Today was simply ridiculous.

My dog is trying to give me a heart attack.  (Though she definitely succeeded in giving me a migraine!).

Note:  This is going to be long.  I apologize.

Today started off weird.  Kimma was a bit more reactive than usual, barking at cars randomly, and just being a pain.  But whatever.  We all have bad days.

So we went to go for a walk with a group from our dog park.  We go walking with them a few times a week at different parks in the area.  Kimma was fine overall.  Not pulling too much on lead, though she did bark at a jogger, which hasn't happened in a while.  Again, though, not a huge thing.  We'll keep working on it.

Then comes the bad part.  We are standing in the parking lot after our walk, and talking about where we are going tomorrow.  Kimma begins barking at a landscaper at the church nearby.  I get her attention, have her sit and focus on me, and I give her treats.  Of course, the other dogs in the group see/smell that I have treats, and crowd around me.  No problem.  Their owners say I can give them treats if they sit/beg/whatever the trick is.  As I'm doing this, Kimma decides that she MUST get to that landscaper.  So she backs out of her collar.  She has NEVER done that before. 

And she runs.  Towards the landscaper.  Who hears me call for her (she pays no attention of course - all that training has been worthless thus far, I suppose), and goes to grab her once she gets close enough to him.  She is hand shy (still not sure why - I think it's a breed thing), and RUNS.  Towards a road. 

And I sprint after her.  Calling her name like a crazy person.  I forget about the whole "best thing to do is run away and they will follow" stuff, and just kept chasing her.  At this point she is alongside the road, trotting on the shoulder against traffic.  I don't want to go behind her because she will run more.  So I try to circle around her by staying on the other side of the ditch alongside the road. 

By the grace of doG, she gets scared by a truck and backs into the ditch, further away from the road.  I successfully run through the trees/bushes next to me and head her off in said ditch.  She has stopped running.  And is just looking at me.  I say, "Kimma, come here!" in the nicest tone I can muster, and offer her a handful of hotdogs. 

She comes to me and I snatch her up so fast it's not even funny. 

And I just stood there with her, trying to catch my breath, and trying so hard not to have a breakdown. 

The others from the group arrive with their dogs (they were hoping if I didn't get her by then that if Kimma saw her friends, maybe she would come to them on her own), make sure all is well, pet Kimma like crazy, and we walk back and go to our cars and leave.

I get home, hug Kimma, and just start bawling.  She has no idea, and keeps wiggling and barking.  All she wants to do is play.  So we play tug, and all is OK.

Fast forward to the evening. 

I've recently started working on Control Unleashed.  We went outback for some training.  After a bit of work, she gets to take a break and she does her favorite thing - lays down and pulls up some grass.  Then it's time to go in and do some more training before we go for a walk. 

As soon as Kimma enters my kitchen from the backyard, she starts kind of twitching, like something bit her.  All of a sudden, she just throws up.  Weird.  Then I see them.  Fire ants.  Falling off of her.  About 15-20 little ones.

I'm allergic to fire ants.  Great.

Poor girl is still twitching a bit, so I put a slip lead on her quick, and start stomping on the ants, making sure they're dying as I do so.  I then take a paper towel and start rubbing her all over trying to make sure they are gone.  She gags once more, then goes to get some water.  I put her in her crate with a chewy thing, and clean up the ant remains. 

The e-vet gets a panicked phone call from me, and they said to just monitor her for the next day or so, and bring her in if she starts acting weird.  OK.  I can do that.  Hang up the phone...

Another breakdown.  As she's barking at me from in the crate (which had also gotten better, but apparently we're back to square-one with that, too). 

Needless to say, today was not good.  Every time I close my eyes, I see her running away.  It's horrible. 

She has a new martingale walking collar. 

And I have my migraine.

Hopefully I will never have a day like this again.