As I've mentioned before, dogs do not speak English. Tia is, however, an incredibly 'talkative' dog. She rarely barks, but she has so many different sounds for different occasions. While she makes a lot of her noise...unasked...these are some common responses, and what we've assumed they translate into.
Me: Is it suppertime? Should we go get some supper?? Let's go get some supper!!!
Tia: AROOOWOOOOOO!!!! AROOOO!!! (trans: YAY!!!! FOOD!!! FOOOOOOOD!!!!!)
Me: Can we go down the stairs? You want to go down the stairs?
Tia: rooooooooooooo!!! (trans: look at me I'm going down the stairs all by myself!)
Me: Who's my Tia? Who's my good puppy? Who's my good girl?
Tia: ngaaaaaaaaaaa! (trans: I am!)
Me: Sit! Tia, off!.....
Tia: whine whine whine (trans: I can't contain myself hurry up I'm being a good girl I want my treat!)
Me: (on the way to the park) Where are we going, Tia?
Tia: AROO!! AAA! AAA! AROOWOO!!!!! (trans: PAAAAAAAARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Showing posts with label Tia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tia. Show all posts
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Art of Writing Suckily.
One of the first dates my husband and I went on was the US Formula One Grand Prix in Indianapolis. This was...2004? Jeebus. He is a mega F1 fan. I have learned to appreciate racing[1] to a degree. Mostly for me it's about the individual drivers and who I decide I like, who I don't like, who I want to see win...that kind of a thing.
My mom has learned some of their names, and can also 'appreciate' it. She found this book and lent it to me. It's called The Art of Racing in the Rain. She assumed I would like it because it a) is told from the standpoint of a dog, and b) it has lots of F1 racing references.
I've never written a book review, so I'm not sure where to start. Especially considering I read this several months ago. Especially since (if you couldn't guess)...I hated it.
I don't know what the author thought he was doing. The whole premise is that the main human character is a substitute race-car driver who is especially good at racing in the rain, much like his idol, Michael Schumacher. Schumi is, for those of you unversed in F1, arguably one of the greatest drivers of all time. He's won 7 world championships, which is a lot. Enzo (as in Enzo Ferrari) is the dog. He tells the story.
Basically, Enzo and the dude start out really happy. Then he gets married, she and Enzo aren't BFF, they have a kid and Enzo swears to protect her, then all sorts of bad stuff happens. Racing, especially racing in the rain is supposed to be metaphorical...but he loses. It's like he threw that bit in there as some sort of plot device, but it could have just as easily been called The Art of Baking a Cake with a Crappy Oven or The Art of Riding a Bike on Gravel. I don't know if he was trying to make people interested in the sport, or what. But I found the references (and explanations to the references) unnecessary.
There was also some metaphorical bit about a crazy zebra. And how there's a murderous zebra in all of us. Or something.
I get that the story is told from a dog, and Enzo explains to us that he is a very special dog, and hopes to be reincarnated as a person. But really? REALLY? I love my dog. She is awesome. But she is a dog. She needs love and attention, food and water, shelter and a comfy bed. Or elbow, like right now. Other than a few choice words, she does not understand English. Obviously, she would make a terrible narrator.
So if you get rid of the doggy narrator, can the cheesy racing references, you're left with a very crappy story. Personal preference, I suppose. But this is one of those stories where EVERYTHING bad happens, but then resolves itself before the book ends. There really wasn't so much a plot to the book as there was a premise. Perhaps I've been spoiled by thrilling books with twists and turns, but it is all so predictable.
Oh, and then the dog dies at the end. I'm not giving anything away...the whole story is a flashback and if you read I think the very first page that ending will be obvious. My beef about that? It was specifically designed to tug at my heartstrings and make me cry. There is little I hate more[2] than being manipulated by a crappy book/movie into crying. Crying at a good book can be almost a pleasurable experience; cathartic, really. In this case, however, I was simply reminded of my own dog's mortality, and as she is 3 years old and my first dog ever I am not quite ready to think about her getting old. And thus the waterworks.
Now after seeing how much I hated this book but seeing how many other people seem to think it's magnificent, Tjett has decided to write his own sappy dog-based novel.
Anyway, that's all I've got. If you like predictable, manipulative books with details that are supposed to make the book somehow interesting, I bet you'd love it. Otherwise, stay away. You want a good dog-based book? Try James Herriot, or decide on a different species and re-read The Black Stallion or Black Beauty. You want a racing book? Steve Matchett. A predictable and sappy book about love and circumstances? I'm positive there are better ones[3].
[1]I'll watch the races. I'll nap in the middle. I'll not feel bad about doing either.
[2] Such as Nickelback.
[3] Or maybe it turns out I just hate the genre. Yep, that could be it too. OH except I didn't hate Bridges of Madison County. That's a good one.
ETA: You want a good dog-story that makes tears run down your face? Allie over at Hyperbole and a Half just (finally!) posted another winner. Go here.
My mom has learned some of their names, and can also 'appreciate' it. She found this book and lent it to me. It's called The Art of Racing in the Rain. She assumed I would like it because it a) is told from the standpoint of a dog, and b) it has lots of F1 racing references.
I've never written a book review, so I'm not sure where to start. Especially considering I read this several months ago. Especially since (if you couldn't guess)...I hated it.
I don't know what the author thought he was doing. The whole premise is that the main human character is a substitute race-car driver who is especially good at racing in the rain, much like his idol, Michael Schumacher. Schumi is, for those of you unversed in F1, arguably one of the greatest drivers of all time. He's won 7 world championships, which is a lot. Enzo (as in Enzo Ferrari) is the dog. He tells the story.
Basically, Enzo and the dude start out really happy. Then he gets married, she and Enzo aren't BFF, they have a kid and Enzo swears to protect her, then all sorts of bad stuff happens. Racing, especially racing in the rain is supposed to be metaphorical...but he loses. It's like he threw that bit in there as some sort of plot device, but it could have just as easily been called The Art of Baking a Cake with a Crappy Oven or The Art of Riding a Bike on Gravel. I don't know if he was trying to make people interested in the sport, or what. But I found the references (and explanations to the references) unnecessary.
There was also some metaphorical bit about a crazy zebra. And how there's a murderous zebra in all of us. Or something.
I get that the story is told from a dog, and Enzo explains to us that he is a very special dog, and hopes to be reincarnated as a person. But really? REALLY? I love my dog. She is awesome. But she is a dog. She needs love and attention, food and water, shelter and a comfy bed. Or elbow, like right now. Other than a few choice words, she does not understand English. Obviously, she would make a terrible narrator.
So if you get rid of the doggy narrator, can the cheesy racing references, you're left with a very crappy story. Personal preference, I suppose. But this is one of those stories where EVERYTHING bad happens, but then resolves itself before the book ends. There really wasn't so much a plot to the book as there was a premise. Perhaps I've been spoiled by thrilling books with twists and turns, but it is all so predictable.
Oh, and then the dog dies at the end. I'm not giving anything away...the whole story is a flashback and if you read I think the very first page that ending will be obvious. My beef about that? It was specifically designed to tug at my heartstrings and make me cry. There is little I hate more[2] than being manipulated by a crappy book/movie into crying. Crying at a good book can be almost a pleasurable experience; cathartic, really. In this case, however, I was simply reminded of my own dog's mortality, and as she is 3 years old and my first dog ever I am not quite ready to think about her getting old. And thus the waterworks.
Now after seeing how much I hated this book but seeing how many other people seem to think it's magnificent, Tjett has decided to write his own sappy dog-based novel.
Anyway, that's all I've got. If you like predictable, manipulative books with details that are supposed to make the book somehow interesting, I bet you'd love it. Otherwise, stay away. You want a good dog-based book? Try James Herriot, or decide on a different species and re-read The Black Stallion or Black Beauty. You want a racing book? Steve Matchett. A predictable and sappy book about love and circumstances? I'm positive there are better ones[3].
[1]I'll watch the races. I'll nap in the middle. I'll not feel bad about doing either.
[2] Such as Nickelback.
[3] Or maybe it turns out I just hate the genre. Yep, that could be it too. OH except I didn't hate Bridges of Madison County. That's a good one.
ETA: You want a good dog-story that makes tears run down your face? Allie over at Hyperbole and a Half just (finally!) posted another winner. Go here.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Top Ten Things I'll Miss In Ur-Paign[1}
...assuming I ever, ever get to leave. I make no bones about not loving grad school, and Tjett's employment opportunities, frankly, suck. But I have realized in my 5 years that there are indeed things I like about this town...other than, of course, my friends.
- My surgeon. In case anyone in town is facing foot surgery and is wondering, 'How good IS Dr. Sean Grambart at Carle in Champaign?' well, wonder no more. He is awesome. He is kind, professional, easy to talk to[2], reassuring, and as far as I know (as I'm not yet healed) extremely competent. It seems like 'everyone' I talk to (because there are so many people in town I've talked to who have had foot surgery) has the same great opinion of him. And unless the nurses/medical assistants are amazing liars, they all seem to like him too. My guess is that I'll most likely need to get my other foot 'done,' and most likely I'll be gone by then. I only hope that wherever we end up, there is an equally wonderful surgeon.
- My church. When I first started going to St Matthew Lutheran Church in Urbana, I honestly wasn't wild about the service. But I came back because the pastors and the people and the social ministry that St Matts does is just phenomenal. I am so fortunate to have found this place. I was blessed to have great pastors growing up, and I can't believe how blessed I am again to have such wonderful people in my life.
- Beer Fest. Or more accurately, the International Beer and Chili Tasting Festival. Tjett and I go for the beer. Held in late September/early October, it is a little pricey but well worth it. And it's within a nice night's drunken walking distance, so no problems there. Also it's special to us because that's where Tjett proposed (more or less; he waited until we got home).
- Central Illinois Metal Fest. As ridiculous as those weekends always turn out, it's fun, and it's nice to have an excuse for my brother to come visit and eat sushi with me.
- The dog park. I realize that wherever we end up may have a fenced-in off-leash dog park, but there's no guarantee. Tia REALLY benefits from ~weekly romps around several acres and socializing with other dogs.
- NISA. Northern Illinois Samoyed Assistance, which is where we got Tia, is located in Arlington Heights (outside of Chicago). There seem to be several Samoyed rescue groups in the nation, but not too many that ever actually have dogs. I guess that's good. But we really like Sams, and I am not at place in my life that I would want to get a puppy...both from an 'oh my goodness puppies are HARD' as well as a social 'I'd rather adopt a homeless dog' standpoint.
- The co-ops and farmers market. We have a pretty good (if expensive) co-op in town, and a fabulous farmers market in the summer. Visiting the market with Tjett and Tia is one of my favorite things to do. We also have a cool art co-op that Tjett and I recently discovered.
- Friar Tuck. Tuck's is a FABULOUS specialty beer/wine/liquor store. Every time I go in I feel like a kid in a candy store. They have an entire WALL of really good beer, as well as a cooler where they have things like LaBatt in cans (for camping or the racetrack!). Few things make me sadder than seeing people leave that store with 24-packs of Bud Light.
- Ballet and Habitat. I'm clumping these together because they're both things that I like to do, wish I could do more of, and mostly likely won't get to this summer because of el surgery-o. We have an amazing adult ballet instructor, who also happens to be the Dean of the business college or something. The Habitat folks are also super awesome, and very very active, with annual build(s) and a 'ReStore' where you can donate and buy used furniture.
- Restaurants: Black Dog, Crane Alley, Basil Thai and Miko. I also figured I would lump all the restaurants together, as I could probably have made a top-ten list of only restaurants and bars. One of Tjett's absolute favorite places in town is Black Dog. Black Dog is this magnificent BBQ place that is far too small but has excellent food, reasonable prices, and a stellar, rotating draft beer list. Crane Alley is the grad student bar/restaurant of choice...the food is surprisingly good, and they have a massive beer list. However, the service is pretty terrible. I still like it. Basil Thai is a very-close-to-work Thai restaurant. I go there a little too often with my friend Maria. It's not even close to being the very best Thai restaurant in the world, or even in town, but when you want something spicy and good for lunch it's a great place to go. And finally, Miko is where my brother and I go to get sushi when he visits. It's delicious.
[1] Adam discovered that in the 70s the way the 'cool kids' referred to Urbana-Champaign. I like it better than Chambana, so I use it too.
[2] Not to mention easy on the eyes...
Monday, April 4, 2011
I picked UConn to win. I am awesome.
Today's BEDA theme is 'best advice you've ever received." It took me awhile to think of anything...until I thought of advice pertaining to el puppy-o. Tia is mouthy and noisy. She tries to 'cute' us into doing stuff (mostly works on me), and usually the things she wants are:
1. Food
2. Outside
3. Food
4. Play
5. Food
6. My spot on the couch
And then there are times when she doesn't seem to want anything (other than food, and somebody's chubby enough already), and she just wants to be noisy. For a long time, Tjett and I had absolutely no idea what to do with her in these moments.
And then we took doggy class. I found doggy class to be very good for us, but it wasn't a 'miracle' cure or anything...I think it just got her used to doing things for us. Our instructor, Lisa, liked to think that Tia was basically the same as her Siber-Con, June. I'm sure they were similar, but they are certainly not the same dog. Lisa gave us a few tips for dealing with ridiculousness, including having her wear the head collar most of the time (did NOT work), and tethering her in the rooms (didn't really have any space or desire to tether her while we're in the same room).
But then she suggested Time-Outs. Time-Outs for Tia are not punishment; they're more a way to calm her down. Tia happens to LOVE her kennel...I'm totally serious. How we lucked out and got a dog who adores her kennel is beyond me, but she loves it in there. Sometimes she'll just go hang out in there, even if we're home. It's her room. And every time we leave, she gets a yummy Kong. It's to the point that she cannot wait for us to leave...she runs into her kennel, sits, and waits not-too-patiently for her Kong.
So anyway, if she's getting nuts for no apparent reason, we point and tell her 'kennel!' (or sometimes, even if we discuss 'does someone need a Time-Out?') and she runs in her kennel, we close the door, and we sit for awhile. Usually after about 15 minutes she is calm, and we let her out. More often than not, she's good for the night. When we started, she needed 3 or so a night...then it went to 3 or so a week...and now, we haven't needed to give one more than a few times in the last several months.
Hooray for Time-Outs!
1. Food
2. Outside
3. Food
4. Play
5. Food
6. My spot on the couch
And then there are times when she doesn't seem to want anything (other than food, and somebody's chubby enough already), and she just wants to be noisy. For a long time, Tjett and I had absolutely no idea what to do with her in these moments.
And then we took doggy class. I found doggy class to be very good for us, but it wasn't a 'miracle' cure or anything...I think it just got her used to doing things for us. Our instructor, Lisa, liked to think that Tia was basically the same as her Siber-Con, June. I'm sure they were similar, but they are certainly not the same dog. Lisa gave us a few tips for dealing with ridiculousness, including having her wear the head collar most of the time (did NOT work), and tethering her in the rooms (didn't really have any space or desire to tether her while we're in the same room).
But then she suggested Time-Outs. Time-Outs for Tia are not punishment; they're more a way to calm her down. Tia happens to LOVE her kennel...I'm totally serious. How we lucked out and got a dog who adores her kennel is beyond me, but she loves it in there. Sometimes she'll just go hang out in there, even if we're home. It's her room. And every time we leave, she gets a yummy Kong. It's to the point that she cannot wait for us to leave...she runs into her kennel, sits, and waits not-too-patiently for her Kong.
So anyway, if she's getting nuts for no apparent reason, we point and tell her 'kennel!' (or sometimes, even if we discuss 'does someone need a Time-Out?') and she runs in her kennel, we close the door, and we sit for awhile. Usually after about 15 minutes she is calm, and we let her out. More often than not, she's good for the night. When we started, she needed 3 or so a night...then it went to 3 or so a week...and now, we haven't needed to give one more than a few times in the last several months.
Hooray for Time-Outs!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
My day in haiku: Food, doors, theft, doggy play-date; Research, basketball.
Delicious breakfast.
I had pancakes; Tjett, French Toast.
Eating there again.
"Hold the door for her!"
He said as he walked right past.
Chivalry is dead.
"Free sample:" Lady,
When nobody's at the booth,
You can't drink it all.
Tia, Little Bear.
Let's chew on each other's ears.
Now she is sleepy.
Help! My Cornell talk
Lacks Rhodamine spectra.
Procrastination!
Free appetizer!
The sole reason I STILL care?
I CALLED VCU!!! :(
I had pancakes; Tjett, French Toast.
Eating there again.
"Hold the door for her!"
He said as he walked right past.
Chivalry is dead.
"Free sample:" Lady,
When nobody's at the booth,
You can't drink it all.
Tia, Little Bear.
Let's chew on each other's ears.
Now she is sleepy.
Help! My Cornell talk
Lacks Rhodamine spectra.
Procrastination!
Free appetizer!
The sole reason I STILL care?
I CALLED VCU!!! :(
Friday, April 1, 2011
BEDA Day 1: Well hello!
Hello! Today marks the first day of Blog-Every-Day-In-April. Since I am lousy at introductions, I figured I would give you little "Katie tidbits" in the form of one of those fancy poems, that I cannot for the life of me think what it's called. You'll understand:
BEDA: Introduced to me by Becky, one of the most creative people I have ever known!
Lasers: My livelihood. These are what I use in my research, which will someday give me a PhD?
Olives: I prefer green. The best I've ever had were in Italy, with some sort of awesome marinade.
Green: My favorite color. (Which is not why I like green olives better than black; they just taste better.)
Evan's canal osteotomy: One of the procedures I recently had on my foot. Hence the surgery posts.
Voracious appetite: Man I love food!
Elizabeth: My middle name.
Rick-rolling: I still think it's funny.
Your mom: I still think it's an appropriate response to insults.
Dog: Her name is Tia. She is very grumpy that I can't walk or play with her for awhile.
A blue rubber used-to-be-squeaky bone: Tia's "baby," and her very very favorite toy.
Yep, I dye my hair: Right now it's dark brown. I like it.
Industrial: I've had it for a year. I love it. I'm enjoying it while I can, before I have to look professional.
Nachos: A perfectly acceptable meal.
Alice in Chains: My favorite band, ever. I have mentioned them an embarrassing number of times.
Perrier: Overpriced, but I'm a fan. I just happen to like fizzy water...
Running: I did for about 9 months before I broke. My goal is to start again in about 5 or 6 months.
Iced Tea (as opposed to Ice-T): Unsweetened. Definitely. Unless it's Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea Vodka. Mmm, mmm.
Lut'ran: Oh sure, you bet. Hotdish and red Jello.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Things (I love and hate Thursday, Friday night edition)
Becky's latest post reminded me about Things I Love Thursday, which I can't say I often remembered to do during Blog Every Day in April (come on Katie, there were only 4 that you had to remember), but I thought oh hey, what the heck, maybe it's time for another.
But today was not a big 'love' day for me. It just wasn't. And so I present two lists.
Things I Hate, specifically right now.
But today was not a big 'love' day for me. It just wasn't. And so I present two lists.
Things I Hate, specifically right now.
- Skinny people without much luggage who sit on the outside seat on the bus. Riding on the bus is a necessity in this town. There is no way I'm paying the minimum $400 a semester to pay to park, and I'm just a little too far to walk regularly (and just not in good enough shape to bike to work, and right now it's too slippery to do so anyway). So I take the bus. Along with a million other people. A million other people who should have learned by now basic etiquette of bus riding. Our buses, like many city buses, have 8 or so rows of seats, two each on either side of the bus, with a center aisle in between. If the bus is close to empty, as my one bus often is, then feel free to splay yourself out in a full two seats. But as soon as you see that oh, there aren't any two-seaters left, YOU NEED TO PACK YOURSELF UP. I feel like this is super obvious, but apparently it isn't. On my second, busier bus today, the girl sitting in front of me was sitting on the aisle seat, making it impossible for someone else to sit down in the second seat. There are three, and only three, times when this is acceptable: 1) You are morbidly obese. It's irritating when you realize that you can't sit down because someone is taking up two seats, but it's forgivable. 2) You have just a crap-ton of stuff. I mean more than a backpack and a purse. I mean a backpack, a purse, three shopping bags, and a box of exams. This is also a forgivable offense. It happens. 3) The inside seat is wet or covered in something unsavory. I don't want to sit on that either. But any other time...get it together. Few things in life irk me more than a skinny person without too much stuff sitting in the aisle seat on a crowded bus. People have to stand. There is no excuse. Don't like crowds? Me neither. Have some serious 'personal bubble' issues? Get over it, or don't ride the bus.
- Grad School. I don't wanna talk about it. 'Nuff said.
- 'Open-minded,' 'liberals,' who bash Christians and Christianity as a whole. I just get so irritated and sad when people who supposedly are super open-minded and liberal like to say that it's impossible for Christians to be open-minded or liberal. As a liberal Christian, I can safely tell you...we do actually exist. There are Christians who will not tell you that you or anyone else will go to Hell. There are Christians who believe that two people, regardless of sex, should be able to be both legally and religiously married. Did anyone see that picture of the Christians in Egypt forming a protective 'wall' around the Muslims in Egypt to protect them while they were praying? Christians exist who believe that everyone has a right to practice their own religious practices. What got me going about this right now? Stay tuned for Things I Love, as there is a caveat...
- How I'm also expected as a liberal to smoke pot. Yeah, this is another one of those things. I've been noticing a lot lately that one of the things that liberals are supposed to find funny is pot use. All a comedian has to do is go 'so I was high' and the crowd goes nuts. I don't think it's funny. I think it smells bad, and I have other reasons for not wanting to partake. I do happen to think that it should be legalized...but not so I can go get high. More so we can tax the crap out of it, regulate it, and cut down on some of the drug wars going on. But I've never smoked it, and I have no interest in doing so, and I hate that as a liberal I feel like I have to explain that.
Ok. 'Nuff of that.
Things I Love
- Fetch with Tia. Tia has this weird, really cute, way of playing. Sometimes it's a bit naughty; she really likes mouthing and grabbing, but my favorite are our games of fetch with her 'baby.' Her 'baby' is a blue rubber bone. She used to be kind of weird about playing with it, and she used to just carry it around. Now though, she's decided that it's the BEST TOY. Fetch with her baby is more like a combination game of fetch and tug. I throw the baby, she chases after it, brings it back, smooshes it into my legs, I grab it, we tug, she play-growls, half the time I get it, half the time I let her keep it. When she keeps it, she'll usually try to get me to tug it again. She gets up on her hind legs, she 'crawls' up me to get it (adorable in the winter, will get horrifying in the muddy spring)...I love it.
- Two Bands: Mad Season and Tyr. Mad Season I've talked about before. It's a 'grunge supergroup,' comprised of Layne Staley and some other guys. From Pearl Jam maybe? Anyway, I got their CD from the library and have listened to it almost every day since. It. Is. Awesome. I'll do a bigger post on it another time. Tyr is a Viking Metal band that hails from the Faroe Islands. I don't have any of their albums, nor are they on iTunes, but they are on YouTube so I can listen to them at work. By far, their best songs are those that are in Faroese, but they tend to mostly be winners. My only beef with them is that they are decidedly anti-religion. Not Satanic or anything like that, but the lead singer likes to say at the end of his interviews 'and remember, religion is bullshit.' Apparently they're really upset about the Christianization of the Faroe Islands 999 years ago (or something), and quite a few of their songs involve Norse and neo-pagan mythos. Some of their music videos have them bashing crosses and stuff...supposedly it's because, you know, that's what Vikings did?...but I just wish that for once, I could find some good metal that doesn't have a problem with Christianity. Wishful thinking, I suppose.
- Tjett. He puts up with me. And he's super hotttt stuff :)
- Mushrooms. We made some chicken and mushroom marsala earlier this week. Um, delicious. It was my first time making it, and I was very proud of myself. It turned out really good, minus the sauce being very very liquidy. Is it supposed to be? I don't even know. But while making it, I had to taste the mushrooms to see if they were tender...ooooooh, mushrooms cooked in butter.....and the only thing better than mushrooms cooked in butter? Mushrooms cooked in butter THEN SOAKED IN WINE.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
We did it!!!
A week late is better than never, but TIA PASSED HER GOOD CITIZEN TEST!!!!! It was kind of a pity pass. She did everything really well...until we came to the grooming, and once more, there was freaking out, jumping, and making all sorts of weird sounds (one of the helpers said 'she sounds like a whale!'). So I assumed we failed. Again. But at the end of the class, they were all conversing, and I guess decided to give us another chance. So we walked around a little bit, and they tried again. Same thing. Then they let her lay down, and chew on the leash, and chew on my hands, and one of the girls was able to get about 5 brushes in. And so they counted it. Like I said, a pity pass. But I'll take it!
We were told we'd get a medal. What we really got was an oversized dog tag. It's going to go on my keyring or something, DEFINITELY not Tia's collar. It's some serious bling. She might get beat up at the dog park. We will also be sending in our "pass" form to the AKC so we can get a sweet certificate (that we will be framing).
We were told we'd get a medal. What we really got was an oversized dog tag. It's going to go on my keyring or something, DEFINITELY not Tia's collar. It's some serious bling. She might get beat up at the dog park. We will also be sending in our "pass" form to the AKC so we can get a sweet certificate (that we will be framing).
Monday, May 24, 2010
We're repeating 10th grade
Or whatever it works out to be in my doggy class school year system. We are currently enrolled in Level 3, which is the Canine Good Citizen class (I call it doggy high school). The CGC test was developed by the American Kennel Club as a way to promote responsible pet ownership and basic doggy manners, or something like that. It's a 10-part test. The tasks are:
- The dog has to chill out while people come up to you and shake your hand.
- The dog has to stay in a 'sit' or a 'down' while people come up to them and pet them.
- The dog has to stay in a 'sit' or a 'stand' while people come up to them and brush them, and then the owner has to show the dog's paws, ears, and teeth.
- The dog stays in a 'down' while the owner walks across the room and back.
- A different person takes the dog from the room and I guess the dog has to not freak out that they're away from their owner.
- The dog has to walk in a 'heel' around a little obstacle course.
- 'Defensive walking,' ie you basically walk your dog around while someone else walks their dog around and you have to make sure that your dog doesn't freak out.
- Apparently also a part of the defensive walking is something where you have to shake hands with the person walking the other dog, and your dog can't show more than a 'casual interest' in the other dog.
- The dog has to come when called, and then 'sit' and not jump up on its owner.
- Your dog has to chill out while people run around and make noise.
But the biggest issue we have is the simple matter that Tia is noisy. Unpredictably so. It's the worst with the grooming, but sometimes she just gets going at random times, and for no apparent reason. And the advice that Lisa gave me was to try to quell it before she builds on it...but I thought I already did that! She's just a nut-job!
So tonight, 5 out of the 9 dogs passed the test. Apparently this is way more than usual, but that doesn't make it any better. So for the rest of the class, the dogs who have passed--all the calm dogs--will be on one side of the room learning Rally O (doggy PSEO). All the nut jobs will be on the other side, with my crazy nut job. You put a reactive dog with a bunch of even more reactive dogs, and guess what you get?! Lisa and the 'helpers' have faith that Tia will pass...but Tjett and I aren't so sure. We might have to repeat high school.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Things I Love Thursday
It's been a really long time since I posted anything, and I figured that a TILT post would be a good one to go with...
- Indian food: It had been awhile since I'd gotten Indian, so yesterday my friend Rachel and I went to Bombay, the local/campus Indian restaurant (the owners also have a bigger restaurant a little farther away that has a killer lunch buffet). Bombay has its food organized by price: $6.99, $7.49, $7.99, $8.99, and $9.99. Unfortunately, most of my favorite dishes are in the $7.99 category...not terribly expensive, but it makes me kind of sad. Thankfully, they have a $6.99 daily special, and usually it's some kind of chicken masala. Yesterday it was Himalaya Chicken Masala...served up with a huge piece of naan. Mmmmm....The best part? Leftovers! Hooray for lunch!!!
- Tia: Well, of course I love her. But this morning she was SO GOOD, or at least until about 10 minutes before I left. I hope she's feeling ok...
- My rock opera: I've decided that it's my new life goal to write a rock opera. I realize that I lack really any writing or composing talent (all the 'original' tunes I think of are really just conglomerates of songs I've heard)...but it's fun to think about. I'm thinking it'll be a Faustian story, perhaps with Vikings. Mephistopheles (or whatever Devil-esque equivalent I think up) will have to 'sing' in near-death growls...like maybe not so much that you can't understand him, but growely enough. The love interest can maybe be Bjork, so someone with a really unique and intense soprano voice. (ETA: The girl from Evanescence. Definitely.) As for the hero? I'm debating. My obvious choice would be Jerry Cantrell, but I like him even more when he's harmonizing. Maybe Viking Faust could have a buddy...
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Oh, and a bee!
It's been a great weekend!! Seriously, this is one of the best weekends I've had (not counting the one in Dubuque with Becky and Gretchen and Amelia) in awhile. Let me re-cap:
(ETA: I just realized how long this post was. Read it all if you want detail, else scroll to the bottom and I'll have a bulleted list of pertinent points)
Friday night, as mentioned before, Tjett and I went over to our neighbors' house for dinner. It was so much fun. When I said like they seemed like nice people, I wasn't mistaken. Super, ridiculously, amazingly, nice people. Hanna and Brian had cooked just an amazing meal: Grilled chicken breasts that had been marinated in a variety of flavors (one was teriyaki, one was lemon herb or something, honey barbeque...and something else delicious that I don't remember); a lentil salad with parsley, red peppers, and walnuts; cooked carrots and zucchini. And for dessert, we had HOMEMADE cheesecake. So good. Their little girls were pretty cute. Anastasia, who's 8 months old (and almost walking!!), and Esther, who is almost exactly 2 years older. Esther is a talker. My goodness is she a talker. Brian and Hanna are both talkative, but neither of them are particularly loud. Esther is a loud kid. But an adorable loud kid. But we just had really good conversation, and just a really nice time. I hope we hang out with them again!!
Saturday morning was the Illinois Marathon. I ran the 5k. I discovered at the Expo on Friday that everyone BUT the 5k and relay runners received 'commemorative drawstring bags' and polyester/wicking/running shirts. We got a plastic bag with a cotton tee. But it all worked out! I still don't have a 'performance' shirt, but my friend Adam was running the half and volunteering which meant that he got 2 bags, so he gave me his extra one :)
But the race itself: It. Was. AWESOME. Started out kind of terrible...I had to pee almost as soon as we lined up, and the announcer guy kept saying '15 minutes' or '5 minutes' but then '10 minutes!' I had started kind of far back, and it was really hard to hear him. So he could have been saying, you know, 15 minutes until some guy made a speech, or whatever...but I didn't want to miss the start, and so I just dealt. Turns out I probably could have gone (about 10 times) but I didn't. Also, it was a 5k run/walk. I thought I was starting in a good position...I wasn't at the very very back because I was going to be running, but since I am by no means fast or competitive, I tried to start pretty far back. Apparently I started too far back. Or more likely, the walkers started too far up. And wouldn't stay to the right. I wasn't the only one trying to weave in and out of people...even though I'm not trying to set a world record, I was still trying to do my best, and it's frustrating getting 'stuck' behind people! But the run was great. I was trying to push myself, so by the middle of the second mile I was pretty tired. But I somehow caught a second wind and finished really strong. The course was as such that it ended in the football stadium...as we rounded the last corner, we went down a ramp, onto the field, and there was cheering, and I got high-fived by at least 3 people. I saw the time as I finished, and it was not quite a minute faster than my previous time. I got a really kickin' medal, and then I had some water and we hung around for a little bit, then went home to try to find our friends in the marathon (which we did not...we live right by the 4 mile mark, and all of our friends run more than 4 miles in an hour...we were just a few miles too early!).
We checked the official chip time later on...ok. This is huge. Forget almost a minute...I knocked of THREE (3!!!) entire minutes off of my time!!!!!!! I finished in 32:57!!!!!
Then we went to Kohls, because Tjett needed a belt and I wanted to find new jeans. Jeans shopping always leaves me angry and depressed. Women's jeans are sized in such a way that even though you may be one size most of the time, certain brands will run small, or fit differently, or forget about your hips. Most of the time I just can't find jeans. And the ones that come closest to fitting are usually 1 or 2 sizes above what I think I am or should be. So I wasn't totally looking forward to this. I tried on one pair that was the size I normally am. Not surprisingly, they didn't fit and I was angry and sad. There was the terrible back-gap, and the front just didn't fit right at all. And then it dawned on me...these jeans were too BIG! So Tjett convinced me to try on a size smaller...and oh my goodness, they fit. Mostly, anyway... But yes. It is possible that Levi runs some of its jeans big...but what a good feeling. I haven't been able to fit into almost anything this size since 10th grade. God bless running.
Saturday night we had a post-race party at my friend Greg's house. We didn't stay past 10:30, but the few hours we spent there were really fun. I saw some people I hadn't seen in ages, and ate a lot of good food and drank some (but not too much!) booze. Claire made these AMAZING asparagus roll-ups...white bread, chive cream cheese, and a stick(?) of asparagus, wrapped up and stuck in the oven for awhile. I ate about 10 of them, and I wanted more. I could have made my meal entirely out of them. She also made fruit pizza for dessert, which I liked way better than my Oreo truffles (everyone else seemed to like them; I thought they were kinda gross). We also watched some of the local news coverage of the marathon. The news teams in town are not great. I've been spoiled by Kare 11. But they had a little blurb about some of the outfits that people wore to race...including my friends Marla and Adam, who dressed up for the half as a banana and bee, respectively. The news lady was about done with the segment when she saw Adam's costume and just said, "Oh! and a bee! I just saw it!"
That brings us to today. This morning was my once-a-month high school sunday school gig, and I was pretty sure we would talk about Salvation. Until I got there...someone had donated a big screen LED TV and mounted it in the High School room at church. I was kind of joking around with one of the other high school teachers that we should just watch The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (it was in the stack of movies, and it has very Christian themes)...and then Pastor Julia came in, asked if we were using the DVD Player because she only had a couple confirmands show up and so she wanted to have them watch something. And then she suggested we combine classes and watch it :) And so we did. The first 45 minutes, anyway. I like talking to these kids, but it was a fairly nice surprise not to have to try to mediate a conversation.
And then the CROP walk. It was about 5-6 miles through campus, and we brought Tia. At first she was a bit hyperactive, but after about a mile she calmed down, and then she tuckered out pretty fast. It was kind of a cramped walk, but we walked with the folks from church and it was a good time. I think last year was better organized and a nicer route, but this was fun too.
And we had nachos for dinner.
What a great weekend.
__________________________
In short:
(ETA: I just realized how long this post was. Read it all if you want detail, else scroll to the bottom and I'll have a bulleted list of pertinent points)
Friday night, as mentioned before, Tjett and I went over to our neighbors' house for dinner. It was so much fun. When I said like they seemed like nice people, I wasn't mistaken. Super, ridiculously, amazingly, nice people. Hanna and Brian had cooked just an amazing meal: Grilled chicken breasts that had been marinated in a variety of flavors (one was teriyaki, one was lemon herb or something, honey barbeque...and something else delicious that I don't remember); a lentil salad with parsley, red peppers, and walnuts; cooked carrots and zucchini. And for dessert, we had HOMEMADE cheesecake. So good. Their little girls were pretty cute. Anastasia, who's 8 months old (and almost walking!!), and Esther, who is almost exactly 2 years older. Esther is a talker. My goodness is she a talker. Brian and Hanna are both talkative, but neither of them are particularly loud. Esther is a loud kid. But an adorable loud kid. But we just had really good conversation, and just a really nice time. I hope we hang out with them again!!
Saturday morning was the Illinois Marathon. I ran the 5k. I discovered at the Expo on Friday that everyone BUT the 5k and relay runners received 'commemorative drawstring bags' and polyester/wicking/running shirts. We got a plastic bag with a cotton tee. But it all worked out! I still don't have a 'performance' shirt, but my friend Adam was running the half and volunteering which meant that he got 2 bags, so he gave me his extra one :)
But the race itself: It. Was. AWESOME. Started out kind of terrible...I had to pee almost as soon as we lined up, and the announcer guy kept saying '15 minutes' or '5 minutes' but then '10 minutes!' I had started kind of far back, and it was really hard to hear him. So he could have been saying, you know, 15 minutes until some guy made a speech, or whatever...but I didn't want to miss the start, and so I just dealt. Turns out I probably could have gone (about 10 times) but I didn't. Also, it was a 5k run/walk. I thought I was starting in a good position...I wasn't at the very very back because I was going to be running, but since I am by no means fast or competitive, I tried to start pretty far back. Apparently I started too far back. Or more likely, the walkers started too far up. And wouldn't stay to the right. I wasn't the only one trying to weave in and out of people...even though I'm not trying to set a world record, I was still trying to do my best, and it's frustrating getting 'stuck' behind people! But the run was great. I was trying to push myself, so by the middle of the second mile I was pretty tired. But I somehow caught a second wind and finished really strong. The course was as such that it ended in the football stadium...as we rounded the last corner, we went down a ramp, onto the field, and there was cheering, and I got high-fived by at least 3 people. I saw the time as I finished, and it was not quite a minute faster than my previous time. I got a really kickin' medal, and then I had some water and we hung around for a little bit, then went home to try to find our friends in the marathon (which we did not...we live right by the 4 mile mark, and all of our friends run more than 4 miles in an hour...we were just a few miles too early!).
We checked the official chip time later on...ok. This is huge. Forget almost a minute...I knocked of THREE (3!!!) entire minutes off of my time!!!!!!! I finished in 32:57!!!!!
Then we went to Kohls, because Tjett needed a belt and I wanted to find new jeans. Jeans shopping always leaves me angry and depressed. Women's jeans are sized in such a way that even though you may be one size most of the time, certain brands will run small, or fit differently, or forget about your hips. Most of the time I just can't find jeans. And the ones that come closest to fitting are usually 1 or 2 sizes above what I think I am or should be. So I wasn't totally looking forward to this. I tried on one pair that was the size I normally am. Not surprisingly, they didn't fit and I was angry and sad. There was the terrible back-gap, and the front just didn't fit right at all. And then it dawned on me...these jeans were too BIG! So Tjett convinced me to try on a size smaller...and oh my goodness, they fit. Mostly, anyway... But yes. It is possible that Levi runs some of its jeans big...but what a good feeling. I haven't been able to fit into almost anything this size since 10th grade. God bless running.
Saturday night we had a post-race party at my friend Greg's house. We didn't stay past 10:30, but the few hours we spent there were really fun. I saw some people I hadn't seen in ages, and ate a lot of good food and drank some (but not too much!) booze. Claire made these AMAZING asparagus roll-ups...white bread, chive cream cheese, and a stick(?) of asparagus, wrapped up and stuck in the oven for awhile. I ate about 10 of them, and I wanted more. I could have made my meal entirely out of them. She also made fruit pizza for dessert, which I liked way better than my Oreo truffles (everyone else seemed to like them; I thought they were kinda gross). We also watched some of the local news coverage of the marathon. The news teams in town are not great. I've been spoiled by Kare 11. But they had a little blurb about some of the outfits that people wore to race...including my friends Marla and Adam, who dressed up for the half as a banana and bee, respectively. The news lady was about done with the segment when she saw Adam's costume and just said, "Oh! and a bee! I just saw it!"
That brings us to today. This morning was my once-a-month high school sunday school gig, and I was pretty sure we would talk about Salvation. Until I got there...someone had donated a big screen LED TV and mounted it in the High School room at church. I was kind of joking around with one of the other high school teachers that we should just watch The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (it was in the stack of movies, and it has very Christian themes)...and then Pastor Julia came in, asked if we were using the DVD Player because she only had a couple confirmands show up and so she wanted to have them watch something. And then she suggested we combine classes and watch it :) And so we did. The first 45 minutes, anyway. I like talking to these kids, but it was a fairly nice surprise not to have to try to mediate a conversation.
And then the CROP walk. It was about 5-6 miles through campus, and we brought Tia. At first she was a bit hyperactive, but after about a mile she calmed down, and then she tuckered out pretty fast. It was kind of a cramped walk, but we walked with the folks from church and it was a good time. I think last year was better organized and a nicer route, but this was fun too.
And we had nachos for dinner.
What a great weekend.
__________________________
In short:
- Eating with my neighbors was great.
- I cut off 3 minutes of my 5k time! I got a sweet medal. Marla was a banana, Adam was a bee.
- I officially am down one pants size...
- Fun with folks I haven't seen in awhile.
- Movie at church!
- CROP walk and sleepy Tia!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Morning Madness
So this is becoming 'Blog Almost Every Day in April.' Sorry everybody. But today I'm back, and today's topic is 'Daily Routines.' And so I present...my mornings.
I wake up generally around 6. Either the alarm goes off, and that's what wakes me, or the dog wakes me up. If the alarm wakes me up though, it is most definitely Tia who gets me out of bed. She sits next to me (on the floor), stares at me, and PANTS. It's hard to ignore. But when I try to, she starts pawing at the bed. The I get up, I put on my robe, and we walk (I walk, she runs) to the door, and THAT'S when she starts barking. More of an aroo-woo-woo than a bark, unless she REALLY has to go. I let her outside, she has a potty, and then she comes right back inside because it's breakfast time!!! We've trained her to sit while we get her food ready, so she sits on the mat in the kitchen, I pick up her bowl and the food scooper, and put 2 scoops (1 cup) of food in her bowl and keep 1 scoop out for later. As soon as I close the food container lid, she lets out a much more urgent ARoo-woooooo-woooooo (I was on the phone with my brother once, and he said 'What the heck was that?!?!') and her tail wags and she sometimes jumps around, kind of like a dolphin. You know, when they do that trick where they're standing in the water and moving backward? It looks like that. It's kind of cute. Then she sits on the mat again, I put the food down, and she waits until I tell her she can go eat. Sometimes she has a couple 'false starts.'
While she is scarfing down her food, I go do my bathroom stuff and put my contacts in. She, on the other hand, goes and visits Tjett in bed, and gives him a morning bath. All over his head. And then his pillow. And then my pillow. She's a special girl. Once I am no longer visually impaired, I take her back outside, where she does her business and I try to pick up her poop before she eats it.
I put on my running/walking clothes, and jingle her collar. I make her lie down to put it on, and it's a bit of a game. She tries to eat her collar, I take it away, and try again, and when I am finally able to put it around her neck, she grabs onto my arm. Nice. But usually not for very long or very hard, and when I get it on her she gets a 'good girl!' and a pat. Then I put some goodies in a pouch and she sits SO prettily and grins. I get out her gentle leader (it's a head collar and the BEST INVENTION EVER), put a goodie on the other end of the loop, and she scoots forward to get her nose in the loop to get the goodie. Sometimes she lets me buckle it right away, and sometimes she tries to buck and I have to hold her head to put it on. While I get my shoes on, she usually writhes around on the ground and tries to paw off the Gentle Leader. Gentle Leaders are no fun! Then we go for our walk.
It used to be a run, but SOMEBODY (named Tia) has decided that she doesn't want to run anymore. Either she's bored or too hot. Regardless, I take her for a good 20-30 minute walk, where she sniffs, marks some territory, and yowls at half the people we pass.
I drop her off at home, and then go running for half an hour to an hour. I'm currently following the One-Hour-Runner program, and I am building my way up to running for a whole hour. This morning was week 8, day 1. I'm almost there...
I get home and stretch. Tia usually has to go back outside, and she takes her 'baby' (a large, blue, rubber squeak bone) outside with her. Sometimes she just sits around, and other times she tears around the yard. When she comes back inside, I trick her with treats to trap her in the hallway so I can take a shower. The last time I let her roam free, she ate her bed.
It's a bit frenetic after my shower...I've gotten in the habit of putting my makeup on right away. While I try to get dressed, she usually jumps on the bed, tries to eat it, tries to grab my socks and/or underwear, and roots around in my towel. She does, however, 'help' dry me off by licking my legs if they're still wet.
Then I eat breakfast and she gets her 'second breakfast'. I brush my teeth, brush my hair (if there's time...I've also brushed it on the bus), stuff a Kong, and pack my lunch, and try desperately to get out by 8:55. She, meanwhile, barks and yowls (she knows that a stuffed Kong is a-comin' her way) and pretends to have to pee so I'll let her out with her baby, so she can run around and make me late for the bus. Once I am ready and have a Kong in hand, she runs to her kennel, I close the latch, turn on NPR, and make a break for the bus.
The end.
I wake up generally around 6. Either the alarm goes off, and that's what wakes me, or the dog wakes me up. If the alarm wakes me up though, it is most definitely Tia who gets me out of bed. She sits next to me (on the floor), stares at me, and PANTS. It's hard to ignore. But when I try to, she starts pawing at the bed. The I get up, I put on my robe, and we walk (I walk, she runs) to the door, and THAT'S when she starts barking. More of an aroo-woo-woo than a bark, unless she REALLY has to go. I let her outside, she has a potty, and then she comes right back inside because it's breakfast time!!! We've trained her to sit while we get her food ready, so she sits on the mat in the kitchen, I pick up her bowl and the food scooper, and put 2 scoops (1 cup) of food in her bowl and keep 1 scoop out for later. As soon as I close the food container lid, she lets out a much more urgent ARoo-woooooo-woooooo (I was on the phone with my brother once, and he said 'What the heck was that?!?!') and her tail wags and she sometimes jumps around, kind of like a dolphin. You know, when they do that trick where they're standing in the water and moving backward? It looks like that. It's kind of cute. Then she sits on the mat again, I put the food down, and she waits until I tell her she can go eat. Sometimes she has a couple 'false starts.'
While she is scarfing down her food, I go do my bathroom stuff and put my contacts in. She, on the other hand, goes and visits Tjett in bed, and gives him a morning bath. All over his head. And then his pillow. And then my pillow. She's a special girl. Once I am no longer visually impaired, I take her back outside, where she does her business and I try to pick up her poop before she eats it.
I put on my running/walking clothes, and jingle her collar. I make her lie down to put it on, and it's a bit of a game. She tries to eat her collar, I take it away, and try again, and when I am finally able to put it around her neck, she grabs onto my arm. Nice. But usually not for very long or very hard, and when I get it on her she gets a 'good girl!' and a pat. Then I put some goodies in a pouch and she sits SO prettily and grins. I get out her gentle leader (it's a head collar and the BEST INVENTION EVER), put a goodie on the other end of the loop, and she scoots forward to get her nose in the loop to get the goodie. Sometimes she lets me buckle it right away, and sometimes she tries to buck and I have to hold her head to put it on. While I get my shoes on, she usually writhes around on the ground and tries to paw off the Gentle Leader. Gentle Leaders are no fun! Then we go for our walk.
It used to be a run, but SOMEBODY (named Tia) has decided that she doesn't want to run anymore. Either she's bored or too hot. Regardless, I take her for a good 20-30 minute walk, where she sniffs, marks some territory, and yowls at half the people we pass.
I drop her off at home, and then go running for half an hour to an hour. I'm currently following the One-Hour-Runner program, and I am building my way up to running for a whole hour. This morning was week 8, day 1. I'm almost there...
I get home and stretch. Tia usually has to go back outside, and she takes her 'baby' (a large, blue, rubber squeak bone) outside with her. Sometimes she just sits around, and other times she tears around the yard. When she comes back inside, I trick her with treats to trap her in the hallway so I can take a shower. The last time I let her roam free, she ate her bed.
It's a bit frenetic after my shower...I've gotten in the habit of putting my makeup on right away. While I try to get dressed, she usually jumps on the bed, tries to eat it, tries to grab my socks and/or underwear, and roots around in my towel. She does, however, 'help' dry me off by licking my legs if they're still wet.
Then I eat breakfast and she gets her 'second breakfast'. I brush my teeth, brush my hair (if there's time...I've also brushed it on the bus), stuff a Kong, and pack my lunch, and try desperately to get out by 8:55. She, meanwhile, barks and yowls (she knows that a stuffed Kong is a-comin' her way) and pretends to have to pee so I'll let her out with her baby, so she can run around and make me late for the bus. Once I am ready and have a Kong in hand, she runs to her kennel, I close the latch, turn on NPR, and make a break for the bus.
The end.
Monday, April 5, 2010
My stupid dog.
Today's BEDA topic is Sports. I'll write a Sports-related post eventually, but first I thought I would grumble a bit about Tia.
Tia is an Eater. Some dogs chew things up and leave bits everywhere, but Tia for the most part ingests all the little bits. This makes buying toys a challenge. She won't sit and chew on a Kong if there's no food in it, because she can't destroy it. Tjett found this blue rubbery chew toy that claims to be good even for power chewers.
Bullshit.
Oh, she loves it all right...but every time she chewed through one of the nubs, I would take it away and cut that part off. Seemed to be working just fine...until she managed to chew off a little bit from one of the butchered ends. I felt kinda bad, because I basically jammed my fingers down her throat (I was just trying to get it out of her mouth) and got it out. But upon further inspection, it looks like she had gotten another, albeit slightly smaller, piece out without my knowledge. Usually when this kind of thing happens, we give her some peroxide and she throws it up. But we decided that it was small enough that it should either pass, or she'll throw it up on her own (which she tends to do when we don't know that she's eaten anything).
This is all well and good on paper, but naturally, I'm super worried about her. Also, the last 4 nights in a row, she's woken me up to go outside at 3:30 in the morning, so I hardly slept last night because I was a) worried she was going to throw up, and b) trying to telepathically tell her to go back to sleep because I did not want to get up to let her out.
She still has not thrown up. So I'm still a bit worried.
Lately, we have been letting her loose in the house, unsupervised, for short periods of time. It had been awhile since she ate anything (that we knew about) while she wasn't being watched, either at night or while I am in the shower in the morning and Tjett's gone to work. This morning, she had a 1.5 mile run with me, a game of fetch in the backyard, and some good healthy runs around the yard like a crazy dog. She seemed a bit tuckered out and subdued, so I let her hang out while I was in the shower. Other times I do this, I find her either on the floor, the couch, or the bed, just sleeping.
Not today! No, today she came running out of the bedroom when I got out of the shower. I went into the bedroom, and she had basically shredded her bed. I didn't have time to take a picture. So yes, I'm thankful that it was HER bed and not OUR bed or the couch...but still. There were little foamy bits everywhere, and who knows how many she ate. I told her off a bit (not too much, because unlike children, you can't really punish a dog for something that they're not in the act of doing) and she just grinned at me and wagged her tail.
Stupid dog. So now I am going back to shutting her in the hallway when I can't supervise her. And only Kongs and Nylabones. She can just deal with it.
Tia is an Eater. Some dogs chew things up and leave bits everywhere, but Tia for the most part ingests all the little bits. This makes buying toys a challenge. She won't sit and chew on a Kong if there's no food in it, because she can't destroy it. Tjett found this blue rubbery chew toy that claims to be good even for power chewers.
Bullshit.
Oh, she loves it all right...but every time she chewed through one of the nubs, I would take it away and cut that part off. Seemed to be working just fine...until she managed to chew off a little bit from one of the butchered ends. I felt kinda bad, because I basically jammed my fingers down her throat (I was just trying to get it out of her mouth) and got it out. But upon further inspection, it looks like she had gotten another, albeit slightly smaller, piece out without my knowledge. Usually when this kind of thing happens, we give her some peroxide and she throws it up. But we decided that it was small enough that it should either pass, or she'll throw it up on her own (which she tends to do when we don't know that she's eaten anything).
This is all well and good on paper, but naturally, I'm super worried about her. Also, the last 4 nights in a row, she's woken me up to go outside at 3:30 in the morning, so I hardly slept last night because I was a) worried she was going to throw up, and b) trying to telepathically tell her to go back to sleep because I did not want to get up to let her out.
She still has not thrown up. So I'm still a bit worried.
Lately, we have been letting her loose in the house, unsupervised, for short periods of time. It had been awhile since she ate anything (that we knew about) while she wasn't being watched, either at night or while I am in the shower in the morning and Tjett's gone to work. This morning, she had a 1.5 mile run with me, a game of fetch in the backyard, and some good healthy runs around the yard like a crazy dog. She seemed a bit tuckered out and subdued, so I let her hang out while I was in the shower. Other times I do this, I find her either on the floor, the couch, or the bed, just sleeping.
Not today! No, today she came running out of the bedroom when I got out of the shower. I went into the bedroom, and she had basically shredded her bed. I didn't have time to take a picture. So yes, I'm thankful that it was HER bed and not OUR bed or the couch...but still. There were little foamy bits everywhere, and who knows how many she ate. I told her off a bit (not too much, because unlike children, you can't really punish a dog for something that they're not in the act of doing) and she just grinned at me and wagged her tail.
Stupid dog. So now I am going back to shutting her in the hallway when I can't supervise her. And only Kongs and Nylabones. She can just deal with it.
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