Our Family Bouquet: September 2012

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Bark Therapy

4:41 PM |

Posted by Missy | Edit Post

Ever since I started on my weight loss journey (well, after I started recovering from last Christmas' surgeries, anyway), I've wanted to start exercising. The Body By Vi shakes that I started taking at about that time gave me SO much energy I just wanted to go, go, GO! but I couldn't, because of the radiation burns on my abdomen (long story - those of you who know me know it). The burns finally healed, but then the worst one's scar gave me trouble and only just NOW am I fit to exercise!! It no longer hurts to twist or move, though it still does to bend, but that's no problem.

ANYWAY, I have a new motivation to walk now. Bark Therapy. Yes, Bark Therapy. Not because *I* bark, but because my adorable, sweet, loving little troublemaking Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Mary, barks! TOO MUCH!! She has become quite the yapper, causing some stress in our house. We don't really know why she is such a yapper, because her mentor, Daisy (our Boston Terrier) never, ever barks, and that example was not set for her when she was a pup, so we figure it must just be genetic. Lucky us.

Anyone who has ever seen the Dog Whisperer on TV knows that one way that Cesar Milan fixes dog behavior issues is by exercise (in fact, his motto is "Exercise, Discipline, Affection: in that order!"), and NOT by a simple romp in the backyard. No, the man makes his clients get off their butts and GO FOR A WALK. I've read his books, and he gives the reason but that is not the purpose of this post. The purpose of this post is Bark Therapy. I am counting on Cesar's teachings to get Mary to SHUT UP.

I, for two weeks, am committing myself to walking this dog over and back on the Titusville Bridge every other day and see if this calms her down so that her barking is under control.

...and, it's good for me, too!

So start off. There is no one else walking at the time, which is kinda nice. It's hot, but not terribly hot (at least by FL standards), and there's a great breeze going. The view is spectacular (that's the Kennedy Space Center over there), and there's a fantastic concrete barrier between the pedestrian lane and the road, which is GREAT cause it lets Mary walk in the shade the entire way! She can't even see the cars (nor can they see her) because of this partition going each direction. I'm as happy as a lark at this point. Initially, I was going to only go up to the top, then turn around, but it was so easy that I decided to go the whole way; go down to the bottom, cross over and make my way back on the other side of the road, since there was the partition there, too.

After awhile, Mary got a little fed up with the whole thing and started complaining. She wasn't used to all of this walking, or the noise, or any of it! But we kept on.

The way over wasn't steep at all, but the other side was much steeper. Not sure why the engineers (or whoever) designed it like that, but they did. See the nifty barricade on the left?

(shaky legs; giving Mary a rest)Okay, so we got down to the bottom and crossed over. As we were starting the climb on the return, I started getting tired. Uh, oh... Half way up the bridge, my legs just decided they were done. I had to stop. My legs were shaky, wobbly, quivering, you fill in the blank. I was tired. Meanwhile, I had to carry Mary for awhile cause she was just so tired, poor baby! Good thing she only weighs 11 pounds. Somehow, probably sheer will, I made it to the top of the bridge and staggered down the other side to the car. Wanna know how I felt??

Yeah, I was tired. But you know what? It was a GOOD walk. A very good walk. Everything about it was perfect (other than the cars zooming by, I suppose). Even Mary heeled BEAUTIFULLY - she was perfectly well-behaved!!! We both guzzled down some water in the car and headed home. Get ready, Mary!! We're doing it again on Monday!! Your Bark Therapy has just begun...

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