One Second Whilst I,

Every time I leave the room and my dog has to entertain himself for 30 seconds, I always tell him I'll be back in a minute. Whilst he doesn't sit there staring at his watch (most likely because he doesn't have one) waiting for me to return, I know that dogs do have a sense of time if you always stick to a timed routine that they can learn; he always knows the exact time my dad should be home, and he sits in the window sulking if he isn't there.

It's weird because I am used to being so very independent, and never having to explain where I am going to be, so it's rather strange to have to explain myself to a small animal in order to leave a room. Granted, he looks at me with his sad eyes which ask me not to go. 

Part of the problem is that Ted gets freaked out by a lot of things and it makes him very reactive. He's reactive when we leave him, around other dogs and apparently to me talking about him because I tend to speak these things out loud. Also, God help us if there are dogs barking on the TV. 

Something that not many people, dog owners included, know is that although they might have the loveliest dog that they could have, if they are a little over amorous when they approach my little dude, they're going to freak the living daylights out of him and he's going to bark. There's a company which produces yellow leads, collars, harnesses and scarfs to signal that the dog attached is anxious, however a, Teddy is not that bad if we handle him in a particular way and b, not enough people know what the yellow means and with the leads, you need to be pretty close before you can actually read what it says. 

Today, we met a little ginger cocker spaniel puppy who I fell a little bit in love with (but don't tell Teddy) and he was hyper as anything. Now, I knew that Ted and I could just have let him and his dad walk on without us and clear the way, and it would have been fine. We would have had a short walk, not have seen too many other dogs and would have been back to the house in time to get Ted in the bath and clean by lunch time, but we didn't do that. Instead, I settled Ted with the little tyke and then let them off the leads together. Granted, there were still a few points where he was being a little bit nervous (read: acting like a tit and forgetting how to play) but they were playing and running around, and were then joined by a lovely black Labrador. 

Though to be honest, I am just really glad that when we ran into a dog who had previously bitten Teddy, she kept away from him when he barked at her, because I wanted to avoid having to pick him up every time he is nervous. 

Anyway, catch you later.