Fatty, fatty two by four...

I hate to admit it, but Zoli has gained more weight...he weighed in at a LARGE 50 pounds last week at the vet. She didn't seem concerned one bit but he is now officially on a diet! When I got him he only weighed about 41. My goal will be to have him back down to 45 before he heads to Africa. We can't send him to his new home overweight!!!!

As I mentioned many months ago, I often make up dorky songs to sing to him while getting his breakfast ready...here is this mornings:

Breakfast is coming, the dog is getting fat,

Please put a biscuit in the doggies hat.

If you have no biscuit, a slice of cheese will do,

If you have no slice of cheese, he'll eat your shoe.

Don't judge me!

Do you think the fact that I'm always singing about food has something to do with his overeating??? Since I've been unemployed Z get's at least one to two MORE walks a day...we should both be losing weight! However, we do lounge around on the sofa a lot...do you think that's the problem??? :)

So here's good news...back in the early days of A Year With Zoli whenever we would see another dog he would tremble and shake all over, A LOT, and at the same time he'd go crazy, pulling and snarling as he tried to eat them. Such a good multi-tasker!!!

Now days... he doesn't tremble AT ALL... and he only goes a "little" crazy! Of course, I do believe he still wants to eat them! Now, THAT is progress!!!!!

Strange New World...

I had a dream last night...

Zoli and I were walking in a park (I think it was Eden Park). He wasn't on a leash (that's how I knew it was a dream!). Z ran over and propped his paws up on a wall... an invisible wall!!! I ran over and put my hands on it, looked at Zoli and he said, "Let's do it!" I knew he meant climb over the wall to the other side. I said, "Let's!" And then...........I woke up. Dang!

I snuggled under the covers and tried to imagine what would have happened next. I decided that I would have been able to ask Zoli all the questions that have been adding up over the past 10 months...since he could talk and all.

"Why are you so crazy around other dogs?"

"Do you miss Bangladesh?"
"How have you been feeling lately, allergies bugging you?"
"What's up with all that pulling?"
"Have you been happy with me?"
"Are you excited to see you Dad soon?"
"Seriously... why all the sniffing?"
"What's with the obsession with squirrels?"

I figured I could have all the answers...finally!!!

Then I realized that if Zoli could talk, even in my dream, it would have gone something like this...

"Squirrel!"

"Is that a dog!"

"What's that smell?"

"Whose there?"

"Squirrel!!"

"I want to be five feet ahead of you...NOW!"

"Eat all dogs now!"

"Squirrel!!!!!!"

Maybe that's why I woke up...

Time is running out...

My time with Zoli is quickly coming to an end. Stephen will be home August 4th and by the end of the month Z will have been flown to Botswana to be with him. I can hardly believe that there are only four months left. I am surprised at how very attached I've become to him. In fact, when I think of him leaving it makes me very sad. But, he is Stephen's pet and I know that they have missed each other. My friends/family are convinced that I will go out and get another dog, but it won't be Zoli, so I can't imagine that.

I do admit that it will be nice to not count hours every time I leave...that does get old. But...that's about it. Zoli has been a perfect visitor, even with those two bites he gave me! I was so nervous when he first arrived... we have certainly made strides with each other.

I continue with the dog training because there are still areas where he needs some improvement, but overall, he's really done great. He's able to walk down the street, see dogs across the street, and NOT go crazy. Now, he still doesn't like them on the same side of the sidewalk as he is...he just needs his space.

We like to go to the church across the street and sit in the very plush grass and watch the world go by. Sometimes we go over on Victory Parkway and sit on a little stone wall and watch the traffic pass. It's very relaxing. Since I've been unemployed Zoli gets an extra walk every day, so basically he's outside about every four hours... sorry Stephen!!! It's a nice schedule, gets me outside regularly and I know he loves being outdoors.

So... we will enjoy the time we have remaining. We'll lounge together on the sofa every evening, snuggle together every night, sit on the porch and watch the neighbor dogs (and howl!), sit in the grass, practice being comfortable with other dogs and generally enjoy each other's company. Nice!

Patrolling the courtyard!

Relaxing in the Grass

Since the weather has been nicer, AND since Zoli has been behaving so much better we've been sitting in the courtyard, basking in the sun. There is construction going on in my building and Z loves to watch all the goings on. His nose is constantly sniffing around and those ears are always on alert. He loves it when some of the workers come over to pet him and tell him how wonderful he is (not at all spoiled!)

Today he was eating grass...guess his belly hurts, could be his meds. He's back on allergy pills (spring in Cincinnati!) and it's making him eat and drink more...which also means he needs to go outside more often. He wants to be out about every 4 hours. I'm trying to stretch it out as I don't want him to get too used to such a luxury. But, since I have the time, he's getting an additional walk every day. Good for us both!!

He's living the life of Riley, for sure!

Training

Zoli and I started some more training last week - it's supposed to socialize him with other dogs. We have had three sessions and he's really doing well. He definitely shows a lot of anxiety which comes out either as completely ignoring other dogs - like he doesn't even see them! - or going crazy. We're trying a new choke collar which seems to work better than any we've tried thus far. Today he worked with another dog, Brutus - a cute boxer, and they walked together and did great! When we got home he was exhausted - way too much stimulus going on! He zonked out for the rest of the day! Today on our afternoon walk there was a dog across the street and he barely paid any attention to it! (of course it was a big 4 lane street, but still!) Baby steps...we'll continue training until he can handle seeing new dogs close up without going bonko!

He loved them... to DEATH!

It was a dark and stormy night as I walked up to 2356 Park Ave. I could tell the minute I entered the house that something was amiss. It was quiet... too quiet. Normally Zoli would have met me at the door, but not tonight. Where was he? What was he up to? What had he done? I slipped off my shoes at the door and slowly walked through the darkness, pondering the possibilities...maybe he got into the garbage, maybe he found the treats and ate them all, maybe he pulled down all the toilet paper from the rolls - it could be anything! Finally I stepped into my bedroom..."What the...?" I felt it then, something under my foot, something soft, cotton like. I closed my eyes and flipped on the light. With much trepidation I looked around and finally saw her. Miss Alligator... lying on the floor-lifeless-stuffing all around her! After gaining my composure I carefully backed out of the room - remembering that this was not the first time...

It was shortly after Christmas. Monkey was new to the household. A gift from Grandma. Zoli loved him! He slept with him, hugged him, played with him all the time. They were inseparable. One day I noticed a change in Monkey... his face seemed a little...less, not quite as full. And more disconcerting, I was starting to find little pieces of stuffing scattered around the house. I would pretend nothing was wrong, gather them up and sew them back inside Monkey. Zoli seemed quite unconcerned with this. He would casually watch me sew Monkey back up as if he didn't have a care in the world. This became a pattern; over and over again I would sew up Monkey. Then one day it happened...Zoli performed a complete lobotomy on Monkey...emptied his whole head out, even the little squeaker was pulled out and tossed aside! I though he was beyond repair, but I couldn't give up. Monkey was sewn back up one last time and put on the floor. But, Zoli was no longer interested. He seemed to know that Monkey was just not the same. So now Monkey is unrecognizable, his head a bit deformed, his squeaker a little less squeaky. Miss Alligator was brought into the house as a cheap replacement. I should have known it was only a matter of time until she too met her untimely death...

I scooped up the gutted remains of Miss Alligator, preparing to put her pieces back together. In the meantime, I had to find the culprit. Where was he hiding? What other horrors might await me? I silently crept through the house winding my way to the back bedroom. It was there that I found him...calmly lounging on the bed, "playing" with his plush, new Octopus... NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!