It has become quite clear that no trainer - aside from basic trainers - are willing to work with us. I am going to put that all on them. Abby isn't the smartest dog in the class - ok, she is too freaky to actually take a class - but she is catching on to things quite quickly. Although I have to wonder if she is really catching on quickly or if I just expect so little from her that any behavior is amazing and profound.
Abby has finally learned to sit. It only took an entire year and three training sessions. I originally thought that "sit" was one of the last things that I would teach Abby, but after a bit of thought it became quite easy to teach. I am not sure why it took me so long to think of it, especially because this was the way I taught my other two how to sit. . .and down. I used a very simple piece of equipment: a sofa. Aside from the fact that I already trained two other small dogs how to do the behavior using one, there are also found free on almost every street corner in Oakland! I can't believe I didn't think about it sooner!
What surprised me most about Abby isn't that she learned how to sit, but that she will now sit ANYWHERE in the house. Once she understood what I wanted, she was willing to do it on the couch, on the floor, in the kitchen, in front of the washer...Abby has a tendency to be singularly focused in general, and she has managed to transfer that single focus into "training". Granted, we are training in a quiet, comfortable, familiar environment; but I still got her to sit in front of a jump then cross the jump to touch my hand. I couldn't be prouder of my little nut job of a dog.
In other dog news: Topper (yes, he is still here) is learning a spin. Mole is doing some down stays. Pocket is doing touch. It is very basic for pocket, but after her attack she is terrified of anything new. Even old tricks, like spin and bow, are completely out of the question for her. I think that we will eventually get back there, but I think that it will be a long road...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Never Again
I learned a very important lesson today...
Never request a book from Early Reviewers from Library Thing.
I haven't been a part of LT for very long, but one of my favorite things about it was the Early Reviewers section. This is where authors can give away copies of their books to members in hopes of getting (good) reviews. Every month I dutifully checked the available books and only requested ones that I thought I would truly enjoy. But, since there are only a few copies of each book and usually 100-1000 members requesting each book, it was unlikely that I would ever receive an early reviewers copy.
Fast forward (or rewind) to February where I snagged a copy of Who Really Goes to Hell written by David Rudel. I was very honored to receive a copy and tried to read it quickly yet thoroughly so I could post comments about the book like you are supposed to. Unfortunately it took me awhile to get through the book. . .partly my fault (er, Felicities fault) but I am going to lay most of the blame with the editor. I have been reading for at least 22 years of my life. . .maybe longer, but I don't have much memory of reading before the age of 6 - and I have been able to read countless books in a matter of days. This includes my boring college reads that center on molecular sciences. This particular book took me a month and a half to get through. And when I was finally finished I posted a comment about the book that said something along the lines of "the author obviously knew what he was talking about, but he should have found a better editor to keep him on track". Ok, that is the gross, condensed version of what I really said. But all in all, it wasn't a horrible review.
I log onto my Library Thing account today to find a comment on my person page from the author who was disappointed that I didn't use the discussion forum to help me get through the book. Why the hell would I go on-line to read a discussion forum to help me get through a book? The book is supposed to have all of the data in it - it is not a supplement to something else! What if, when god wrote the bible, that he said: while reading this text, please go to Jerusalem and turn over a red stone in the middle of center square and pull out a scroll which will give you better insight into my mind. Do you think that we would have a Hebrew God? Ok, there are crazy people out there who will do just about anything, but the religion wouldn't be very popular.
I was actually very disappointed myself about the author's book and the comment he left. I spent the first 20 years of life in Christian schools and going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. I was hoping to read someone else's thoughts about a topic that I spent a lot of time learning about and an immense amount of energy un-learning about. And, it made me a bit uneasy to get a comment from the author like that. I would have preferred him say nothing at all to "I'm disappointed. . ."
The whole process creeped me out a little bit and I refuse to request any more books from the Early Reviewers. I will, however, keep pulling books out of the free bin at the paid book store. At least there no one will be disappointed in my own opinions about something!
Never request a book from Early Reviewers from Library Thing.
I haven't been a part of LT for very long, but one of my favorite things about it was the Early Reviewers section. This is where authors can give away copies of their books to members in hopes of getting (good) reviews. Every month I dutifully checked the available books and only requested ones that I thought I would truly enjoy. But, since there are only a few copies of each book and usually 100-1000 members requesting each book, it was unlikely that I would ever receive an early reviewers copy.
Fast forward (or rewind) to February where I snagged a copy of Who Really Goes to Hell written by David Rudel. I was very honored to receive a copy and tried to read it quickly yet thoroughly so I could post comments about the book like you are supposed to. Unfortunately it took me awhile to get through the book. . .partly my fault (er, Felicities fault) but I am going to lay most of the blame with the editor. I have been reading for at least 22 years of my life. . .maybe longer, but I don't have much memory of reading before the age of 6 - and I have been able to read countless books in a matter of days. This includes my boring college reads that center on molecular sciences. This particular book took me a month and a half to get through. And when I was finally finished I posted a comment about the book that said something along the lines of "the author obviously knew what he was talking about, but he should have found a better editor to keep him on track". Ok, that is the gross, condensed version of what I really said. But all in all, it wasn't a horrible review.
I log onto my Library Thing account today to find a comment on my person page from the author who was disappointed that I didn't use the discussion forum to help me get through the book. Why the hell would I go on-line to read a discussion forum to help me get through a book? The book is supposed to have all of the data in it - it is not a supplement to something else! What if, when god wrote the bible, that he said: while reading this text, please go to Jerusalem and turn over a red stone in the middle of center square and pull out a scroll which will give you better insight into my mind. Do you think that we would have a Hebrew God? Ok, there are crazy people out there who will do just about anything, but the religion wouldn't be very popular.
I was actually very disappointed myself about the author's book and the comment he left. I spent the first 20 years of life in Christian schools and going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. I was hoping to read someone else's thoughts about a topic that I spent a lot of time learning about and an immense amount of energy un-learning about. And, it made me a bit uneasy to get a comment from the author like that. I would have preferred him say nothing at all to "I'm disappointed. . ."
The whole process creeped me out a little bit and I refuse to request any more books from the Early Reviewers. I will, however, keep pulling books out of the free bin at the paid book store. At least there no one will be disappointed in my own opinions about something!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Abby Centric
I've been thinking about Abby a lot lately, and one of the reasons is that two weeks ago was Abby's one year "birthday" (minus a 6 week furlough) with me. April 10, 2008 I made a decision that changed my life completely. . .at least for the next 10 or so more years. I offered to take a puppy mill rescue into my house until a "real home" was found for her. After spending a few minutes with her it became very clear that she couldn't go into a regular home; she needed a very special home. Turns out I was "special" enough to take her on.
Since I have been looking back, I took a look at a few blog posts from that time and one stuck out. As I was looking through it I reread a question that was posed to me at the time:
Does it make you kinda sad that you won't be able to do the things that you used to do when you just had Pocket and Mole?
I remember thinking "yeah, it makes me really sad!" Especially considering how "pack up and go" my kids were. And, looking back, I can see that I said something along the lines of "We'll figure it out. . ."
The funny thing is that we did. We did figure it out. Sure I changed my life around to fit a dog that was never "in the plan" but we somehow made it work. And not just in the gotta-get-by-somehow sense. In the sense that this dog actually became a part of my "pack up and go" family. Sure, we don't go see any fainting goats, or play around in rivers; we still get to go to the ocean, and I still get to have a life. Sure I may come home to a house that is half-eaten, but everyone prefers sleeping on the same pillow anyway.
Since I have been looking back, I took a look at a few blog posts from that time and one stuck out. As I was looking through it I reread a question that was posed to me at the time:
Does it make you kinda sad that you won't be able to do the things that you used to do when you just had Pocket and Mole?
I remember thinking "yeah, it makes me really sad!" Especially considering how "pack up and go" my kids were. And, looking back, I can see that I said something along the lines of "We'll figure it out. . ."
The funny thing is that we did. We did figure it out. Sure I changed my life around to fit a dog that was never "in the plan" but we somehow made it work. And not just in the gotta-get-by-somehow sense. In the sense that this dog actually became a part of my "pack up and go" family. Sure, we don't go see any fainting goats, or play around in rivers; we still get to go to the ocean, and I still get to have a life. Sure I may come home to a house that is half-eaten, but everyone prefers sleeping on the same pillow anyway.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Clicker Training with Abby
I have a confession to make. . .
I never train my dogs.
I never train my dogs for a few reasons - the first of which is because I am lazy. The other reasons contribute to my laziness: 1) the kids are afraid of the "click" sound of the clicker. I though I could fix this by buying the i-click. This clicker is quieter, but after about 10 clicks, the dogs start flinching when I'm about to click. 2) I have too many dogs. It is difficult to keep one dog calm, quiet, and manageable when you are "click and treat" -ing the other one. Mole already has anxiety around food and when someone else is getting food and he isn't. . .its almost unbearable. 3) My dogs already do everything I ask. My approach to my "training" is more management based than obedience based. 4)Mole has a bad back and pocket really doesn't care. 5) I have Abby.
These all contribute to my "un-trained" dogs, but I also find myself getting frustrated owning dogs that don't/can't do anything fun. I trained shelter dogs for years, I taught countless training classes, and I made quite a nice chunk of $$$ doing in-home private training for awhile. I LOVE training. I need a dog that I can do something with, and when I look around the room, all I really see is . . . Abby. . .slim pickings here. . .
After thinking about all the reasons that I can't take Abby to training classes, I decided to pull out the rusty old clicker and start doing some things with her myself. After all, people PAID me $$ to train their dogs, why shouldn't I be able to train my own???
I have to say that Abby surprised the sh*t out of me. Not only is Abby flighty and weird, but I also suck at clicker training. My specialty is hardened, adolescent, shelter dogs! Not the meek and mild scared dogs. Abby took to the clicker quick. I guess starving for 6 weeks will create an extremely food motivated dog! We took things slow but she still picked up the basic "touch". I got her to take a few steps, turn to the side, and touch both hands. I was amazed at how quickly this dog could learn. I have heard stories about their intelligence, but I was sure that it had skipped Abby's generation. After all, this is a dog that regularly falls off her own bed! But I guess I was wrong about this little feral dog of mine. She has come a long way this past year, so maybe she can go farther then I ever imagined. . .
Now if I can just get her to stop peeing on the bed. . .
I never train my dogs.
I never train my dogs for a few reasons - the first of which is because I am lazy. The other reasons contribute to my laziness: 1) the kids are afraid of the "click" sound of the clicker. I though I could fix this by buying the i-click. This clicker is quieter, but after about 10 clicks, the dogs start flinching when I'm about to click. 2) I have too many dogs. It is difficult to keep one dog calm, quiet, and manageable when you are "click and treat" -ing the other one. Mole already has anxiety around food and when someone else is getting food and he isn't. . .its almost unbearable. 3) My dogs already do everything I ask. My approach to my "training" is more management based than obedience based. 4)Mole has a bad back and pocket really doesn't care. 5) I have Abby.
These all contribute to my "un-trained" dogs, but I also find myself getting frustrated owning dogs that don't/can't do anything fun. I trained shelter dogs for years, I taught countless training classes, and I made quite a nice chunk of $$$ doing in-home private training for awhile. I LOVE training. I need a dog that I can do something with, and when I look around the room, all I really see is . . . Abby. . .slim pickings here. . .
After thinking about all the reasons that I can't take Abby to training classes, I decided to pull out the rusty old clicker and start doing some things with her myself. After all, people PAID me $$ to train their dogs, why shouldn't I be able to train my own???
I have to say that Abby surprised the sh*t out of me. Not only is Abby flighty and weird, but I also suck at clicker training. My specialty is hardened, adolescent, shelter dogs! Not the meek and mild scared dogs. Abby took to the clicker quick. I guess starving for 6 weeks will create an extremely food motivated dog! We took things slow but she still picked up the basic "touch". I got her to take a few steps, turn to the side, and touch both hands. I was amazed at how quickly this dog could learn. I have heard stories about their intelligence, but I was sure that it had skipped Abby's generation. After all, this is a dog that regularly falls off her own bed! But I guess I was wrong about this little feral dog of mine. She has come a long way this past year, so maybe she can go farther then I ever imagined. . .
Now if I can just get her to stop peeing on the bed. . .
Friday, April 17, 2009
Top Top
I have too many dogs. . .
Ok, I always have too many dogs. When I was younger, I had one dog. When I got older I had one dog. Eventually I got a dog that needed another dog. Seriously! I got my second dog because my first dog was impossible to live with as an only dog. After a few weeks of adjustment it turned out that two dogs really were better then one. So two became my limit. . .with a rotating third as a foster. Eventually I ended up with a third dog. And three really was my actual limit. Why I have four dogs from time to time seems to escape me at the moment...
I have decided that I need to give away two dogs. I will put them all up for adoption and which ever two are the last ones here are the ones I'm keeping. Here they are in no particular order:
Topper:
Topper is a "6 year old" short hair chihuahua. He likes to cuddle under the blanket. He will bark if you leave him alone at work. He will pee on anything taller then him in your house. He likes to ride in cars and look out every window simultaneously.
Abby:
Abby is a 6 year old PURE BRED Italian Greyhound. She is a proven breeder. She will not smother her puppies. She must not be left alone at any time. She must be fed excessive quantities of food. She must go home with another dog. She must be allowed to sleep on top of you all night. She will pee in your bed and vomit on your pillow.
Pocket:
pocket is a 6 year old female Chihuahua/bat/squirrel cross. She must be made to wear clothes. *warning*She will bite if you try to cut her nails. She will bite if you take anything away from her. she will bite if you try to move her. She must be allowed to ride on your shoulder while driving. She must be top dog. Loves children. Must not go home with Abby
Mole:
Mole is a 10+ year old male dog that has to be alpha dog. He hates puppies. He must be fed breakfast at 8am, 7:45am, 7:30am, 7:15am. Must be adopted to a home without children. Must go to a home with other dogs. Must be taken to work every day.
If you are interested in any of these dogs, please email me at: dogsaredrivingmecrazy@dogless.com
Ok, I always have too many dogs. When I was younger, I had one dog. When I got older I had one dog. Eventually I got a dog that needed another dog. Seriously! I got my second dog because my first dog was impossible to live with as an only dog. After a few weeks of adjustment it turned out that two dogs really were better then one. So two became my limit. . .with a rotating third as a foster. Eventually I ended up with a third dog. And three really was my actual limit. Why I have four dogs from time to time seems to escape me at the moment...
I have decided that I need to give away two dogs. I will put them all up for adoption and which ever two are the last ones here are the ones I'm keeping. Here they are in no particular order:
Topper:Topper is a "6 year old" short hair chihuahua. He likes to cuddle under the blanket. He will bark if you leave him alone at work. He will pee on anything taller then him in your house. He likes to ride in cars and look out every window simultaneously.
Abby:Abby is a 6 year old PURE BRED Italian Greyhound. She is a proven breeder. She will not smother her puppies. She must not be left alone at any time. She must be fed excessive quantities of food. She must go home with another dog. She must be allowed to sleep on top of you all night. She will pee in your bed and vomit on your pillow.
Pocket:pocket is a 6 year old female Chihuahua/bat/squirrel cross. She must be made to wear clothes. *warning*She will bite if you try to cut her nails. She will bite if you take anything away from her. she will bite if you try to move her. She must be allowed to ride on your shoulder while driving. She must be top dog. Loves children. Must not go home with Abby
Mole:Mole is a 10+ year old male dog that has to be alpha dog. He hates puppies. He must be fed breakfast at 8am, 7:45am, 7:30am, 7:15am. Must be adopted to a home without children. Must go to a home with other dogs. Must be taken to work every day.
If you are interested in any of these dogs, please email me at: dogsaredrivingmecrazy@dogless.com
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Definition of a Rescue Dog
After reading this article today about the new first dog, it got me thinking: what is the definition of a rescue dog? I, along with many people, feel that this "rescue" has more shades to it then BYOBW did on Sunday afternoon. But, I have to admit that I never really thought that the Obamas would get a true rescue dog.
For starters, they needed a hypoallergenic dog and they wanted a puppy. This can be slightly difficult to find - especially if you are working on a time-line. If, however, you wanted to actually find a rescue dog, and spent some time looking, you would find poodles and Bichons as young as 3 months old in shelters across the states. Then the Obamas decided that they wanted a larger dog -and there are standard poodles in shelters as young as 1-2 years old. Then they decided that they wanted a Portuguese Water Dog. As soon as they said that, many people knew that the dog was going to have to come from a breeder. You see, the nice thing about PWDs is that they aren't over-bred. . .yet. The breeders are much more cautious of who they sell to and many of their families are "sport dog" families. Many also have spay/neuter contracts and most will take the dog back if he doesn't work out in the home (hence the rescue of "Bo")
All of this made me wonder what makes a dog a "rescue dog"? I have always considered my dogs "rescue dogs" because all of my dogs came from shelters. Mole was surrendered by his first owner because she was getting "too old" to care for him. He spent some time in a crappy cement cage before I took him and brought him into a shelter I used to work at. Pocket was found running down the streets of Livermore. Abby, well, we all know Abby's story.
But, just because my dogs came from "kill" shelters, does that mean that they were knocking on death's door? Not really. Mole's time was up, the shelter was over full, and he was over 5 years old. But was he really scheduled to die? I'll never know. Did pocket ever have one foot over the grave? Hell no! She was a nine month old Chihuahua - and this was before they became accessories! Abby, on the other hand, would have been kept in a cage for probably another year, before she was rendered. And Abby would probably have been put down by someone else had I decided not to keep her - and that might not have been a bad thing.
There are a lot of people who adopt dogs from Rescue Groups now. These dogs in these Groups are not at risk of dying, but they were at one point. If you adopt from these Groups, does that make these dogs rescue dogs? Or maybe not, because they didn't need immediate rescue? What about the people who have re-homed dogs from Craigs List or the paper? Are these dogs rescued? Or maybe they are pre-rescue because had they not been re-homed they would have gone to a "kill shelter."
Many people are using the term Rescue now because it is in fashion. Seriously. I have heard many people say that they rescued their dog when in fact, they purchased the dog from their neighbor's back yard, or from a "nice lady" in Montana. Those people Bought their dog.
So that brings me back to the Obama's dog - was that dog "rescued"? I'm going to defer my judgement until a later date when more information on the breeder comes out. But I have my suspicions. However, I am thankful that they donated money to a few shelters. Even if they can't take a dog from that shelter, the money could still go into saving the life of a dog.
For starters, they needed a hypoallergenic dog and they wanted a puppy. This can be slightly difficult to find - especially if you are working on a time-line. If, however, you wanted to actually find a rescue dog, and spent some time looking, you would find poodles and Bichons as young as 3 months old in shelters across the states. Then the Obamas decided that they wanted a larger dog -and there are standard poodles in shelters as young as 1-2 years old. Then they decided that they wanted a Portuguese Water Dog. As soon as they said that, many people knew that the dog was going to have to come from a breeder. You see, the nice thing about PWDs is that they aren't over-bred. . .yet. The breeders are much more cautious of who they sell to and many of their families are "sport dog" families. Many also have spay/neuter contracts and most will take the dog back if he doesn't work out in the home (hence the rescue of "Bo")
All of this made me wonder what makes a dog a "rescue dog"? I have always considered my dogs "rescue dogs" because all of my dogs came from shelters. Mole was surrendered by his first owner because she was getting "too old" to care for him. He spent some time in a crappy cement cage before I took him and brought him into a shelter I used to work at. Pocket was found running down the streets of Livermore. Abby, well, we all know Abby's story.
But, just because my dogs came from "kill" shelters, does that mean that they were knocking on death's door? Not really. Mole's time was up, the shelter was over full, and he was over 5 years old. But was he really scheduled to die? I'll never know. Did pocket ever have one foot over the grave? Hell no! She was a nine month old Chihuahua - and this was before they became accessories! Abby, on the other hand, would have been kept in a cage for probably another year, before she was rendered. And Abby would probably have been put down by someone else had I decided not to keep her - and that might not have been a bad thing.
There are a lot of people who adopt dogs from Rescue Groups now. These dogs in these Groups are not at risk of dying, but they were at one point. If you adopt from these Groups, does that make these dogs rescue dogs? Or maybe not, because they didn't need immediate rescue? What about the people who have re-homed dogs from Craigs List or the paper? Are these dogs rescued? Or maybe they are pre-rescue because had they not been re-homed they would have gone to a "kill shelter."
Many people are using the term Rescue now because it is in fashion. Seriously. I have heard many people say that they rescued their dog when in fact, they purchased the dog from their neighbor's back yard, or from a "nice lady" in Montana. Those people Bought their dog.
So that brings me back to the Obama's dog - was that dog "rescued"? I'm going to defer my judgement until a later date when more information on the breeder comes out. But I have my suspicions. However, I am thankful that they donated money to a few shelters. Even if they can't take a dog from that shelter, the money could still go into saving the life of a dog.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Stealing Is Wrong
A few days ago, while I was at the Oakland A's home opener, I get this cryptic message from my boss:
This confused the crap out of me for two reasons 1) I was slightly tipsy 2) why was my boss sending this to me on a Friday night? Apparently, someone had stolen her garbage can and had left this "ransom" note. She thought that it was the macinator being funny. I don't think she knows the macinator very well, because if it has been her, there would be ink smudges on the side and the writing would be illegible. Never-the-less, they followed the note's instructions and found this gate
They did not enter the gate. If they had, my story would have ended there. . .
I spent the next few nights worrying about the lost garbage can. Trying to figure out who would have done it. What would I do to the person when I found them with the can?
Skip to a few days later. . .I was at BYOBW with some friends when I saw HIM
Superman stole the trash can!
So what did I do?
I did what any normal human being would do!
I called the cops!
I don't think that they ever caught him, though. Superman is faster then a speeding bullet and all this cop had was a "big wheel"
This confused the crap out of me for two reasons 1) I was slightly tipsy 2) why was my boss sending this to me on a Friday night? Apparently, someone had stolen her garbage can and had left this "ransom" note. She thought that it was the macinator being funny. I don't think she knows the macinator very well, because if it has been her, there would be ink smudges on the side and the writing would be illegible. Never-the-less, they followed the note's instructions and found this gate
They did not enter the gate. If they had, my story would have ended there. . .
I spent the next few nights worrying about the lost garbage can. Trying to figure out who would have done it. What would I do to the person when I found them with the can?
Skip to a few days later. . .I was at BYOBW with some friends when I saw HIM
Superman stole the trash can!
So what did I do?
I did what any normal human being would do!
I called the cops!
I don't think that they ever caught him, though. Superman is faster then a speeding bullet and all this cop had was a "big wheel"
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Beach Adventure
I'm going to throw it out there first thing: I do not have pictures of the Beach Adventure.
I needed a fun day out with the dogs. Since pocket's incident she has practically refused to go for walks. She walks super slow behind me and will often get dragged a few feet before I realize that she has stopped walking completely. I usually give in and carry her while the rest of the pack run on ahead. Its really sad that one split second can change a dog's perception on the world.
I have heard a lot about Point Reyes and decided that we all needed to get away for the day. We all like long drives and we hadn't been to the beach in a while - Abby has NEVER been to the beach. Point Reyes is only mildly dog friendly and only has a few beaches that even allow dogs, and all are on leash. And since most people work on Mondays I figured that it was worth a chance and we took the drive.
Once there I let the dogs out and we took the half mile hike down to the beach - pocket dragging and Abby whimpering in confusion. Topper and Mole were just excited to pee on new things! Once we were down at the beach, everything seemed to change for pocket. She got very excited and tried to run. She was so happy that I decided to risk my life and run with four leashed dogs just to make her even happier. The thing that surprised me the most out of all of it is that Mole seemed to get happier when he ran. He didn't want to stop running. It was so cute!
I am not sure what our next adventure will be. I'm limited now because of my self-imposed on-leash rule. And Abby only has so much tolerance for the "exciting and new". I promise to try to take pictures next time.
I needed a fun day out with the dogs. Since pocket's incident she has practically refused to go for walks. She walks super slow behind me and will often get dragged a few feet before I realize that she has stopped walking completely. I usually give in and carry her while the rest of the pack run on ahead. Its really sad that one split second can change a dog's perception on the world.
I have heard a lot about Point Reyes and decided that we all needed to get away for the day. We all like long drives and we hadn't been to the beach in a while - Abby has NEVER been to the beach. Point Reyes is only mildly dog friendly and only has a few beaches that even allow dogs, and all are on leash. And since most people work on Mondays I figured that it was worth a chance and we took the drive.
Once there I let the dogs out and we took the half mile hike down to the beach - pocket dragging and Abby whimpering in confusion. Topper and Mole were just excited to pee on new things! Once we were down at the beach, everything seemed to change for pocket. She got very excited and tried to run. She was so happy that I decided to risk my life and run with four leashed dogs just to make her even happier. The thing that surprised me the most out of all of it is that Mole seemed to get happier when he ran. He didn't want to stop running. It was so cute!
I am not sure what our next adventure will be. I'm limited now because of my self-imposed on-leash rule. And Abby only has so much tolerance for the "exciting and new". I promise to try to take pictures next time.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
I need to give up my cats
I don't talk much about my cats because they don't actually live with me. They were "foster failures" from college when I volunteered at a cat rescue. I bottle fed both and, for some reason, they hadn't been adopted before I graduated in June, so they moved back home with me. Once home, it turned out that they liked my mother a lot more. Ahhh, the nature of cats. . .
Behaviorists will say that animals do not contain the cognitive ability to act out of spite - these behaviorists have obviously never lived with cats. I have one perfect angel of a cat, and one spiteful MoFo of a cat. I actually love them both, but if I show more love to the perfect angel, I had better sleep with one eye open or else I might get smothered to death!
I am not sure why people feel the need to give up their cats at 8 years old. But, I get a disproportionate number of people wanting/needing to give up their 8 year old cat. What is it about living with a particular animal for 8 years that suddenly makes you think that you can't do it for another 8? So what if he is pooping out side of the litter box? clean it up! Especially when you admit to me that you aren't cleaning the litter box as often as you should. Ok, he broke your favorite vase, but why the hell would you put something that valuable up high when you have a cat? Cats can climb, it is something that they do. Did it take you 8 years to figure that out?
I think that there should be some screening that we can put adopters through to see how they will react to the cat exhibiting cat-like behavior in 8 years time. I guess I can't complain too much that people are giving up their animals at such a fast rate when people give up their spouses in even faster rates.
And, just in case anyone is interested: I have two domestic short haired cats that I will need to give up in 2 years when they turn eight.
Behaviorists will say that animals do not contain the cognitive ability to act out of spite - these behaviorists have obviously never lived with cats. I have one perfect angel of a cat, and one spiteful MoFo of a cat. I actually love them both, but if I show more love to the perfect angel, I had better sleep with one eye open or else I might get smothered to death!
I am not sure why people feel the need to give up their cats at 8 years old. But, I get a disproportionate number of people wanting/needing to give up their 8 year old cat. What is it about living with a particular animal for 8 years that suddenly makes you think that you can't do it for another 8? So what if he is pooping out side of the litter box? clean it up! Especially when you admit to me that you aren't cleaning the litter box as often as you should. Ok, he broke your favorite vase, but why the hell would you put something that valuable up high when you have a cat? Cats can climb, it is something that they do. Did it take you 8 years to figure that out?
I think that there should be some screening that we can put adopters through to see how they will react to the cat exhibiting cat-like behavior in 8 years time. I guess I can't complain too much that people are giving up their animals at such a fast rate when people give up their spouses in even faster rates.
And, just in case anyone is interested: I have two domestic short haired cats that I will need to give up in 2 years when they turn eight.
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