with lady dogs is a noun, a verb, or both? We figure she'll know. Thanks.
    - TBH

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  7. You guys certainly have your work cut out for you with that Jan!! But remember she is the one that feeds you and gives you yummy treats and lets you sleep inside.


    Big Sloppy Kisses
    Gus, Louie and Callie

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  8. Indeed, the work of a kitty and woofie is never done. It's good though that you guys are all putting in such hard work for Jan. Hope you had a Happy Easter, and a nice week too. All the best :)

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  9. Hoooomans are a strange bunch!

    They feed the grass to make it green and grow...and then they khut it down....until it grows again...etc!

    I soooo applaud woo fur your efFURts in keeping her limbs stretched and limber!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

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  10. Beans are soooo hard to please, aren't they?

    We wanted to thank you for your kind words after Jill's passing. They were very much appreciated.

    Roxy, Lucky, Mom, Dad & PlusOne

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  11. We are often under-appreciated, aren't we? We are going to have to agree with Jan on this one though. We have had rain, rain and some more rain, too. We are Not Allowed to go Outside when it rains. Besides, we do not want to be wet. All this rain is No Good!

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  12. Humans are so hard to train. Mommy is always complaining that I want to walk to fast. Honestly you would think she didn't have a clue about the benifits of walking at a fast pace v. a slow crawl. ~Fenris

    Our litter boxes need cleaning too. Mommy went hunted up some litter so the guy beans have no excuse for not cleaning them. Last week we were out of litter and it was all Mom's fault. This week we are out of dog treats (poor Fenris doesn't know that yet). ~Socks, Scylla, & Charybdis

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  13. Tell Jan, we Dog Woods canines are happy to dig up your grass for free!!! That way she'd won't have to suffer all the aches and pains of mowing and lawn and have more attention for yooousss!!

    Licks and Wags

    Tuffy & the Dog WOods Pack

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  14. We've had lots of rain here, too. I think our mom must like toweling us off, 'cuz she's sure done a lot of THAT lately! I made sure to take her on extra walks, just so she could do more towel action!
    Play bows,
    Zim

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  15. Nice lawn ^^
    Here at home we also have a great lawn, but I still am afraid to exploit it =x

    Jas & Gi

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  16. LOL, good thing she has you guys to keep her on her toes!

    Wags,
    Benson and Gibson

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  17. Yes, humans can be hard to please. When my puppy Pen tries to spare Mommy the trouble of a walk by going on the carpet, he gets no appreciation at all! MOL!

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  18. The Big Thing makes sure ta let some grass in corners grow long enough ta chew on, so we are OK on that.

    But the litterboxes better be cleaned at LEAST twicet a day OR ELSE...

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  19. Poor Jan! My mom is very lucky because her next door neighbor loves to do yard work and he mows our lawn.

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  20. Wow, I never knews how much work you woofies do!

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  21. Silly hoomin beanz! Dey alwayz com-planez boutz sumpin! OK?

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  22. My goodness! You are all so busy taking care of Jan! Don't forget to give her big slurpy kisses and lots of love bites!

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  23. We's gotten lots of rain too - Pop bean is the one who mows! It's never ending tho!

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  24. I'm still chuckling...btw, your lawn looks a heap nicer than ours. But, oh, the recovery from all that back-breaking work! Mr.G & I are still aching from cleaning the house before Easter...lol...

    Take care,
    V. (who's only pets are stuffed & sitting on the shelf - sorry:-)

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  25. I must admit, if is wasn't for my kitties I probably wouldn't get out of bed most mornings. But, due to their persistence and need for stinky goodness I crawl out to tend to them. I am a cat slave. :)
    Be patient woofies and kitties and just rest with her.
    Hugs,
    Lorianna

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  26. Poor Jan, not only are there many at your place to keep her busy with the work but old mother nature seems to add to that too.
    Great seeing you at Karl's party today. Always fun to get together.

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