BBC News - Iran: MPs propose lashes for dog walkers

BBC News - Iran: MPs propose lashes for dog walkers



What sort of mind works in this manner, stranger than fiction, and more.

More about Baxter

Today I worked hard in the garden and Baxter uses the chance to be a nuisance, chase the mower, dive at the spade when I am digging, tries catching dung as I fling it off to the side. Of course at eleven years old he is not equipped for such fun, his hindquarters are failing.

Locking him up when I am busy is not really an option, I consider that to be unfair to the dog. What keeps him at bay is allowing him to have the ball I keep in the top drawer. He would rather guard the ball than bother me doing my garden tasks.

Today as I was mowing he stood in front of me and dropped the ball, allowing me to pick it up and throw it for him. I normally throw it directly to him, enabling him to catch it with ease, thus saving strain on his hips and legs. For some reason today I forgot to follow my own rule and threw the ball a little further than I should have. Baxter, in his anxiety to get at the ball, tried to run, but of course he could not. What came next surprised me. He hopped at speed just like a kangaroo, moving his back legs in tandem.

Dicky hips did not even hold him back, his hyperactivity still persistent. I need to watch myself in future. If I do not we are bound to have a severe problem.

Baxter, Our Dog

Baxter is eleven years old now and it is difficult to tell for how long he will remain with us, prolonged for a while hopefully with anti inflammatory tablets and cortisone. His condition goes down every once in a while but then he seems to bounce back and his sense of humour, tinged with naughtiness, returns. 

We acquired him as a pup, arriving when my daughter was staying with us. Two weeks later two kittens were added to the household, and then the fun began. All Baxter wished to do was play and socialize, but my wife and daughter were concerned that bodily damage would be done to the kittens. Their reaction was one of almost blind panic  for he rest of the period that Jude and the kittens were with us. Every time Bax showed interest in kitten fun the reaction from wife and daughter was persistently loud and automatic, but blood was never drawn. Ultimately he loved those kittens and to this day he is not inspired to chase on a a cat sighting. Jude and her kittens moved out about two months later. My wife, Jen, stayed.

Baxter has always been a bundle of intense energy and intelligence. Our standing joke is that he suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder and that he should be on Ritalin. Of course we did not go so far as to medicate, allowing him to simply be himself.
Himself could be quite a handful at times, highly reactive. Those reactions were super fast, especially to the sense of impending danger, suddenly awakening from deep sleep and being fully alert in a flash. Our Bax has never been slow, not until the onset of old age at least.
As a young dog  I took him to training and socialization classes from which he benefitted to a limited degree. The classes for me were trying in that our trainer kept changing, each with a  slightly different perspective on how to do things, somewhat confusing at times. The best advice came from the book, ‘Living with an Alien’, by Pam Whyte. Her ideas are different and in some cases difficult to implement. Of course there are bits that one may disagree with, but basic common sense is there. A basic premise is that when a dog is being disagreeable is to ignore the dog, turn your back. This is understood as lack of encouragement by the dog and takes the wind out of his sails; as advised by Pam Whyte. Believe me, this approach works.

Typical of Life with Baxter:       

Baxter, out of the way, I am watching TV.

Baxter, put the cat down.

Baxter, stop biting my feet.

Get that f.....ing dog out of here.

Baxter, OUTSIDE! No stones allowed in the house.

Baxter, sit.

Baxter, get out of my sight.

F....off Baxter.

Nooooooooo! Baxter.

BAXTER, STOP SCRATCHING THE FLOOR.

Baxter, stop digging holes in the garden.

Oh God, my plants. BAXTERRRRRRR.

Get Baxter from under my feet. Baxter, off the couch.

Baxter, stay outside, you are wet.

Oh shit, Baxter is trailing mud into the house.

DAD, BAXTER IS BEING A BLOODY PAIN.

Dad, tell Baxter to stop biting Wayne's feet.

Baxter, put the bathmat down.

Baxter, leave.

Baxter has gone to sleep, thank goodness. Time for bed.

Baxter is a tease and always ready for a game, but like an Alpha dog he has to win. Throw a ball and he will grab it, and woe betide you if you want it back. It is his ball, not yours, and you had better know it. Be patient and he may allow you to regain the ball when he is ready, not before. Dressing in the morning you find a shoe missing; Baxter has it! It is his, not yours. It has got to the stage where we leave a decoy shoe, then you can dress without a flap.

There are seemingly gentle and loving moments. When bending down tying my shoe-laces I would be given a good facial licking, the same when taking a bath. Of course the licking would horrify my wife. No kiss after that!
Like all dogs Baxter looks forward to walks that we take in a nearby park.  I used to be the one who was  taken for a walk. Bax would always be out front dragging me along. It must have looked quite comical to other dog walkers and passers by. I remember once being approached with malicious intent by three dogs, including an Alsatian. The Alsatian launched himself at Baxter but the aggressor found himself pinned to the ground in an instant. I have always wondered why many walkers have avoided me. With age though Bax has become more sedate. Other dogs have usually ben no problem. Just to be sure I always make way when others approach, hanging onto the lead all the while. There have been relatively few incidents while out walking.
At home he has always followed me like a shadow, from room to room. If I shift from the lounge to settle in another room, Bax follows me. The minute we prepare for bedtime, he follows. Occasionally while sitting in the lounge of an evening he would look at us quizzically, move side to side wagging his head, grunting the while, trying to tell us, come on, time for bed.
It is unavoidable that all good things come to an end. Baxter’s legs and hips are starting to give. Now I know the hang-dog look. I have seen it. He sometimes stumbles when walking and I take him out now only once or twice a week, at his insistence of course. I allow him to dictate the direction and length of the walks Thank goodness for the anti inflammatory and cortisone. These are only given after much consideration as in the longer term the medication causes other problems like kidney failure.



Would we welcome another Rotty to our household? Definitely, yes.