It's 4.30 am and I should still be asleep. But I'm not. For about six months I've had this painful ache in my right shoulder... I can't straighten my right arm above my head. My back aches. The muscles in my neck feel tight. I wake up in the early hours with this stabbing pain in my shoulder.
Why? Because we have a dog who pulls on the lead. He's better than he was... he now walks to heel some of the time. But he'll suddenly pull away, yanking the lead hard - and each time it happens, I get this sharp stabbing pain around my shoulder socket. And as it happens several times on each walk, that's a pretty hefty amount of repetitive strain going on.
I've taken him to puppy classes; I've had a dog trainer round here for several one-hour sessions. The puppy's great with the trainer.
He's a really good-natured dog. Half Springer spaniel, half labrador; sweet with children; totally unaggressive with other dogs; always incredibly cheerful. But I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to get him under control.
We met a springer/collie cross yesterday. She's seven years old. She runs just like Frodo, ears flapping, uncoordinated in a loveable gangly sort of way, full of the joys of life. In fact, she had even more energy than he had... She kept getting his ball and running off with it, bounding round the field with a big doggy smile on her doggy face. She didn't take any notice when her owner called her. She didn't drop the ball when commanded to. She just bounced around happily doing her own thing. And she's seven years old.
When we first got Frodo, everyone said, 'Oh, they settle down when they're about 18 months old.' Then we were told, 'Labradors settle down when they're two...'. But I'm starting to wonder whether the Springer spaniel-labrador mix is hard-wired to stay bouncy for ever...
So the question is, what am I going to do about it? He has to be walked. I have to walk him.
I've tried a halty: he pulls less, but still pulls; and he hates it so much that he won't come back if I let him off the lead. I've tried a harness: didn't make any difference. I've tried a choke chain. I do training exercises with him at home; he's pretty good in the house. But somehow the work doesn't translate into the big wide world. So what do I do?
