Bump In The Road

There is a bump on Ray Road.  It has no hidden agenda.  It harbors no ill feelings toward anyone.  It doesn’t think about those passing over it day after day. It’s not doing anything differently today than it has for the past few years.  It’s just a bump, an aberration on the asphalt. This bump has changed lives.

May 14, 2007 and the 2002 Honda CBR hit the bump. The same bump that this same Honda had traveled over many times.  But May 14 was different. What was different?  I don’t know.  Same rider, same bike, same bump; different day. Front tire wobbling handlebars slamming back and forth. Bike tumbling.  Rider thrown.  The asphalt catching the rider. Slashed fingers, broken ribs, broken shoulder blade, fractured knee, skin torn.  Mom and child in stroller safe on sidewalk. Indian music playing on iPod. Panic, calm, confusion, wonder.  Rider off bike but now carried in a helicopter.

I wish I could have a chat with that bump in the road. I’d like to have a Q&A session with it.  I’d ask it what it had against my friend Bill. Why Bill, why not kick a bicyclist off his ride resulting in less damage, not the months of rehab Bill had after his crash.  Would the bump blame the front tire? Would the bump even care?  I doubt it.

I’d like to have a chat with the snow outside of Winter Park, Colorado. In 1988 my friend Davy and I were driving along a mountain pass and our car lost traction and we began sliding toward a steep decent.  Certainly we would have been injured if not killed.  But the tires and the snow had a conversation.  The snow let the tires grip and our car stopped.  We’d been given a reprieve.

I’d also like to have an interview with the cancer cells that killed my dog Sammy last year. I’d like to hurt those cells; beat them with a heavy phone book and make them suffer. Waterboard them. I’d get answers out of them.  But those cells are tough, I doubt they would give up any answers or tell me anything that the bump couldn’t.  Which is absolutely nothing. 

Maybe Sammy’s cancer cells would tell me to chat with the malaria that suddenly killed my friend Jan in 1992. Perhaps the Malaria would have me check in with the malaria pills Jan had stopped taking weeks after her return from Africa. The pills would cry that they could have saved her.  They would have done it if they could. If only…

These bumps in the road are frustrating.  They are out there everywhere.  You can’t see them coming until you’ve hit them.  Sure you’d do things differently if you could.  You’d drive a different route, you’d take the pills, you’d get a better vet, you’d slow down.  But you didn’t. And you can’t go back.  Damage done.

Last night we had another bump in life’s road. A trip to the emergency vet to see what was happening to Luka.  He was feverish, drooling constantly, eyes watering, discolored tongue, acting funny.  Renal failure? Valley fever?  What was the problem?  We did not know.  The vet told us to come right in and we did.

Luka had his checkup.  The vet checked his mouth, took his temperature, took blood.  We waited an hour for the verdict.  We were called into examining room no. 1 for the results.  This was the exact same room where Sammy had died just a year earlier.  Luka was sitting in the exact place where Sammy died when the vet entered the room to tell us the results.

We were fortunate. Luka is fine.  No internal problems.  He had a problem with his mouth that caused the tongue discoloration and drooling. The problem was minor.  On the way home I started thinking about the bump on Ray Road and decided that the bump does have something to say.  If it could talk it would tell us something.

Cherish life. Cherish those you love. Do those things you intend to do.  Don’t waste your time. Don’t get distracted. Pet your dog.

Thanks for the insight Bump.  Perhaps next time you could just give us a gentle reminder instead of tossing my friend over the handlebars or killing my dog.  Jerk.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Dogumentary, Events, Luka, Motorcycles, Random Stuff No Comments » December 2007

Tumi Running

My dog Tumi died about a year ago.  I found this video on my hard drive of herrunning around in the back yard.  She was a very happy puppy. This is how I rememberher.

Posted by admin Posted in: Dogumentary No Comments » January 2007

When Sammy Attacks…

Diane and I have been working hard this week to try to get our dogs to know one another. After several attempts to get them to play with each other we finally had some breakthroughs. But nothing went as we expected.

Luka, Diane’s dog, is a very “alpha” type dog.  He marks his territory constantly,he does not do well with commands, and he’s never been socialized.  Sammy, mydog, is a very submissive dog.  She was abused as a puppy, as was Luka, and soshe’s usually very gentle and submissive.

On the first couple of visits I took Sammy over to Diane’s house.  Luka nippedher in the leg and once bit her on her snout.  We expected that, it seemed likeLuka was going to be setting the rules and letting Sammy know he was the Alpha dog. On the first few visits we kept Luka on a leash because we were worried that he wouldreally hurt Sammy.  Boy did we have a surprise coming!

Friday night Luka and Diane came over to my house.  He was behaving verywell and seemed to want to be friends with Sammy.  He licked her nose and neverattempted to nip at her.  I figured we’d need to let them work out their problemsand decided to let the dogs loose.  I got my garden hose handy and turned thewater on full blast.  I turned the nozzle off and was ready to hose them downif any fighting started.

When we let them go they started running and going crazy.  Sammy would run upto Luka and swat at him with her paws, we thought she was trying to get Luka to play. Then Luka would chase and things looked like they were going ok.  But then Lukadecided he was done playing and started to jump on top of Sammy and we feared thatSammy was going to get clobbered.  So I hosed them down to try to get them tostop fighting.  After a good drenching they finally broke up.

After some more observation we realized what was going on.  Sammy was actuallytrying to tell Luka that she was the Alpha dog.  Any time Luka wouldcome over to be petted, Sammy would push her away.  If Luka sniffed Sammy inthe crotch, Sammy would turn, put her ears and tail up, and face Luka nose to nose. Then Sammy would jump up and smack Luka in the face with her front paws.  Whap!

We decided that we were too tired from the constant supervision and pulling apart. So Diane headed home.  Saturday Luka and Diane returned and again we let thedogs work out the Alpha dog situation.  Sammy was unrelenting.  Any timeLuka sniffed he would get a smack on the face with a paw.  Sammy started chasinghim around like a cattle dog.  We couldn’t believe it.  She gave him noslack whatsoever.  Eventually Luka learned that he was not in charge.

But then it seemed that Luka was being pretty good, and Sammy was just being overlyprotective.  She would smack Luka if he was getting more attention.  IfLuka sniffed her, he’d get a smack.  Sometimes he’d get a smack for no apparentreason.  We’re not sure if Sammy is just trying to be consistent, if we are missingsomething, or if Sammy is just being a brat at this point.

If there are any Dog behaviorists out there who can give us some insight on this I’dreally appreciate it.  If we figure it out I’ll post it on the Dogumentary aswell.  We know that Sammy is not hurting Luka.  Just a good smack on thehead, but no dangerous behavior.  Perhaps they just need some more time together,we’ll let you know how it goes.

Posted by admin Posted in: Dogumentary No Comments » January 2005

World, meet Mannon Zane Wallace!!

Well today was one of those days that will be celebrated for years. What a day!!The most significant thing happened in Seattle, WA.  My older brother, Lee, andhis wife, Tammy, had their firstchild!!! I’m so excited I can’t believe it.  They named him Mannon Zane Wallace. He was born at 11:06pm (pacific time).  He was 7 pounds 12 ounces.  Thelittle guy is 20 inches long with a swirl of black hair.  Man that’s cool.The second really neat thing to happen today was a new addition to Diane’s family. Yep, she adopted a dog today.  She found a darling dog named Buddy. He wastaken in by a kind neighbor after his unfeeling owner moved and abandoned him in hisyard.  In an attempt to free himself, he scraped his head on the fence and developedan open sore.  With treatment by the neighbor, the sore has healed up and hisfur is growing back.  Diane found him on a neatwebsite while doing research on Sammy.  The complete story will be told tomorrow,it’s just too late to go into detail tonight.And finally, at long last I’m launching my photoblog. It’s nothing fancy, but I’m hoping it will be an easier way to upload photos and keepthe site fresh.  I’ll still use the photoalbums for a lot of pictures.  But for daily experiments look to the photoblog.And that’s all the news for today.  Check back tomorrow for all the details.

Posted by admin Posted in: Dogumentary, Family Stuff, Photography No Comments » January 2005

Sammy Video

Little Samantha, now called Sammy, is doing great.  I continue to get e-mailsasking about her so I decided to add another installment to the Dogumentary.

Sammy is behaving just wonderfully.  I can stand up around her now.  Sheis playful and likes to run around the house.  I gave her a bath last week andthe tub was full of dirt.  She was so dirty.  She handled the bath verywell, and smells much nicer.

Sammy is pretty smart too!  She’s already learned how to sit, and she’s workingon stay.  She chases the ball and brings it back about 50% of the time. I’ve been taking her out on walks and she heels very well.  She keeps pace withme and doesn’t tug on the leash.  She even sits on command.

During the day she plays in the back yard or sleeps.  She follows me everywhereI go.  She’s very cute and she is always asking to be petted.  She bumpsmy hand with her little head or puts her head on my lap.  She’s likes to givehugs.  She’s always right next to me or laying at my feet.

She’s still getting used to me.  She got in trouble a few days ago for lickingmy plate while I was away.  I told her “no” and she looked as if she thoughtshe would be beaten.  She tucked her tail and cowered.  I gave her somerubs and told her she was ok.  She hasn’t tried to lick any plates since.

A couple of days ago we were playing around and I spooked her, I moved too fastor something.  She had an accident (part of submissive behavior) and thoughtshe was in trouble.  But again I gave her some head rubs and she seemed to beok.

I’m trying to teach her some good behavior.  She now understands “Sit”, “Getthe ball”, and “out of the kitchen.”  I was amazed that she learned “out of thekitchen” so quickly.  It’s a command I use when I’m cooking.  When I tellher “out of the kitchen” she leaves the cooking area, but she can still watch.

I’m also impressed that she doesn’t beg.  As a rule she doesn’t get any tablescraps (for her health).  But she doesn’t even try to get any.  It’s great.

Today I made a little video of Sammy in the back yard.  She was not a great fanof the camera, and you can see how I have to give her constant reassurance. But she trusts me now.

Click here to getthe video (2 meg - windows media). 

[note: you may need to right-click the link and choose “Save Target As…”to save the video on your local hard drive.  Once the file is finished downloadingclick “Open” to watch the video.]

 

Posted by admin Posted in: Dogumentary No Comments » December 2004

Day 3

Bright Eyed Samantha

Many people have e-mailed to ask how little Samantha is doing.  If you missedit, I adopted a dog last weekend (clickhere for the details).  She’s been home now for three days.  The firstday was rough, the second day was much better, and we’ve made a huge amount of progresson day 3.

On day one I couldn’t get within 25 feet of Samantha, now she sleeps atmy feet.  Yesterday she learned how to use the doggy door and came upstairs tolet me rub her head.  Last night I put her in a crate beside my bed where sheslept peacefully, and this morning we actually played a little bit in the yard. Bit by bit she’s learning to trust me and I’m getting to know her.

Yesterday I got some tennis balls so she could catch them.  She ran from themwhen I tossed them in her direction.  We tried again this morning.  Herears perked up and she showed a bit of interest in the ball.  She even bit itonce.  I had to leave for work, so I put her crate next to the doggy door soshe could stay inside in her crate, or use the doggy door to run around in the yard.

When I got home from work she was not in her crate, and when I went into the backyard I didn’t see her anywhere.  I was nervous for a second, but then she camerunning around the house from the side yard.  Her tail was wagging and she waswiggling all over.  She did her little crawl up to me and let me rub her tummy. We played for about an hour and she seemed to lose her fear of the ball, she wouldtrot toward it, but not chase it or pick it up.

It was great to see her running around in a playful mood in stark contrast toher running around in terror Saturday night.  She even followed me in the house,a minor miracle.

Samantha taking a nap while I work.

This evening I introduced her to more of the house.  I’m trying to introduceher to her new home slowly.  Yesterday she sniffed around the kitchen, diningarea, office, master bedroom, and movie room.  Tonight I let her explore thestudio and family room.  In a few days I’ll introduce her to the upstairs bedrooms. So far she’s been pretty good indoors.  She had a couple of accidents yesterday,but those were from a nervous bladder (this is actually submissivebehavior).  Taking the time to build Samantha’s confidence will really helpher with this.

Samantha is now in the habit of coming into my office and laying at my feet. She’s really beginning to come around. 
As long as I’m sitting down or on the floor she will come right up to me.  Butas soon as I get up she heads for the doggy door and goes outside.  It seemsthat she’s getting used to me standing, maybe in a few days she’ll approach when I’mstanding up.

Samantha curled up at my feet.

A few minutes ago she was sleeping and I discovered that she was snoring!  That’sfunny. 

Now I’m just a bit concerned with her energy level.  She’s been sleeping a lottoday, but that may be from all the excitement she had this weekend.  I’m goingto take her to her new vet soon so she can have a checkup.  She also needs abath, but I don’t think I’m going to attempt that for a day or two.  One stepat a time…

Some tips for new dog owners:

• If you’ve never been to dog obedience school you should go. They teach you about dog behavior soyou can learn how to “talk” to you dog.
• Don’t hit or spank your dog - dog’s don’t understand that. There are ways to teach your dog what not to do, but it rarely includes hittinga dog.  “Hitting or hurting your pup signals the end of your relationship withhim. If your pup doesn’t like or trust you or your kids (and he won’t if you hurthim), he won’t trust you and won’t want to obey you. Even worse, he is much more likelyto bite you or your children if he’s been hit or hurt.”
• Positive reinforcement is the way to go!  A dog will doa lot to earn your approval.
• Learn about cratetraining.  It seems cruel to keep your dog in a cage while you areaway, but once you understand dog behavior and how they learn you’ll find that it’sactually healthy.
• Click here for Puppy101: Top 10 Puppy Points

 

Posted by admin Posted in: Dogumentary No Comments » December 2004

Dogumentary

Yesterday I went to PetSmart andadopted a dog!  We think she’s about 1 1/2 years old, but nobody knows for sure. She was found in the desert when she was very young.  She was taken to animalcontrol where she was waiting to be adopted.  They named her Samantha.  Sadlynobody adopted her and so she was going to be put to sleep.  Lucky for Samantha AZAnimal Rescue and Sanctuary stepped in and put her in foster care.  She’sbeen in foster homes ever since.  Somewhere along the way, prior to being rescued,she was abused; probably by a man.  She’s a very nervous dog and does not trustmen and won’t approach a woman until she gets to know her.

Diane and I saw Samantha at PetSmart acouple of weeks ago, and returned yesterday hoping that she’d still be there. Luckily she had not been adopted and was still there.  At the store she wouldnot let me get anywhere close to her.  Diane was able to pet her, but that’sabout all.  We stayed at the store for about an hour while we tried to get toknow Samantha and gain her trust.  We learned that she doesn’t trust anyone afterjust one hour.

With the help of Lindsey, a volunteer for AZ AnimalRescue, we got little Samantha to the car.  Once in the back seat she actuallylet me pet her and rested her head on my leg.  We thought that she was finallybeginning to trust us.  We’d later find that wasn’t the case.

When we got her to my house we took her off the leash and allowed her to sniff around. We opened the back door so she could see her new yard.  She went right out thedoor.  This was about 3:00 pm.  At this point we couldn’t get within 25feet of Samantha.  She had a lot of room to run around and she used it. We tried offering treats, sitting down, whatever.  She wouldn’t come close.

Diane had to run some errands, so I stayed outside and tried to gain Samantha’s trust. After 3 hours I’d managed to have Samantha sit about 10 feet from me.  At onepoint I got her to approach me and I tried to grab her collar - that was a big mistake. All the trust I’d built was now gone.  It was now about 6:00 pm.

Diane came over again and she tried to approach Samantha.  She had about thesame results.  The sun began to set and I really wanted to get the dog insidebefore it was dark out.  So I tried to be a bit more aggressive and walk to Samantha. This set her off and she began to run full speed around the yard.  She was notrunning like a playful dog, but in sheer terror.  I quickly gave up on this strategy.

We decided we’d leave the sliding glass door open and ignore her, maybe she’d comeinside on her own.  We put food and water outside for her.  Then we ate,played a board game, and Samantha did actually poke her head in a few times. At one point she came all the way in and we tried to shut the door before she couldget out, but she was too quick and ran outside again.  We’d broken the trustagain.

Diane trying to gain Samantha’s trust.

We waited for a few more hours while Samatha became more and more sleepy.  Shewould lay down just outside the door and begin to fall asleep.  We’d start tomove toward her and she’d run off again.  It was obvious that she was becomingexhausted, and we were too.

At 10:30 pm we decided we’d have to catch her because it was getting pretty cold outsideand we needed to go to bed ourselves.  Samantha had been responding much betterto Diane then me so we thought Diane could stay inside and I’d see if I could shepherdher inside.  Again she ran around the yard.

We noticed that she was looking toward Diane, so Diane came outside.  I wouldmove slowly toward Samantha and she’d run full speed away from me.  But she wouldslow down around Diane.  Then she began to sit down near Diane, but when Dianemoved closer she’d run away again.  This continued for a long time until shefinally became too tired.

Samantha peeks in for a second.

She finally approached Diane and stayed calm.  Diane petted her head and wasable to put a leash on her.  I was then able to slowly approach her and finallypet her head.  We got her inside and she just laid down and cuddled up to Diane. She fell asleep on the floor next to Diane.  After a few minutes I was able tolie down next to her and pet her.  We began to build trust.

Samantha slept on the floor next to the bed last night.  She was very good. No doggy accidents.  This morning I put her on the leash and again took her inthe back yard.  Once outside she became nervous again.  I worked with herfor about an hour and was able to get her to let me approach her, but she would notcome to me.

After a few hours of working with her I was able to get her to crawl to me very slowly. I would get down on my hands and knees and get very low to the ground.  Lotsof head rubs and “Good girl!” affirmation helped tremendously.  A few times shegrowled and bared her teeth at me.  I really had to be patient and show her Iwouldn’t hurt her. 

At one point I left my house for a couple hours and left her in the backyard.  When I returned she was actually excited to see me.  She would getabout 8 feet from me, but no closer.  I got down again and she eventually crawledover and let me pet her.  A major breakthrough!  I got a book and sat atmy patio fora while.  Samantha would actually come over and nudge my hand with her nose. She’d let me pet her, but if I got out of the chair she’d be gone again.

A bit later I showed her the dog door.  She was afraid of it.  So I putsome BilJac inside to see if she’d crawl through for the treat (for new puppy owners:these are great training treats).  She wouldn’t.  I decided to come upstairsand do some work.  After about 30 minutes I heard her footsteps on the stairs. She’d come through the doggy door and up the stairs looking for me.  She cameup to me slowly.  I petted her and told her what a good girl she was.  Shestayed for a bit and then ran down the stairs and out her door.

As I write this She’s coming in and out, still testing the waters.  It’s goingto take a few months to gain the trust of this little dog.  And I’ll keep youposted in this “Dogumentary”.

Updated:Samantha is doing great! Read Part II

Posted by admin Posted in: Dogumentary No Comments » December 2004