Good girl, Maya!

Every day brings something interesting, amusing, or downright surprising!

Today, Maya came home!

The news was shocking, to everyone! So, here it is.

Sure, she looks so sweet and innocent. Fact is, she cannot be trusted off leash. Since we got her, every opportunity she's gotten to get loose, she won't come back. You have to trick her. The first time, she ran out of the neighborhood when a visitor let her walk out of our back gate, and she ran down for about 20 minutes with Mike in pursuit, occasionally checking behind her to see if he was still following.

In California, she got loose twice while we were at work. Once she and Peso knocked down a wire gate, the second time they got out the front door because the latch didn't catch and the double screen doors just pushed open. Both times, the girls ran and ran for hours, then eventually came home. Then slept for about 3 days, obviously very tired.

Today Mike came home from work and let Maya out into the back yard. Apparently the side gate, which needs a minor repair to keep from pushing out at the bottom, wasn't properly latched. Workers have been at the house day in and out for the past two weeks, so the gate has been opened and I didn't double check the latch last night. Gas company, Verizon, power company, water company, and so on. Turning on utilities in the state of Virginia is a multi-step process, apparently.

So, Maya got out when she was let out.

The way we found her -- Chris and I weren't home yet, so we didn't get to play this time. However, Mike was walking through the living room and noticed her walking up on the small porch on the front of the house, from the front window. Good thing he saw her! She's not a vicious dog, as many may assume or like to think. But, historically, she has not gotten along with other animals, especially dogs. There are a few on this street, and while they are supposed to be leashed or in a fenced yard, there were two loose ones walking around just last week. Fortunately, not today!

Since staying at the temporary apartment in Hampton, VA, located about 3 miles from the house, Maya has gotten used to her multiple daily walks. I usually walked her about 30 minutes each morning after Chris' bus picked him up. Then, sometimes we'd walk again at least 20 minutes in the afternoons when the bus dropped him off. Usually, she got at least a 20 minute walk around the paths each night. There were days she would get short-changed, but not often. Days when we had to make an appointment or it was raining too hard.

We figured out her maximum walking time is 30 minutes. Period. I found out the hard way, of course. We were walking one day and decided to go longer than usual. About a block from the apartment, she stopped in the road and laid down. Didn't want to move. Gentle coaxing got her to get up, and we finished at a slower pace. A couple weeks later, we walked 30 minutes, and had only gone a little bit further than usual. Almost to the apartment, she stopped again. Just came to an immediate halt! No fuss, no argument, just stopped. So, we keep it under 30 now.

Her hard work is showing, we believe she's lost a few pounds, she definitely feels better, as do we. An added bonus we are not complaining about. Now, she will agree to go out in the back yard, but she waits to do "her business" until she goes for a walk. Smart girl!

Since we are on the subject of Maya, check out the really neat dog kennel at Juanita & Dan's house in Arkansas. It's about 8 x 10' and perfect for putting in a visiting dog. It has a shelter inside, for sun and if it's raining. We didn't know if we'd need to use it during our visit, but held it as an option for if we went on a day trip.

Wrong answer! We knew she didn't like small crates, as we witnessed her break one when we first got her back in 2001. We have always crated our dogs, and the LOVED their crates. Not Maya, not ever! She was only in the kennel for an hour or so, and this is the damage she did in that short time, all with her teeth and jaws. I wouldn't have believed it, but we saw her doing it. Well, now we know. She still doesn't like to be crated. Instead, we kept her in Cindy's bedroom for the 4 days, taking her in and out, walks a couple times a day, and she was happy. There sat the guinea pigs only a foot above her head on the desk, and she never bothered them. Just doesn't like to be confined in a kennel.

Her little piggies, Lucky & Lisa

In her old age, she has become nervous about thunder and lightning storms. Imagine our surprise when we found her on our AIR mattress at 1 AM back in NM when a storm blew through while we were sleeping. I was just grateful she didn't pop a hole in the mattress with her nails.
Oh, she NEVER gets on the furniture. Has never wanted to, never even snuck up when we weren't looking. This summer, she even hid in the shower stall while I was taking a bath, because a storm rolled on thru (I know, not supposed to be in a tub during a storm, but we survived).

Maya's a good girl, I'm glad we have her.

Note to those with large or older dogs, especially the breed Akita: be sure to have their thyroid levels checked when they get older. We found out the hard way that Maya's thyroid wasn't working back in 2005, a very costly financial and emotional lesson, I might add. When the thyroid stops working properly, it affects a lot of things, such as metabolism. For dogs, it is guaranteed to make them testy and less patient. She's been on her medication ever since that spring, and she's much happier now, for sure. For her protection, we will absolutely never ever leave her in the presence of a child under 16, for any possible reason. Kids get to say hi, then she goes away. Christopher has learned to respect her space, as well. One thing we learned: dogs are very predictable. Kids are unpredictable. For the protection of kids, we EDUCATE them on how to respect animals of all sorts.

Thanks for coming back home, Maya!