It's been a long and trying 18 months, and I think Otis might finally be ready to call it quits. He's had just about enough of us. For a dog that commemorated Charlie's birth by waking us up at 3 AM the morning my water broke and proceeding to vomit all over the our bedroom for the 3 days we were there, he's actually held on pretty long.
I suppose the final straw was his newfound complete and utter lack of freedom, but I do have to say that he brought it on himself. As our neighbors, UPS deliverymen, and various strangers can attest, Otis has had remarkable freedom since we moved to SC. We have no fence and we more or less allow him to wander.
Pre-Charlie I did a fairly good job of ensuring that he stayed on our side of the street, etc -- and to be honest back then there were about half as many houses and a third as much traffic. Since Charlie though, Jason and I have become pretty lax about where Otis goes and how long he's out. This is in part due to laziness, but also out of guilt. His life has changed so much and he just loves to wander...
Well, the good life has officially come to an end for Otis. Apparently a woodland creature of some sort died in the vicinity of our home last week, and Otis has come home reeking of death three times since Friday. There are no words to explain the stench. It takes at least two vigorous shampoos to rid him of the odor, and Jason and I both continue to smell it for hours afterwards...it could prove to be a quite effective diet, though.
Based on Otis' basic dog-instinct of loving anything rancid and disgusting, my refusal to give him more baths than I do Charlie, and Jason's convenient "out of home" job, I am now Otis' shadow.
I let him out in the morning and follow him as he pees on the grill (sorry, Honey...just found out today), ambles down the driveway, pees on the mailbox, meanders around the common area and cuts across to the garage, turns back down the driveway and heads past Bob & Donna's towards the pool. At Garrett and Amanda's yard I pull the plug on the adventure and we head back home.
He's allowed to play in the yard during water table time in the afternoons, but only if I can see him, and if he leaves the immediate vicinity (our yard and Bob & Donna's), he is relegated to watching the fun from behind the french doors.
I do use treats and peanut butter to coerce Otis in, and this morning I let him ride along to drop Charlie off at school, because he came running as soon as I called his name. Unfortunatley, though he doesn't seem to see the upside to these things, and chooses to get his retribution by waking up at 4 AM and scratching, whining, whimpering, etc for about 20 minutes -- then just plopping back down in his bed when I'm fully awake and annoyed.
Any neighbors who might happen upon this blog or who see me stalking Otis in the mornings are probably relieved that we are finally taking responsibility for our "wild" dog, but I feel horrible. I guess the next step will be the electric fence, which will more or less pen Otis in a 20' x 20' area...
The one bright side to all of this is that I've learned that I definitely have the perseverance and patience to shadow Charlie to the ends of the earth come highschool if he misses curfew, drinks alcohol, curses, kisses a girl, skips school, forgets to make his bed, chews tobacco, borrows the car, talks back, leaves his socks on the floor, drinks from the carton or rolls in something dead.
Woe is me...
