Overwhelmed?

Every now and then, I meet a person who is “over enthusiastic” about everything. They are loud; talk incessantly (and seemingly without breathing); they gesticulate wildly; you may have just met them for the first time and yet they treat you like a long lost friend, and they have to touch your arm while explaining things. I really am not too sure how to handle those individuals and I probably show it in my face and general body language. I really don’t have a problem with it, and occasionally it can be refreshing, but those people are a puzzle!

When walking Ray the other evening, we were approached by a lady with Golden Retriever on a leash. I was pretty sure that Ray and the Golden had met before and everything was very amicable, so I had no concerns.

As the Golden got closer, it was clearly getting excited and started leaping up and down. It was interesting to watch because the jumps were pretty much vertical, and seeing a large Golden doing a series of vertical take-offs was fascinating!

While Ray was his usual Mr. Cool self as the gap between them closed, the Golden was simply getting more excited and was displaying very “springy” legs as he kept leaping around.

We were introduced to Sidney and Carol asked about his age (clearly full size but still a puppy). We were surprised to learn that he was in fact 12! While we were talking, Sidney was checking Ray out and jumping around while Ray maintained his self control and composure.

Both Carol and I had treats in our pockets so Sidney would bounce over to me and nudge my pocket and lick my hand, and then bounce over to Carol to see if she was any more giving, and in between he would be checking out Ray further. This continued for probably 5 minutes or more with Sidney constantly defying gravity; us trying to ensure that the leashes did not get tangled, and Ray being “Mr. Cool”!

Two aspects of this encounter caught my attention. One was the energy level of this 12 year old dog. He just seemed so excited to meet somebody… anybody… that he was totally out of control. The other aspect was Ray’s reaction. He just stood and watched, and looked a little perplexed.

That’s probably exactly how I look when I meet those individuals noted in the first paragraph!

*****

On a totally different topic! I have read a few Posts recently where the summer weather has resulted in dogs being given ice cream. Be vary wary of this as artificial sweeteners are being used more and more in ice cream and, while they may not be as harmful as Xylitol, it could be very risky depending on how much they consume relative to their physical size. Ray is not given ice cream as we see it as a totally unnecessary risk to take.

28 thoughts on “Overwhelmed?”

  2. “Sydney” sounds like a brother from a different mother to Sam. ๐Ÿ˜‰
    P.S. Kudos on the ice cream warning. Someone asked me the other day if I gave ice cream to Sam and when I said no, they looked at me like I was from the moon. Sam isn’t a 3 year old that needs bribing with a treat made for humans.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I am amazed that a 12 year old Golden had that much energy! And I really liked your analogy between Ray meeting the Golden and you meeting very enthusiastic people. I can relate…sometimes I find those types of people just a bit overwhelming!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. My vet always suggest I give yogurt (including flavors) to my cats. The cats I have now do not like dairy. Jake, my old one drank about 8 ounces of milk a day (lactose-free although he wasn’t lactose intolerant) but he wouldn’t touch cheese, yogurt and I never tried ice cream. Ice cream has a hard time going anywhere but in my mouth!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Kate: Following is a quote from a vet’s site in response to a question about cats and sweeteners in yogurt – Cats do not have “sweet” taste buds. Dogs and people do. So, thankfully cats generally aren’t attracted to sweet things. While none of the artificial sweetners are healthy for our animal friends the one we are most concerned about is Xylitol. This sweetener causes a dangerous drop in blood sugar as the body erroneously releases insulin in response to its presence and can also lead to liver failure in dogs. We don’t know the amount that is toxic but reported cases of liver failure have had very small ingested amounts lead to big problems in dogs. There haven’t been any studies done with cats so we aren’t sure whether they will react the same way or not. I wouldn’t risk it.

      Splenda has a different artificial sweetner in it, sucralose, which so far has not had any reported effects in dogs or cats. I just wouldn’t risk it.
      Given that he lacks “sweet” taste buds I don’t think Targa will be attracted to your Splenda anyway but I do believe that it’s wise to keep it away from him.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Mr. Colin, Mom says thanks about the reminder on artificial sweeteners and she will be careful about that. And I say phwthhhh. (I am practicing my raspberries for Noodle’s pawlympic event, yeah, that’s what I am doing). Hey Ray, way to go, adopting your Dad’s cool and calm behavior. I know you are way too dignified to ever behave like that. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Ha Ha! Ray was only mimicking his owner. Being Cool, even tho he was confused ๐Ÿ™‚ Wouldn’t it have been nice if after the Golden had left that Ray could have turned to you and given you his exact thoughts ::) But good for him in staying calm, cool and collected!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Oreo is like the golden. 6 years old and acts like a 6 month old. I don’t see it stopping. He feels it’s the best thing on earth to have someone want to see and pet him. People seem to enjoy the fact he’s so excited to see them. Makes them feel missed. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Liked by 1 person

  12. LOL hahaha … Quite funny!
    I’ve meet such people too, along the journey in this life.
    There is the excited one, the MOST excited one and the CRAZY, CRAZY EXCITED ONE as well.
    But then, I got the same reaction towards to those who are too extremely quiet. And that is quite creepy! LOL
    But pretty interesting to get to learn and meet such people.
    Just as dogs do, too!
    (โ€แ—ขโ€)

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.