Dogger Little


I thought Dogger had done lost her mind. She couldn’t say where she left , I don’t know what she did with it and it had been gone long enough that I’m not sure when she first lost it. It was hard to tell she had lost her mind, she doesn’t use it all that often so when it turned up missing I was a little surprised. Its not as though we watch Jeopardy together and she’s never been able to pick out the bad guy on Law and Order . Now? she’s wearing a little tin foil hat and watching the sky.

Dogger used to like going for walks and being outside, Now - not so much.

Me - Okay Dogger! Time for walky!

Dogger - We all ready went. I all ready went for a walk. Don’t you remember?

Me - You haven’t been out since this morning. I took you out to pee this morning...

Dogger - And I walked in the yard. See? Walk accomplished!

Me - Lets go for a walk. ( expectantly) Walkies! Go for walk? Ahhhh! Wanna go for a WALK?

Dogger - ( deep sigh) I’m fine! I don’t need to pee. I have a huge bladder. Don’t you really want to stay inside and watch TV together? We could watch Animal Planet...

Me - No. No TV time until after you have exercised! I need a walk. You need a walk. We are going on a walk.

Dogger -FINE I hope you are wearing track shoes.

So we go. Dogger is fine for a while. We could be on a Purina commercial. She sits, she stays, she heels, we visit with the neighbor kids. Dogger gets adored. Dogger is fine - right up until we get to the rec center. Dogger now wants to run. She wants to get to the grassy area and pee and then she wants to leave right now if I don’t want to leave the rec center she will make like one of Nanooks’ sled dogs and just drag my non-cooperative ass behind her for as long as she needs to until we have cleared the evil rec center. Or maybe it isn’t the rec center. She may be trying to escape the shadow of the radio tower that she just seemed to notice. Its been there the whole time she’s been here and she never noticed it. Whatever is scaring her though, comes from above. She never looked up in her life and now she’s like Mulder scanning the heavens for The Truth!


Its not much better at home . Dogger has taken to hiding under my azalia bush in the front yard. I put her out there so she can watch the neighbors and see the cars go by and generally just kind of hang out. She did well out there, did being the operative word She used to spend her time in the yard napping under the tree, snoozing on the side walk, sleeping in the sun and now she’ curls herself into a ball under the azalia bush. I noticed that she was a little uncomfortable in the back yard, but I chalked that up to the Tree Branch of Doom hanging over the back yard. I’m uncomfortable out there too.

Is this what is scaring her? is it some deep, ancient Dog Knowledge creeping to the surface? Is she remembering some long ago dog grandmother that got crushed by a falling limb?


We went to my parents house over the weekend, far away from the rec center and the radio tower and the Limb of Doom and Dogger went into a fugue state every time we tried to take her outside. My parents don’t think she’s scanning the sky for the radio tower or falling tree limbs, they think she’s looking for birds. They think a Mockingbird abused her and that is why she’s all freaked out. Dogger isn’t crazy, Dogger has PTSD!