The One With the Hideout

This weekend, I hid out in the mountains to protect my reactive dog from the horrors of Fourth of July fireworks. I hate the Fourth of July. Not in an unpatrotic way because I love the freedoms granted to me by what the Fourth of July represents, but the idea of turning rednecks lose with fire and explosives in the name of patriotism stinks. Anyone who's ever run my house to my field with buckets full of water to put out a fire knows what I mean. It's even worse in the city. Magnify the stupidity by 6 million and the odds aren't good. I want no part in it. So I spent four days in a national forest where fireworks are illegal. I loved it. I never allow myself to relax, and this was a much needed vacation.

The mountain experience was definitely a weird one. My mom's family owns a cabin in the mountains in Colorado with a stream running behind it and nature trails surrounding it. There's a cabin next door, but you rarely see other people. In true Southern California style, Big Bear Mountain is nothing like that. The cabins are stacked on top of each other and it's more like visiting a resort town or something. It was very relaxing, but I never once saw a nature trail. If I had, it probably would have been loaded with dogs and kids and people, all of which I had no desire to encounter on my recluse-in-the-name-of-my-dog weekend.

We did visit a zoo with local wildlife (my guess the only place you can enjoy wildlife in Big Bear. :) It was the first time I had ever seen a grizzly bear. Though California has one on its state flag, there has not been a grizzly bear in the wild in California since the 1920s. Before the man-made lake was built in Big Bear, apparently, you could go to the valley and see dozens roaming around. The last was killed in 1906. By people, of course. We're evil, I tell you.

Now, I'm back to the stress of my every day life, and I wanted to remind everyone to keep Muggsy and I in your prayers and thoughts tomorrow as we have our long-dreaded vet appointment. I also have a job interview, so keep me in your thoughts then, too. By tomorrow afternoon, I should be sufficiently stressed and frazzled. If I can pull myself away from my couch and gallons of the ice cream I plan to stuff in my face, I will write about what happened.

As for the preparation...


Muggsy's Training Diary, Day 50
July 5, 2005

I'm starting with a nice round number, 50, to get me back on track with these entries. I haven't made an official one in awhile. I didn't do much training while in the mountains, just one very successful Door! session and several repetitions of sit, down, stay, stand, shake for about 20 minutes to distract Muggsy during the one fireworks show at the lake.

Today, I took Muggsy for his final vet prep appointment. He did Door! hesitantly with Ross handling his leg. He's clearly unhappy, but I think the trust between us is there. He was dying to leave, but I can understand that. I bolt for the door every time I finish an appointment with the gyno. I guess we'll see how tomorrow goes. I'm so glad my boss is going. It's going to make everything a whole lot easier.

When I got home, I had to put his flea medication on his back, which he hates. It's always a huge production of him running around, baring his teeth and growling at me. Today, when it was his turn, he walked over to me and turned his head. It was beautiful that he trusted me enough to let that happen, only an hour after a stressful vet visit. I almost cried. I hope everything tomorrow goes well so we can start working on making his life a little less stressful.