8 posts tagged “doggie”
So, today for some random reason I decided to get up early (read, 6:30 on a Sunday... that's kinda 'ew' for me, since I usually try to sleep in at least til 9) and go for a walk/jog with the dog because he's been getting relatively neglected lately. My new work shifts really suck, so he only gets like 1 and a 1/2 walks a day now, instead of the usual 2 and a 1/2 or more (I say 1/2 because I don't consider 15 mins to be a walk, but he still gets out of the house at least). That's on average. Not including, weekly trips to the pet store and the park and such though. Sometimes it's just been too damn hot to walk for long. :( I feel bad. I think he's getting bored.
Anyways, I actually decided this last night, but quite surprising to myself I followed through today and actually DID get up early. I think Spencer had fun. I decided to do a combination of walk/jogging (my intention was to do kinda 50/50, but it was more like 70/30... eh. it's a start). I saw 3 hot air balloons within 2 minutes of being outside, so that already kinda made it worth it. :) I also saw a place called Penny Lane Park. Score another pt for getting up early and moving my butt.
Why the heck did I randomly decide I needed to start walking and/or jogging more? Well, aside from seeing the obvious fun that Amanda and her husband Andrew have on their treks, I had one of those 'mirror moments' where I stood there realizing "f*ck my thighs are getting huge again". So there you have it.
I thought things would go pretty well, since I was never really one to overly push myself, I knew I wouldn't be falling over by the time I was done. However, I'm still an idiot.
Things I learned on this walk/jog:
1) I need better underwear.
2) I need better hair ties unless I feel like having to stop and redo my hair bun/ponytail after every jogging burst.
3) I need a better sweater. Or at least I can't just let myself grab 'any old zip up sweater' because I will likely find myself with teeny fabric fibers left on my gross sweaty arms if I don't have the right material on. I'm too self conscious to just wear a regular tank top even though it's near summertime :P
4) My dog will chase birds and squirrels if given the chance.
5) On the other hand, sometimes my dog's lazier than me.
6) If I'm going to do this every day, I'm going to have to go back to bed and have a nap afterwards or I'm not going to make it working til 9pm every evening.
7) My puppy almost knows how to shake a paw. When he feels like it.
I think there was something else profound that I'd learned too, but now I've got that stupid 'Penny Lane' song stuck in my head, and can't think of anything else unless it's related. My mind is humming that between flashing me imagines of Penny from Lost, which in turn flash images of Desmond from Lost, and well, my mind kinda lingers there for a while and forgets the walk I had....
Right.. so... I also kinda found that people who wake up early to take walks seem to be a little nicer, or at least have a slightly higher respect for each other simply because we know we dragged our sorry asses out of bed at some ungodly weekend hour. Maybe I was just a little more chipper than normal because I thought I was doing some good for myself so everyone 'seemed' nicer. Maybe I just realized we're all smart enough to go walking before it gets too freaking hot out. I kinda noticed though that more people would look me in the eye though. Usually people just walk with their heads down around here. One lady was nice enough to actually take one of her ear buds out of her ear so our dogs could meet each other and we could say 'good morning' and such. I probably should've said more to her and do the friendly 'doggie owner' chat, but that was only a few mins into the walk so I was still groggy.
Once Spencer and I got back we cooled off with an ice tube/cube (for him) and a freezie (for me). Here he is waiting 'patiently' for it (left).
Then the snatch/grab (right), and below you'll find him enjoying it. You can see him licking it in one.. haha it's funny. The other one you can't tell, but he's crunching on it.
And with that, I've kinda passed the 'go back to sleep' time since it's already 8:30, so I should get some breakfast.
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We shall not cease from exploration.
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive at where we started
And know the place for the first time.
- T. S. Eliot, 'Little Gidding'
The b/f and I are taking turns in the middle of the night taking Spencer to his 'spot' outside. I just took him out now and got another 'successful' outdoor urination.
Ohhhhh yeah.
Another 2nd movement pending (maybe he'll leave that for Chris... muah hahah). It's only been about 3 and a 1/2 hrs since his last 2nd movement so I don't think he needs to do that one already.
I'm stupidly kind of excited about this. haha
** Edit
Ok, now he's being annoying and not calming down in his crate. These are the times I wish I was not in a place where the neighbours are on the other side of the wall. I don't know if they can hear him. He's louder than he normally is. Does he still need to 'go'? He just went? Do they have to go 'twice'??? All the stuff says don't let him out when he's whining, so I'm not. But, should I just leave, or should I hang around til he's calm? If I hang around until he's calm, won't he just think 'wait, when I calm down she leaves, so I'm going to keep fussing'? Right now I'm in the other room, but he can see me from where he is, so I think that might be bothering him. He calmed down for a minute earlier, and laid down and rested his head as if he was going to start relaxing, so I went over then and gave him a treat, so now of course he got a little excited again and started fussing all over again. sigh. Those are the times that I feel like I made a mistake. But I just went over when he was calm, not when he was whining. At least whining shouldn't be heard next door because it's pretty quiet, and at least we're keeping his crate on the 1st floor, not the 2nd floor where the bedrooms are. That should lessen the chances of anyone else hearing him. He's not REALLY a barker or yelper, but he lets a couple off every once in a while, and I always cringe. :\
He's quiet again. Should I go over? I dunnoooooooooo......... sigh.
Ok wait, I didn't go over, now he's whining again. #$)*TJ%#$Q*)BH@$%T*&@!J
That about sums it up.
Where to start. How about I didn't get that job. I was apparently choice #2 as I think I mentioned. They're only hiring one person right now, and who knows when/if they'll decide to hire another for certain. So #2 is still a loser.
So, now I'm deciding about what I want to do about the job I DO have, but am currently on leave of absence from. I have honestly never hated a job more in my life. I have no doubt its causing anxiety in my life and depression (in a mild, inconsistent form). I try not to think about having to go back because it just makes me crazy again.. heh.. and I want to cry (or DO cry, not just want to). I think I may shorten my work week to even 3 days or something. Four days is still too much for me. God that sounds pathetic. I'm NOT this type of person at all, so it drives me nuts that I'm even considering this honestly for my own sanity and well being. But if I do only 3 days, that way I at least still have a little bit of income or something which is better than absolutely nothing. I can't decide which would be more stressful. NO job and no income for bills and such, or a horrible job, but able to pay the bills. hah. I know it takes a long time to find a job anywhere, and around here is not that great. Being #2 is nice I guess, because I was a 'better' choice to them than a dozen other people, but as I said, that does me no good.
Sigh.
Anyways... as far as Spencer goes, I think things are going ok, but not having been in this situation before, and Chris having not been in this situation before makes it hard. Neither one of us knows what's 'normal' or what to expect really. I'm anxious to start puppy kindergarten so that we can ask someone some questions and 'compare' with other people's experiences to see how we stack up. I know that's not necessarily a good thing to do because every dog is different, but I think I just need someone to tell me that we're doing ok... heh Today's been much better than yesterday though.
(prepare for too much info about doggie bowel movements)
Spencer peed outside 5 times today, and not once in his crate, so that's awesome. He did manage to pee a couple times in the crate yesterday, but I think that was our fault. Bad timing and the crate area was too big. We also managed to get him outside in time today to do 'the 2nd movement' (not to be confused with a symphony) which made me so happy I wanted to cry. haha We apparently didn't time it well enough last night and he had a 2nd movement incident in the crate, which was gross. And stinky. Actually, he had more than one incident in the crate, but after we resized the crate w/ the divider panel and it seems to be better. It's confusing though. I don't know if we're giving him mixed signals or something, and sometimes when he goes it seems like it's at random times, not when I think he would actually need to (like right after eating/drinking/walking/etc). A couple times have been 'predictable' moments, but right now for example, he's circling around in his pen and whimpering a bit, which we've taken to be a signal he needs to go outside (hey, it worked so far today) but he just went outside twice in the past 40 minutes and both times were 'successful' ifyaknowwhatImean. So I can't see that he needs to go again.
Anyways, now that I'm done typing that he's calmed down and has laid down again. He's quiet, which is nice. He seems to be pretty good in his crate considering he's only had one night here. Mind you, he's been in an animal shelter his entire life so it's not like 'crates' are new. He naps in the crate and he only needs about a minute of coaxing before he goes in and stays in without whining when we close the door.
We took him for a few walks today. Chris went on a short one with him this morning, and we both went with him for two 30-40 min walks. He's not too bad on a leash. He seems to be a more passive walker, not a puller by any means. If anything we sometimes need to coax him to keep walking because he wants to stop and look around. heh The first couple of times he had to cross the street were kind of amusing because he wanted to stop in the middle. We've taken to making him stop and sit at the curb, then we get him to kinda job across the street and get a treat or 'good boy' pat on the head on the other side. It's amusing.
He 'met' one of the neighbour's dogs and had a sniffy hello. Someone who was across the street when we were walking him came over and gave him a treat. :) Some other lady stopped and petted him a bit too. We walked him to the pet store (about 10-15 min walk away, so 20-30 mins there and back), and the lady that worked there gave him a treat and petted him too. I'm glad he's meeting new people and doens't seem to mind them. He doesn't bark at any other dogs even if they're barking (at him or at squirrels.. haha). He's learning 'sit' pretty well too. As long as there aren't TOO many cars around, or too many things happening in the back yard area, he can usually get it with just a gentle nudge on his behind and 'sit'. Wouldn't we rock if we went to puppy kindergarten and already had him sitting like a pro? That would be lovely. Unlikely, but lovely.
The cat is doing as well as can be expected. She's acting better than when other people are here. lol They've been in the same room together, and she just kinda kept a safe distance and stared at him. He paid no attention to her really, which is also good. I'll let them do that for a couple days before I try to make her go closer to him at all. Right now she actually ventured downstairs on her own and walked to the edge of the kitchen (the crate is at the opposite end), which is pretty good.
SO... yeah... we're on our way into his 2nd night here, and I do think things are going ok, but it's stressful. I was really hoping I'd get that job so it would lessen my over all stress level a bit, but such is life.
I leave you with a pic I took (yes, while driving) of him behaving nicely (briefly) in the back seat during our drive home from the shelter. He was like that for about a 1/2 hr. I stopped once on the way home (it was an hour drive), but he didn't do anything. It was mostly country driving which he seemed fine with, but once we got into the city (which of course was only 10 mins from home... so close! argh), I think the stop/start motion of city driving threw him off because he got car sick. :( Oh well. We'll work on that. Tomorrow we're taking him to another pet store that requires a 10-15 min drive, so wish us luck. haha
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~ Rita Rudner
I think we finally have everything we need in anticipation of Spencer. It's alot of stuff. I'm broke. More so than before. At least most of it is things we won't need to buy again, or at least won't need to buy all at once again. It's been a long week. I'm patient, but not a fan of waiting. If that makes sense...
Tonight I have an exam for a stupid Outlook class I'm taking. It honestly feels like such a waste of time. I'm only taking it because it's part of a certificate I'm planning on getting through night classes. The class was only 3 weeks long (4 if you include tonight), but cost $90, plus a $35 text book! I didn't even really learn anything! I have to say I'm glad it wasn't any longer, because if I had to go back next week too, I might cry. Tonight's exam is open book, so I contemplated studying, but am sad to say I didn't bother. We have 3-4 hrs to do it, and I'm sure I'll be done in under 2, so I'm not worried. Even if I take my time I'll be surprised if I take 3 hrs. I'm not trying to sound overly sure of myself, I just don't usually take long in exams. I probably SHOULD take longer, but I'm just so anxious to get them over with. :\
I went to another technique class for Stampin' Up! last night. It was pretty neat. I learned a cool technique called Iris Folding. You should Google it. It's wicked. If I'm not too busy w/ poochy this weekend I'll try to take some pics of what I did. Today I ended up going to Michael's to get some supplies so I can do some more things at home, but GEEZ if everything wasn't so damn expensive. I passed on the stuff I REALLY wanted to get, and only bought a couple cheap, yet cute, stamps, and some different coloured card stock. I might make some more tonight if I get home early enough.
Anyways, dog stuff, exams, and stamping is about the most exciting thing to happen this week. OH, and a 2nd interview I had on Tuesday... hahah Can't believe I didn't update about that. Yeah... I had a 2nd interview finally for the place that I mentioned here. According to a friend I have that works there, it went ok, and I'm 2nd in the running out of 5 people that they called back. They're potentially hiring 2 or 3 people, so in theory that's good news for me because I should be one of them. However, I haven't heard anything official yet, and will be surprised if I hear at all before Monday. bah. Good news, is that Mr. Interviewer said that he'd hire me. lol Whatever that means. I'm holding my breath and hoping, but I can't get my hopes up too high. Right now the only way I'm blissfully happy-ish is by pretending I'll never have to go back to work at the call centre. tra la la...
In other news, with the sun shining, and the ability to finally drive with the windows down without a chill in the air, it appears that Spring has maaaybe FINALLY sprung. You're a little late there my friend.
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If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive...
~ Eleonora Duse
If you're getting annoyed with doggie info yet, let me know :P lol
So, I found out that Comet (pending name change) is on a food called Royal Canin. So I did some research on that food, and came up with this. Greeeeat.... So, me thinks we'll be switching his food asap. I hope they come in really smaaall bags so I'll have to feed him it for a couple weeks. Maybe half and half for most of it. I really just want a couple days worth, but I doubt they have trial bags. Wouldn't that be ideal? I dunno why they don't think of that. A week's worth of food so people can try it out.
Anyhoo... Chris and I narrowed down the name list (thanks to your help, though everyone had different opinions... haha). Spencer, Vash, and Reine are left (though he wants to spell it Rein, so it doesn't look like it should be pronounced like Rene). When I see Rein though, I think more like reindeer so that kinda bugs me... lol If we keep it Reine, that's actually the French word for Queen, so that would totally not work. haha So far I think Spencer is my favourite, but does it sound too much like Jasper (my nephew's name)? GAH. Naming my hamsters 'Speck' and 'Dusty' was SO easy, but this is ridiculous. lol
** Edit: Ok, it's official! We've decided! His name is Spencer. =D
So in OTHER news (wooo! something different!), as I briefly mentioned I took some time off work. A temporary leave of absence of about 3 and a 1/2 weeks. I'm hoping in the mean time I can get a couple leads on other jobs (thought I doubt it?), and clear my mind and be happy again for a while. I also of course have time to train the dog a bit and get him used to his new home. In the back of my mind I'm already freaking out about having to go back to work. Also the fact that I can't really afford not to work for a month, but it was either that or I quit entirely. At least this way I have something to go back to if all else fails. I know two other people on my team (team of 10 or so) who took a leave of absence in the last two months. Isn't that a good sign as to how lovely the job is?
And I hate to leave this until last, but I just heard about it, and have to mention it: Another School Shooting
Be aware the story is of course still developing, but either way.... very scary. I'd hate to feel scared to go to work or school afterwards. It also really bugs me that 80% of the time something like this happens the shooter also dies (though that's not officially confirmed). They should SUFFER.
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Ok, Chris says he's no good at naming things (I kinda agree.. haha) so I can't rely on him for help to come up with names, except to say 'yes' or 'no' to anything I suggest. SO, I turn to all of you.
This is the list I've come up with so far. Some I like more than others, but I won't say which. :P Let me know which one you think you like best, and why! Thanks in advance. hehe Any other suggestions are welcome. If you don't like any of them and think I'm lame, do tell!
Comet (his current shelter name)
Vash
Clancy
Spencer
Nelson
Reine (pronounced ‘Rain’)
Percy
I'm sure I'll come up with more later, but that's enough to choose from for now. I should've known this would be so hard! lol
We bought most of the doggie necessities today, like a crate, food bowls, some toys and treats, a leash/collar/harness, that kinda thing. Oye. Also signed up for puppy classes. I can't WAIT for those. :) I think they're going to be fun, and it'll make me feel a lot better because I know I will learn quite a bit myself. It's well worth the investment. He's going to be a good dog. I KNOW IT. I'm determined. :)
We haven't bought food yet because I'm waiting to hear back from an email I sent to the shelter asking what they're feeding him now, so I can get a small bag to help him transition over. I hiiighly doubt I'll keep feeding him whatever they're feeding him if his skinniness is any indication. Plus he'll have a lot of treats added to his diet. lol
Anyway, I'm sure I have other things to talk about besides my doggie, but for now I'm going to bed. :P
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“Even a little dog can piss on a big building.”
~ Jim Hightower!%^!#(*%&!#(%!#%!! We're dog owners! WHOOOT. I brought Chris to the animal shelter today to see Comet (he was the one I liked best out of the dogs that were still there), and he lurrrved him, so we're getting him! ZOMG. After talking w/ Chris I feel better about getting a puppy (to be honest, I was apprehensive about it, as I mentioned we were kinda wanting an adult dog), but it makes more sense to me now to get a puppy (or at least just as much sense). Either way, we'd have to train the dog, so I'm not going to worry about whether we just start completely from scratch, or get a dog that already knows basic commands. As long as Chris is on the same page as me and I won't end up doing all the work, I'm good. haha I'm not worried about that anymore so yay! Plus, we're taking obedience training with him so it'll all be good. It was kinda the only thing holding me back from getting a puppy, so now it's not, so yay!... hah
We got this guy:
I didn't take this pic to the left, because I'm dumb, and even though I brought my camera I was too busy paying attention and talking to the lady there about him, that I forgot to take a pic until he was back inside. So, my pics all have bars across his face. d'oh. :( He better get used to the camera! bwah haha A couple of my pics are below. You can see him trying to lick Chris' hand in the first one... hahahah so cuuute. And look at the little 'I'm adopted' sign! HAH! I'm amused.
It kinda makes me sad because he seems a bit undernourished. We could see his ribs actually. :( I hope he'll be ok once we pack him full of food and exercise. haha He was born at the shelter on Christmas Eve. :D So, they also know his mother and they said she was a verrry good dog too. Yay! That's a good sign. She had EIGHT puppies in her litter (hence the reindeer sounding names), and just Comet and his sister Cupid are left. The rest, including mom, have all been adopted. Cupid was a bit too hyper for our liking and we just didn't connect. When we were first there today they were both outside playing together, and the lady said that Cupid was jumping on Comet and biting him and stuff and he was just standing there taking it. haha We're getting a wimp! :P
We're picking him up next Friday. I thought he was a bit young to be neutered (not quite 4 months), but the shelter's getting it done on Tuesday. I hope he's ok. We put down a deposit on him and the girl there said that if anything should happen to him while he's in surgery then we would discuss what to do about the deposit (it's non refundable, and I'll probably just tell them to keep it as a donation). I know he'll be fine, but of course now that thought's in my head so I'm all freaked out. :P Especially if he's young and undernourished. aaahhhh... :(
Anyways, now we've got to pick a name! I honestly don't mind 'Comet' that much, but Chris wants an original name. We've been rewatching the Trigun series lately (well, I haven't seen the entire thing, but we just started from the beginning again, as we hadn't watched since last summer), and I 1/2 jokingly suggested Vash (the main character's name). Chris actually likes the name a lot I think. hahah We've put it on our 'maybe' list. I'm going to go to some puppy-naming sites now and going to try to come up with something. :) Any suggestions are welcome!
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~Bern Williams
Show us some birds.
I've put together a nice variety here I think. ;) Some wild, some not so much. All equally amusing.
