- Thread starter
- #711
peteyfoozer
Herd Master
Dear gawd, I have had the most traumatic morning …pain has of course, been flaring lately, but even worse is the extreme fatigue that continues with it sometimes. I haven’t been able to get up for days so I dragged myself out to the kitchen for an Adderal. I don’t like to take them because I already am having high BP but decided there has been no quality to life lately so it’s worth the risk.
So after an hour or so, I was able to make it to the backroom where I have been trying for weeks to make something for a beautiful little redheaded girl who is sadly going to be leaving the ranch soon. I have really struggled with the making of it as well as comprehension, so I figured this is my best shot.
As I was at the sewing machine, my “heart” walked in and insisted I hug him and pet him and acknowledge his presence. After he was satisfied, he wandered the craft room while I worked.
I sensed something was wrong.
I asked Boone to come out from between the work table and wall. He backed across the room then turned…on his foot was a sticky trap…
In case you don’t know the actual definition of phobia, here you go:
“an intense, persistent, IRRATIONAL fear of a specific object, activity, situation, or person that manifests in physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, or shortness of breath, and that motivates avoidance behavior.”
In my case the “avoidance behavior” looks like deep throated screaming, tears, terror, gagging, and knowing we may both die a horrible death if the …insect… on the trap touches one or both of us. Remember key word-IRRATIONAL
Mind you, this happened once with Fen, but Fen’s dainty little foot only covers a wee bit of the trap, which also had the same…insect or two (yes. The phobia is so severe I cannot say it’s name or even look at a picture of one…)
So with Fen, I was able to safely find fingerholds on the trap and remove it without touching one.
Not so with Boone’s enormous paws. There was no safe handhold. But I love him and had to free him. As I was attempting it, I could hear myself screaming, and Boo was trying to pull his foot away (well, more than just trying, he is after all, both bigger and stronger than I am) each time he got it away and slammed it to the ground, welding it ever tighter to his paw.
As we did our macabre dance across the room and through the house, both of us now screaming and staggering, I was grasping tools for my own protection as we went by them, a jewelry plier here, kitchen scissors there…I’m sure it hurt Boo, as it was probably taking skin off his paws but I probably terrorized him worse than the pain, though definitely not as terrorized as I am by the evil incarnate that was attached to the trap.
Finally, with both of us tangled in the bedroom doorway, it came loose and still crying hysterically and now hoarse as well, my BP likely in the red zone, Boo trembled in the doorway while I got the trap down deep in the trash can. I spent much time apologizing to him, hugging, kissing, still crying, while he forgave me, covering my face in gigantic tongued doggy kisses.
I took a shower as the smell of fear was too strong for me to cope with. It’s been an hour now and I’m finally feeling a bit better.
Remember the other day I told you Boone is in a fear period? They last a couple of weeks and incidents can imprint phobias of his own on his little psyche.
S&@$!!tch!
How bad have I just screwed up my dog ? 🫤😳
So after an hour or so, I was able to make it to the backroom where I have been trying for weeks to make something for a beautiful little redheaded girl who is sadly going to be leaving the ranch soon. I have really struggled with the making of it as well as comprehension, so I figured this is my best shot.
As I was at the sewing machine, my “heart” walked in and insisted I hug him and pet him and acknowledge his presence. After he was satisfied, he wandered the craft room while I worked.
I sensed something was wrong.
I asked Boone to come out from between the work table and wall. He backed across the room then turned…on his foot was a sticky trap…
In case you don’t know the actual definition of phobia, here you go:
“an intense, persistent, IRRATIONAL fear of a specific object, activity, situation, or person that manifests in physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, or shortness of breath, and that motivates avoidance behavior.”
In my case the “avoidance behavior” looks like deep throated screaming, tears, terror, gagging, and knowing we may both die a horrible death if the …insect… on the trap touches one or both of us. Remember key word-IRRATIONAL
Mind you, this happened once with Fen, but Fen’s dainty little foot only covers a wee bit of the trap, which also had the same…insect or two (yes. The phobia is so severe I cannot say it’s name or even look at a picture of one…)
So with Fen, I was able to safely find fingerholds on the trap and remove it without touching one.
Not so with Boone’s enormous paws. There was no safe handhold. But I love him and had to free him. As I was attempting it, I could hear myself screaming, and Boo was trying to pull his foot away (well, more than just trying, he is after all, both bigger and stronger than I am) each time he got it away and slammed it to the ground, welding it ever tighter to his paw.
As we did our macabre dance across the room and through the house, both of us now screaming and staggering, I was grasping tools for my own protection as we went by them, a jewelry plier here, kitchen scissors there…I’m sure it hurt Boo, as it was probably taking skin off his paws but I probably terrorized him worse than the pain, though definitely not as terrorized as I am by the evil incarnate that was attached to the trap.
Finally, with both of us tangled in the bedroom doorway, it came loose and still crying hysterically and now hoarse as well, my BP likely in the red zone, Boo trembled in the doorway while I got the trap down deep in the trash can. I spent much time apologizing to him, hugging, kissing, still crying, while he forgave me, covering my face in gigantic tongued doggy kisses.
I took a shower as the smell of fear was too strong for me to cope with. It’s been an hour now and I’m finally feeling a bit better.
Remember the other day I told you Boone is in a fear period? They last a couple of weeks and incidents can imprint phobias of his own on his little psyche.
S&@$!!tch!
How bad have I just screwed up my dog ? 🫤😳
