September 25th 2009

This morning AP took Tonka for his normal EARLY morning walk. He got the chance to run into his "buddy" Henry and get a chance to play. It was a rainy morning but he didn't care because he is a "wash and walk" kind of guy. I was getting ready for work when in Tonka came!
For a dog who does not like water; he is funny when he comes in from the rain.

Tonka heard my voice so he came "looking" for me; but I didn't want a BIG WET dog on me! Mean while AP had gone to get the famous "dog towels" to "mop" Tonka up. I took the towels and before I could begin to dry him off as if he knew; Tonka sat down. Told him to get up which in turn translated to him LAY DOWN and QUICKLY roll over on my side!

So as I was trying to dry him off when Tonka thought it was game. He began to "swim" and pull the towel with his mouth. He kept trying to take the towel away from me and I could ONLY get one side of him because he was still lying on his side. Fighting me and trying to play with the towel; I realized I was out matched! So I cried for help......AP!! She came upstairs to see me wrestling the BEAR and laughed.
I told AP I need you to help me flip the bear to the other side. So of course this ONLY reinforced Tonka thinking it was a "game". So I dried off the other side as I wrestled! When I was getting up to leave that is when Tonka decided to grab for the towel again and PULL!
As the towel ripped he took off with it and shredded it into pieces.
Now ripping old towels isn't that bad, it's the fact that he doesn't listen; at least not to me. Ripping the towel wasn't enough for Tonka and since he still had a lot of "play" left in him; he came looking for me.
He "attacked" my feet, pulled at my pj's and keep bouncing and prancing at me as to say “let’s get it on". At one point as I walked away and ignored him; he caught my PJ bottoms just right! He pulled and as I walked they came down just enough for me to lose my balance and FALL! The next thing I knew I had a BIG WHITE DOG trying to stand over me and play.
Then I hear AP'S voice asking what I was doing as she was coming upstairs! To which at that point Tonka moves and goes lay down! Again, as I try to explain what HE did I was being asked what I did to get HIM all jacked up!
I really don't believe he is blind or even a dog anymore. I've decided that he must be a reincarnation of my sister (who is alive) from the times I picked on her or let her get blamed for something I did. So when I come back I will be reincarnated into a BIG WHITE DOG and sit my butt on AP'S door step so I can get by with so much!

Tonka is NOT the older Sibling

This is CM, Tonka's other human. Most of the blogs I have let AP tell the saga of Tonka but I have MANY a story to tell of his "adventures"! AP says that the reason that Tonka destroys MY things or "attacks" me is because he thinks I'm his sibling. That I need to be more the Alpha...blah, blah,blah :):) I've tried but the blind one STILL thinks WE are siblings and some how HE is the oldest!

Today on a weekend AP had to go into work early; not something that she normally has to do. I had plans of doing that exciting task of "house cleaning & laundry". No problem,right? What could go wrong?

Our morning started at 7:30, Tonka was laying on the foyer being the "angel" he is. Then AP walked out the door and the "adventures" began.

I was stripping the beds when I heard this RIPPING sound loud and close by. Now Tonka loves to take the dish towels and plant both front paws on them and pull up with all his might and RIP! There is something about that sound he just loves; but it is only certain towels. So at first I thought he had a towel, but then I realized the sound was quite close. When I found my "younger brother" he had taken AP's blue NIKE fleece pull-over! When he heard me asking "what are you doing"; he froze in position! Tonka must think that since he couldn't "see" me I couldn't see him! But there he stood with both paws and the fleece in his mouth; not moving! "I won't move and CM won't see me and I can continue."

When I asked what he thought he was doing...he dropped it from his mouth as if to say "nothing, just standing here". I ordered him out of the room to realize he had tore a big hole in the armpit and had already been pulling AP's things off the dresser and had them around the room.

I scolded him and reminded him that those were NOT his things; yet there was something inside that was like "YES, score this time it was AP's and NOT my stuff!" :):) I thought would have been the end of it...I was wrong.

A short time later I hear him "digging" out the kitchen vent from the floor! Why he has decided lately to kill the vent is beyond me. Again, I had to stop to deal with my"brother"! Now you would think after getting in trouble twice now in a short amount of time Tonka would have given up...nope.

Tonka proceeded to go from one thing to another. From taking the picture albums of the end tables, to taking off with MY dress shoes (remember I was cleaning). But the icing on the dog biscuit was the lamp and MY curio cabinet! I had just got back to cleaning when I hear ANOTHER crash; this time it was the lamp and coasters that he pushed backwards into my curio cabinet! One LUCKY DOG that it did not break!

When I had yelled at him for the LAST time and told him he was going to put into his house if he didn't behave...yes, he understood me! He kept patting at me with his big paws like to say "come on let's PLAY, you know you want to". Come on CM you know you love me, then laid down and showed his belly and wanted me to rub it! What part of YOU ARE IN TROUBLE did he not get? YES, I rubbed his belly gave him kisses and BEGGED him to be good! Then I thought I'm driving myself crazy "YOU are the ALPHA, BE the ALPHA" I just need to put him in his house; when he got up and went a laid down. Three hours had gone by and the only things I accomplished were, stripping the beds, dusting the 3 bedrooms and breakfast dishes! Then AP was walking in the door and wanted to know how my morning had been and if I was DONE cleaning so we could enjoy the rest of the day! Then Tonka comes running up to meet AP for LOVE!! Which he got; so WHO is the ALPHA?

I'm coming back as a big blind dog and parking myself on AP's doorstop!

Dogs and Children

We went out for our walk really late tonight and the football kids were just leaving the field. A little girl came up and asked AP if she could pet me. She also wanted to know if I would bite. AP explained that I wouldn't bite but I might move my head around to sniff her since I can't see. She asked my name and wanted to know why I couldn't see. She had a hard time with Tonka so it came out Conka. AP told her my eyes were broken inside when I was born and she waved her hand in front of my face and said "I'm right here Conka". She was petting me and talking to me and then asked me to sit so I sat down. Even sitting I was taller than her. I decided to flop down and she got down next to me and kept petting me and when it was time to go she took my head in both hands and said very softly "bye Conka" and gave AP a big hug. I like kids.