Pyreneese – Page 2 – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

Week 21

July 11, 2022July 17, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in Health and Fitness, July 2022

It has been twenty-one weeks since I began my fitness journey. In those weeks, there has been a lot to celebrate. Every week there has been some notable improvement to my health and fitness. That is pretty amazing.

Unfortunately, I am in a place where the improvements are becoming harder to come by and less notable. That is not terribly surprising. Regardless of what you do, how you do it, or how well you do it, there are challenges along the way.

So… My thoughts on week 21

#1. Humidity – Our temperature has finally begun to rise, we have had frequent short spells of rain and our humidity has risen accordingly. That may be great for something, but not so good for my lungs. Activity indoors or out is a struggle. I have kept up with my Zumba every day (except Sunday, which is my ‘rest and recover day) – but the struggle is real!

#2. Walking – I cannot believe that Molly and I have been walking daily for two weeks. It seems SO MUCH LONGER. I was so excited about walking our new pup. It was such a long wait until she was fully vaccinated and cleared to go. Now we are walking and it gets worse every day! Molly is getting somewhat better at dealing with the traffic, but…. The warmer weather has brought out the people in our neighborhood. These people seem to be worse than ever for tossing their litter on roads and sidewalks. Molly is distracted by each and every piece. Walking the walks is one ongoing chorus of “Molly come on!” And “Molly drop it!”. Walking in the park is somewhat less distracting but the mosquitoes are brutal and Molly stops regularly to roll in the grass or….

#3. Cold showers – I think that I have had three cold shower experiences. When I decided to add these to my fitness routine, the main draw for me was the possibility that cold showers could help me to develop some brown fat on my body. Brown fat is the fat that insulates one body and burns calories to keep a body warm. Living in Saskatchewan and facing the prospect of walking Molly this winter, brown fat sounds like a pretty good idea, well worth the effort it takes to produce it. So, how have the cold showers been going? The first one started as a regular hot shower until I felt ready to go for it . I turned off the hot water and the blast of ice cold water was more than I was prepared for. I got out as fast as I got in. I approached my second cold shower a bit more cautiously. I got into a hot shower and gradually turned back the hot water a notch at a time, until I was hit by the blast of ice cold water. Then, once again, I beat a hasty retreat. Last night, I tried another route. I got into a cool to lukewarm shower. Every few minutes I went a little cooler. When it was cold – but not ice cold – I settled in for a two or three minute chilly dousing. I don’t know that it was enough to start producing brown fat cells but there were a couple of things that I did notice. After exiting my chilly shower, my skin felt smooth and there was none of the typical hot shower, or hot bath, dry itch. Also, my hair was smooth and soft. I have spent a lot on hair products in recent years, some with better results than others, but my hair always seemed dried and fried. Last night, not so much. Obviously, it is too soon to tell if I am sold on cold showers, but I am definitely not ready to throw in the towel.

#4. Sleep – For some reason I am struggling to get any decent sleep – even now that Molly has become a solid sleeper. I sleep for an hour, then I am awake for two, trying to figure out why my sleep is so filled with disturbing dreams. It’s not even nightmares as such. I dream that I am back at work and freaking out because I can’t remember when I last paid the company’s payroll taxes, or some other such nonsense. It is annoying, exhausting, and frustrating.

That is it for this week. I sure that things will turn around and that I will find I have made a big leap in progress one of these days. In the meantime – it is about the journey, not the destination. 😉

Take care and have a great day!💞

***Cooling off after a walk in the park.***

I Herd That!

June 29, 2022June 29, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in June 2022

Raising a pup to become a dog always has it’s challenges. Apparently, raising a big pup has BIG challenges. This week we are dealing with one of Molly’s.

Before we brought a Great Pyrenees sheepdog into our home, I did a fair amount of reading on the breed. Since having her, I have taken Molly to the vet’s three times and have asked about any specific issues with this breed. I spoke to people who have Pyrs, as has Dan. (Apparently, they are quite a popular dog!). For all of our research, neither of us came across anything noting that since herding dogs are so intuned to their environment, they are particularly sensitive to loud sounds.

Since Dan and I are both relatively quiet, this sensitivity to sound has not been an issue – until now

A few days ago, Molly and I started daily walks. On Monday, we were walking across an open area across the street when there was a loud BANG. It sounded like a gunshot. Molly freaked out! We turned back and came out of the park and she calmed down so we went on to walk around the neighbourhood, keeping to the sidewalks. The bigger, and louder vehicles bothered her but she seemed to manage once such vehicles were past us.

That night, our new nextdoor neighbour put up a basketball net for his two young sons. They were exuberant and well LOUD. It was early in the evening and Molly seemed okay. She did coming flying into the house and spent the evening laying beside Dan on the sofa, but she seemed okay. She wasn’t.

Yesterday, Molly was terrified of going outside. I had to drag her out. She would run to the gate and peek around a cedar to the basketball net nextdoor. I brought her lunch outside, thinking that would distract her. She was too scared to eat. Dan and I took her for a walk in the park across the street and she was fine. We had her on an extendable leash and she raced and leapt around, ears flopping – having a ball! We came back home, came into the yard, and she was terrified. It was a brutal day.

This morning, Molly was slightly better. I got her to come outside to do her business and to come back in to eat her breakfast. I turned to Google and read a few articles about dogs who are terrified (terrorized) by loud sounds. One thing that sounded promising was that dogs find the smell of Vanilla calming. I rubbed a bit on my left hand and let Molly sniff at it. She immediately, and noticeably became calmer.

I put on her leash and took her out for a walk. She was stressed getting out the door and across the yard but she was fine once we were on the other side of the gate. We walked around the block, came to the back of the house through the back alley (where I knew Dan was chatting with a friend). Molly was excited to see them, and was happy to be fussed over by both of them. We resumed our walk and went through the park and back. Molly was a bit hesitant about a small tractor working in the park, but she dealt with it.

On our return home, she balked at the gate but she came in without too much of a battle. I unclipped her leash at the gate and came into the house. Molly followed within a few seconds. I sprayed Molly’s kennel, stuffed elephant, her blanket, and the carpet in the porch with diluted vanilla. It seemed to calm her considerably – until her favorite human stopped in unexpectedly.

***Chilling out in her Vanilla scented*** ***kennel.***

Our granddaughter Genie was passing through from Winnipeg, on her way to Calgary, and she was fortunately allowed a few hours stop in Regina. She managed a few minutes to come by. Molly was beside herself (and on top of Genie) the entire time.

When Genie had to leave, Molly bounced out the door with her and walked her to the gate. She barely glanced at the dreaded basketball net. 👍

***A month for the Calgary Stampede and the Edmonton Exhibition and the The North American Midway will be in Regina for a few days – with Molly’s favourite human!***

We seem to be heading for a gradual recovery, but if anyone has any suggestions for dealing with our fearful pup, I would love to hear them. This is thunderstorm season in Saskatchewan and The Weather Channel has a warning for tonight. 😳🌩️⚡

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞

Molly’s First City Walk

June 26, 2022June 26, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in June 2022

We finally did it! I took Molly for her first official walk yesterday. We went around our block and to say it went badly is an understatement. She had two speeds – fast and stop and she insisted on walking right in front of me or right behind me (perpendicular to me of course 🙄).

This morning Molly seemed bored. (Sometimes, it is hard to tell if Molly is bored or tired, but when she stole the bra out of my drawer and went racing around the yard with it flapping in the wind , she didn’t appear to be tired). I decided this could be as good a time as ever to try walking her again. I traded her a Milk Bone for my bra and got her into her harness and leash.

Today went much better. I took Molly to the ball diamonds across the street (a ways) from our house.

***Past the housing complex and seniors building and across the open field to the ball diamonds.***

Molly did fairly well on the way to the ball diamonds. I took her into one of the diamonds and walked the bases with her, teaching her to walk nicely on my left side. It took about 30 sudden u-turns but she got the hang of it and walked home like a pro – even when we had to walk past the scary miniature dachshund (in the fenced in yard ten feet from where we were walking).

***I stopped to chat with a neighbour. Molly politely said hi and proceeded to roll into the one patch of mud on our block.***

We practiced sitting to wait before crossing our street. Finally, I stopped for a chat with Liam and Molly sat (occasionally rolled) patiently.

All in all, today went pretty well. It will be interesting to see if she remembers the lessons tomorrow and fun to see how things progress on busier and more distracting paths.

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞

Miss Molly Is Growing Up

June 16, 2022June 16, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in June 2022

Molly is four months old today! All things being equal, that would be twenty-eight months in human time. That seems about right. While she is obviously a joy, she has her “terrible two’s” moments.

Looking back through photos I have taken of her in the past couple of months, since she has been with us, it is amazing how she has grown and changed. She is still a baby, but she is getting bigger, more independent, and smarter every day! And… more helpful. She definitely likes to help! Last night she tried to help me take a metal splinter out of Dan’s leg. Somehow, having a big white fuzzy head between me and the magnifying glass did not help. 🤦