I thought I’d take you with on a morning walk with Rosie and share with you the ramblings in my head as I walked. I’m a walker. I love walking and have walked on and off so much over my lifetime. I used to walk for physical exercise but now my main walking goal is more for my mind than my body. Walking just gives me time to process. I can’t ever remember a time that I felt bad after just getting in from walking.
Rosie loves walking. We walk about 3 miles when we go out and we aren’t speed walkers. That takes us about an hour or so if we don’t run into someone and chat. Many days we walk in the evening with a friend of mine. Rosie and I are getting so we walk more and more even on days when my friend isn’t able to walk.
For a bit when we were on walks, I was having trouble with Rosie pulling or tugging on the leash. It was enough that if we saw a rabbit on our walk, she was really pulling. So, after a few times of that with a sore shoulder, I ended up getting her a prong collar and our walking days have gotten MUCH better.
I know some of you are going to cringe and think it’s terrible to use this style of collar but seriously, it was my shoulder (which I have trouble with) or her learning some manners with the prong collar. The collar essentially is self correcting so if she’s walking like she should, there is not pain to her at all. If she’s pulling or tugging, the collar will poke her. I HIGHLY recommend the collars. It makes all the difference in the world as to how much better our walk goes. HERE is a link to the collar. If your dog pulls and is hard to walk the collar makes all the difference.
Anyway…back to our walk. We walk through town, right on the road. There aren’t good sidewalks in town and the sidewalks that are okay are narrow. Walking on the road also allows my friend and I to social distance while we walk. We don’t see to much traffic so it’s relatively safe too.
When it’s just me and Rosie, we go through the cemetery. It’s a nice peaceful cemetery. Kramer is buried here-ish. I say “ish” because technically there are two cemeteries side by side. One is St. Mary’s cemetery. It’s associated with the Catholic church here in town. The adjoining cemetery is the town cemetery. Anyone can be buried here.
We belong to the Lutheran church out in the country but Kramer never liked the cemetery for that church. He always liked this cemetery and wanted to be buried here on the “town cemetery end”. I was fine with that too so he’s at this cemetery.
They’ve made improvements to the cemetery this year. They took down the old ugly fence along the end. If Kramer were here, that would have made him so happy. He hated fences. It looks so much nicer and cleaner.
On this day, early Sunday morning, it was so peaceful…One of those “my kind of church” days. The water was running in the stream. I was so tempted to take my shoes off and sit a minute with my feet hanging in the water. Maybe another day. I just love the sound of water trickling. I was a little afraid if I sat down, it would be hard to get up and get going again. It’s likely the prettiest spot on our walk.
Being I’m just rambling, and walking with Rosie, I should probably give you an update on how she is doing…Rosie is doing great. You might remember I told you a bit ago that she had crystals in her urine again and the vet recommended she stay on the special dog food. Well accidents have stopped happening. I think in the last week we’ve only had kennel accidents and that was twice when I was gone and she was in the kennel for over 5 hours. Being I live and work from home, Rosie has lived a pretty posh life. She rings the bell (these bells I use for potty training her)…I jump up and let her out…no “holding it” for her. I think that has gotten her bladder so that she isn’t used to “holding it”.
When I see how good Rosie is doing with the right food, it reminds me again of the blog reader who suggested she would “send Rosie down the road”. Rosie didn’t need to “go down the road”. She needed love, patience and the right food. She’s a changed dog again. It’s sad when people aren’t patient with their dogs and don’t work to find a solution especially if something is an easy of a fix as changing dog food.
If your dog is having lots of accidents, I highly suggest getting a urine sample and have it tested for a UTI and a check for crystals in their urine. It can make all the difference. I don’t know of a single dog that “wants” to have accidents. Poor Rosie puts her head down and is totally embarrassed. She knows she’s not suppose to and wants to please me. She’s been so much happier so the expensive dog food is just going to be what she gets.
Being she can’t have treats or other foods, I ended up buying this set of balls for her.
The blue ball on the upper right is her favorite.
I tuck her regular dog food into the “jaws” of the ball. Then she works and bites to get the food out. This will keep busy for quite awhile. Carver loves taking the ball and tucking the food into it. She likes the green ball too.  That one I put treats in and then as she rolls the ball the treats get “spit” out. I thought the balls were a bit of a compromise being she can’t have treats anymore. You can find the balls HERE on Amazon.
As long as I’m rambling about Rosie…look at her here with Gannon, what a little beggar.
Now she’s giving me the evil eye…”come on boss” she says..back on topic.
Oh yah…our walk. We’re coming up on the end of it…back home. Oh, I love our house. Every time I see it I can’t help but think of Kramer and all the work and love he put into it.
In our married life, I followed wherever his jobs took us. He was a farmer. He loved the land. We went where the farming jobs took us. So often we lived in the houses the farmers provided. I never got to pick houses…I never got to change paint colors. It wasn’t my favorite way…but it was a way we could stay close to him. I always longed to pick a house. I am so thankful that once I did get to pick, it was this house.
Seven years ago when we bought this house, I never imagined it would look like this. I never imagined where I’d be now…walking with a dog who wasn’t my Ruby…walking through the cemetery where my husband who worked to make this house our home is now buried… Walking back to my house without them both, but still fairly content and surprisingly doing okay. My mind is cleared and I’m ready to move on into the day. Walking is so good my body, but mostly, it’s so good for my brain. It lets me ramble so I can come back home and get something done.
Would Rosie be allowed carrots as a treat? I’d read about dogs having issues from lack of vegetables in the diet so I started giving ours carrots as his main treat. He also loves dried green beans and zucchini or sweet potato chips made in the dehydrator.
I agree about the prong collar. I have an 80 pound golden retriever who would pull the leash out of my hand. (As I have gotten older, I have NO strength in my hands) I broke down and got her one of these collars. I thought they looked like a torture device, but I put it around my bare thigh and tightened it and it was not painful. The collar is actually better than letting them pull on their regular collar, they will damage their esophagus by doing that. As she has gotten older and better trained, she doesn’t pull so much, but she adores people so much that when we meet someone she can’t help herself and HAS to go visit.
Rosy looks so cute telling you to ‘come on’. Dogs are such a blessing, aren’t they?
So happy to read that you are taking good care of yourself and Rosie is doing her job of being your new partner in this new way of life. Carrots and dried sweet potatoes are all our fur babies get for treats do to various health issues you might check with the vet first but they options. Stay well I am sure Kramer is proud of you.
could you share what dog food has helped Rosie so much so I can ask my vet about it for my Ellie who has the same problem. Thank you.
I’m glad Rosie is doing better on the special food. We had to give similar food to one of our cats and it did help. The bell is a good idea – our beagle would just come and quietly sit down and stare when she needed outside. It was so subtle it took us humans a minute to catch on. Letting us know there was a squirrel that we needed protection from was done at full volume though.
I’ve used a pronged collar before too. Worked like a charm and I always thought that if I couldn’t teach my dog to not pull, the walks wouldn’t be any fun for either of us and I might even stop walking him. Seems worth it to me. :-) Loved this post, almost like a “day in the life” post that we all love.
I don’t like the prong collars. I use a Gentle Leader for my Tucker (we walk 2x a day for a total of 6 miles) and it works so well. A lot of people think it’s a muzzle, but it’s not. He can eat or drink with it on (and could bite if he was so inclined). It works about like a horse bridle, if he pulls, I can turn his head and slow him down. A trainer recommended me use it with him and it’s been a godsend!
How wonderful to take a stroll with you and Rosie. Nature has so much to offer our mental and emotional health.
Love the home you and Roger built. What wonderful memories you both built here to carry you through!
Hugs to you and a Blessed Tuesday!
I love your house! It is looking so good. You can tell that lots of work and love have gone into it.
Walking our dogs is a great way to get exercise, both for our bodies and our minds.
Lovely post with pretty photos. Thank you.
I used a prong collar on my black Labrador when he was young. I was worried about his trachea, also, with all his pulling. After he was a little older, he was fine with his regular collar.
When you said walking cleared your mind and you were able to come home and get things done. It made me wonder if that’s another reason why my mother walked every morning without fail. She so enkoyed seeing what was different every day. She was such a blessing to be around. That could be part of why she walked. You have blessed my life so many times this past year and a half.
Jo, There is another trick you can use when walking Rosie… take the leash and wrap it in a half-hitch knot just in front of her back legs. The leash tightens up when they start pulling and they don’t like it tightening around their middle so they stop pulling. To see it done, google Half Hitch for dogs, there are videos. My friend has a young German Shepard and she uses both the pinch collar and the half-hitch and both work. Have a GREAT walk. :)
It is so wonderful to have a dog to walk with and live with and enjoy. They are so sweet. Sweet Potato was recommended to us by our vet as it is good for dogs. Opening a can of sweet potato and putting a couple of spoonfuls on their food can make them very happy. Must smell really good to them.
You are an excellent Dog-mom, and Rosie is a lucky girl, that you are so perceptive and attentive (and home a lot!) Enjoy your walks, streams, and your lovely home. Who knows what a year in the future holds for any of us? That was my take-away from your post.