Destroy the Chipmunks!

 Anybody who knows us knows how much we love our dog Neala. She keeps us moving and at
approximately 9 years old, she remains tireless and it seems impossible to walk her too much. She just wants to go, go, go. She is my best motivation to get off the couch.

That said, as a terrier, she has a prey drive which is uncompromising. This makes working from home difficult. When she KNOWS that it's nice outside, trying to keep her indoors is futile—she whines, whimpers, and stares at the door—so then I tie her up either our back door or out in our backyard. Neither is an ideal solution. In the backyard, every time a bunny hops through or a squirrel rattles an overhead branch, she loses it, barks, and I have to go out and untangle her from a web of leash wrapped around the patio furniture, flowers, and trees. And when she's on her short tie-out just outside the backdoor, it's great.. until it isn't. See, in July, chipmunks are ubiquitous and they comfortably live along our houses and garages' foundations. Chipmunks, too, are her mortal enemy (I can read her mind and I don't disagree: ALL CHIPMUNKS MUST BE DESTROYED!) and they yelp out an alerting chirp to let her know where they are. "Na-na na-na boo-boo, you can't get me!" they taunt. Her prey drive causes her to run full-speed until the 20-ft. tie-out lead snaps taught as a banjo string, jarring her torso to a dead stop. (When I see this, I say, "You're so smart at so many things, how come you have not figured out this leash thing yet?") Anything in line with the taught lead is fair game for destruction—I've seen a lawn chair tossed 20 feet. Her tormenter hollaback is barking. (A hollabark?)

Inside the house, I lose my cool almost as equally as she's losing hers. What is she destroying now? Conference calls are impossible. Maintaining rational thought takes effort. I can barely do anything without having to check on her every few minutes. Do I even have time to use the bathroom? I almost long for Winter, oddly, when I know she'll just lie comfortably on the couch.

it looks like there's only one solution: leave the house and work elsewhere. I do pay for a work-share office, but I always thought a marvelous benefit to being able to work from home was to be at home on nice days with one's dog, so in the Summer, I only go to my home-office-away-from-home-office on rainy days or on days when Kay and I need more space to conduct our professions. 

Still, we wouldn't have it any other way. We love this little terrier terror. I just wish we could permit her the freedom to safely hunt rodents all day.

Dog Lovers, Beware of This Product!

If you love your dog, do not buy or use this product. In the span of less than 30 hours, I've had the string or tape break on two units. The consequences could have been tragic, fortunately, we were able to avoid serious consequences.

The product is the flexi retractable leash.

Unit #1, the one with the string. This unit is about 5 years old. It was only used a time or two since the passing of our dog, Bailey, who left us two years ago. We adopted sweet Neala three days ago and immediately began using Bailey's former leash. On my second morning with Neala, around 6:00 AM, she ran to the leash's fully length. However, when she got there, I felt nary a tug and she just kept on running. The string at its termination point within the product's body, snapped. Because it was early and quiet, there was little traffic and I was able to run down the loose string still attached to Neala's harness. Disaster averted, I scooped her up and hand-carried her back into the house.

Unit #1 - the old unit; note the string break

I imagine the folks at flexi would say something like, "Well, the leash is old. You should replace the leash once per year to avoid the string from weakening." It doesn't say this on flexi's paperwork and, even if that was their approach, I'd call it BS. I've got a nylon tie-our rope that Bailey used that I tested with all my might before trying it with Neala. That 5+ year-old rope is plenty strong enough to support my full 200 lbs.

To replace the broken flexi, my wife headed to our local pet store and purchased a new one (Unit #2). The string has now been replaced by a ribbon or tape. Apparently the string was causing rope burn injuries to people and the hazard was lessened by used of tape-like rope. The unit is said to be good for dogs to 33 lbs. Neala is 10. I took her to a park today and gave the new flexi its first good test. Neala spied a squirrel and took off running. I pressed the button on the unit to halt her progress and SNAP, the tape broke right near her harness. Again, I ran like the wind to catch up to her and scoop her up before she had a chance to enter harm's way.

Whew. Again, tragedy averted.

Unit #2 - the new one; tape snapped within 20 hours of purchase

This flexi has only been out of the package for less than 20 hours and has already broke. What has me most upset is only five minutes before breaking, I had her near a busier street and I had my full faith in the leash to hold her from crossing it. I shudder to think what would have happened had it broken then. I would have dashed after her -- traffic be damned -- just the same as I did when it broke in the wooded park.

This is a faulty and defective product and in my opinion should be recalled from the marketplace immediately. If you use this product on your small dog, you are taking an unacceptable risk. Right after authoring this post, I am returning to the store with the broken leash and my story and will urge them to take the product off of their store shelves.

Sweet Neala in my niece's arms. She is NOT 33 lbs -- 11 tops!