This morning, we got out for a run before joining the morning festivities with the kids. We headed to the ridge with the goal of putting in some extra time. I need to step up my marathon training and I hoped to get Kona's energy under control to make things at the house easier.
We found our rhythm and before I knew it, the sun crested the mountains. Kona did some extra exploring, her nose always at work. At one point she froze, sniffing the air.
Can you see what she smelled?
Our run ended too quickly. The day was beautiful and I didn't want to take Kona home where she would be stressed. We were homeward bound nonetheless.
Back at home, things went well. Like many fearful dogs, Kona has a hard time with kids. She's fine with the spastic noises, but not with the spastic movement. Luckily, she didn't feel threatened by my niece and nephew. I knew this because (besides her welcome growl when they arrived) she didn't bark or growl at anyone.
I kept her in the living room with a baby gate when anyone was up and moving. While obviously a bit anxious, she had no trouble eating breakfast and working on a stuffed kong. She also laid down in her bed. When the kids were busy with a stationary activity, I let Kona out. She had no problems approaching the kids for sniffs (though sometimes with giraffe neck) but did several Scooby-Doo runs whenever someone moved unexpectedly.
The best thing for me to see was how quickly Kona bounced back from the scarier moments. Also, now that the house is ours again, she's relaxing as though it's the end of any other day. She's not extra jumpy, sensitive or showing other signs of lingering stress hormones. That seems to say that although Kona wasn't comfortable, her stress never reached a point of no return. I'll take that as a good day.
5 comments:
I see one of Lucinda's relatives there in the brush. Kona must have a GREAT smeller! Not lingering in stress is a good lesson for us all.
I laughed at the giraffe neck description! What great imagery, and one I know well.
I'm so happy that Kona did so well, and was able to be in the same room with them. And it sounds like she didn't hate you at the end of the day for bringing the evil little alien creatures into her house!
What a huge gain for you two.
Im so glad Kona did well with the visitors. I hope you all had a nice weekend visit. Diana
wow, kids are HARD so gosh that is so huge that Kona did wll with them in her house. How neat is that? YEA KONA!
I thought that I saw a mule deer in the brush but Barb says she saw a rabbit. Which was it?
I'm glad that Kona did so well with the kids. It can be SO tough to keep everyone safe, both the dog(s) and the kids in those situations. Good job, Kona and AC!
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