I have been very sick, I do not get sick often, but apparently when I do, I do it big. As a result I mainly stumble home after a workday and roll up into a ball to die. Naturally, Cheez-it found this the perfect opportunity to switch personalities (er. dogalities?). The day before I fell ill with the common cold it rained, pretty bad actually. We went out to potty as usual and he enthusiastically jumped from the sidewalk to his normal stomping(pooping) grounds. On realization that it was wet he flew back onto the hard dry pavement. Have you ever seen a cat get sprayed by a watergun? That freaked out uncoordinated jump/flip thing they do? That is exactly what he did, I am not positive that his paws even hit the silt. He decided to use the sidewalk that day, and it was too late to stop him, it was already business time. I embarassingly cleaned up his mess and we retired for the night. This small little set-back has apparently seriously hindered his leash-walking abilities. My normal "follow me anywhere" pup on a rope has stopped walking. Yes we go outside he might do some business on in the immediate area, but if I take him for a walk, he just stops. Refuses to move, and I refuse to pull him. I do give him a gentle nudge, but he resists so badly (well, he's actually pretty good at it), that I am afraid to hurt him. So without the ability to perform our nightly walks he is filled to the stub with energy. This is normally pretty cute, but when I am curled on the couch struggling to breathe watching a stubborn puppy is a chore. I'm not sure if it's the lack of walks for 2 days (it's his fault, I try) or his age, but he is exceptionally snappy and chewey. I really have to watch him inside. If I am not well tomarrow I am mustering the breathe to go get him a little baby-playpen thing so I can sit in headache-agony with a little peace of mind. I usually spend 4 hours or so, usually on hands/knees playing with him each day, we also take a major walk which he used to love. He still follows commands flawlessly with or without treats and is a complete angel when I can get down and pet him. The big problem is outside, I mean WHAT THE HECK?? He runs away from me pulling the leash (it's a training lead) he barks at everything (he never used to), he refuses to walk when I actually want him to walk, and he refuses to step in the grass. Now he bites the lead/collar when I try to put them on him, he used to sit nicely and allow me. Oh man, I thought I was lucky with a nice calm pup. I was slightly wrong. Hopefully when I am better mabye he can excercise it out. He cannot really do much now as he is waiting on his last shot. It's apparently dependant on his teeth?? (kennel cough I think).

Anyway, is he at "that" age? Or am I just mistreating him via lack of excercise? I cant even pet him without him getting jumpy and bitey.

There is some good news. Those little frosty-paw ice cream cups, well put one down and it's easy nail trimming time! He even helps by holding his paws up some for me. But let the ice-cream run out before I am finished and you would swear by the noise that I'm beating him.

Oh well, any calming dog activities I can do with little effort for the time being?