spoke too soon

I came back from a meeting with my Dominican liaison this morning to find that our dog has been busy in his crate. All that is left of his martingale collar is a strip less than 1 ft and the metal parts to it. Not only did he chew it up, he ate it. We just got that collar on Tuesday night, so it lasted 3 days.


I would guess that he discovered that part of the collar with the D ring, which when pulled pinches the collar tighter and which can be seen as a handy "short leash." Yeah, the part can extended and be long enough to put in mouth and chewed. Lovely. How often do do see a dog chew a collar off of his own neck?

Back on the choke chain collar he goes. Maybe the Martingale was only supposed to be used in training and not to be left on?

look, ma, no buckles

I was at a dog training orientation the other day. This is the session normally offered by trainers both so that you can decide whether you want to train with them and also to prepare you for the real thing. The trainer recommended the Martingale type collar. I think it's great. I could've use this on one of my other Shepherds, who breaks the quick snap plastic buckle on his collar and who will chew through aircraft cable at less than 1 year of age. This collar has no buckles, slips right on and off the dog's head but will remain secure if you're pulling on the D ring. Plus it can't be put on wrong (it can be adjusted wrong, but it can't be put on wrong). So our dog now has this collar and I'd recommend it to all.

Oh, I do like the training method offered. Now it's just a matter of whether we have the moolah at the moment.

random photo

This was on top of a building. The car I was riding in was going at least 60 miles per hour. I can't remember how much zoom I was using; else the camera was on auto.

bad owner

Man, my Labrador Retriever is the stupidest dog I have EVER owned. Not in the sense that he has no intelligence, but in the sense that he doesn't give flip about anybody or anything. He has zero discipline (though he is most EXCELLENT at refraining from using the bathroom in his crate). I'm giving him until two years old before I make any real demands. In the meantime, the primary rule is that he use the bathroom in the designated area. He's been very good at pooping there. But since I gave him more freedom the past few days (the fence being almost halfway up and the vinyl mesh sufficient barrier), he's taken to urinating where ever. So back on the leash he goes.

I am reminded of the English trainer's motto: There are no bad dogs, only bad owners. Sorry, I forgot her name. OK so I may be a bad owner, but in comparison to all the German Shepherds I've had and the Golden Retriever, he IS the stupidest (most disobedient) of them all. And no, there isn't enough time and space to list all the stupid things he does.

knock down furniture

Need furniture that you can knock down flat for transport? Check out Playatech. It's fun for folks like myself for whom "some assembly required" = fun.

oops

Oops. I have just now noticed that I have comments on my blog. Apparently I forgot to update blogger where to send comments. Sorry folks, that I have not responded. I'm so used to my blog having no response that it was just business as usual for me. I wonder how far back I have to go?

Can you believe I am still working on that one section of the fence? I had stopped working on the house to concentrate on the fence. And yet it is still not done.

A while back, I had finished the post extensions. It was done with hand tools. You can see it installed. Definitely not as good as I had hoped, but it's the best I can do with what I have. Oh, and I did have to buy a bunch of tools for working this project, but I tried not to spend too much money, hence the hand tools.

Also, I had to replace one of the poles. Both my fence and the neighbor's was fastened to that pole. Anyhow, it took a day but I got it done.

I have most of the rails up and have started installing the pickets. I have discovered that the pickets are not "square," resulting in gaps between them. It's been like a puzzle figuring which two boards adjacent to each other would result in the smallest gap. With about 1/3 of the pickets up, I am now trying another route. I will shave off (hence shape the picket) the pickets where needed to give me less gap. So basically, the pickets will be shaped to fit the one next to it. I have also discovered that the pickets I have put up have shrunken. I know I had put them up right next to each other, but the ones I've put up weeks ago now have no points in which they touch. So undoubtedly, they have shrunken. The wood filler which I had put in the holes and sanded down are now bulging out, since the wood around it has shrunken. If imperfections are "character," this fence has plenty of character.

"no" to the death penalty

One person stood up the other night, admitted to probably being a bad Catholic, and expressed that they support capital punishment. This person has had a loved one murdered.

First off I must say that I cannot begin to imagine this person's pain and suffering.

The Church says that everyone has the right to act per their conscience. Corollary to that is every person who is able has the responsibility to search for truth, to research the matter and to pray on it.

-----
I don't think there can be greater injustice than what happened to Jesus. Yet he didn't seek capital punishment.

"Well, I'm not Jesus."
Right. But he's our model.

On a different occasion, I heard from Kerry Max Cook who was wrongly convicted and was on death row. His was a brutal experience. Our justice system is imperfect. In fact, I bet every human institution is imperfect. Anyhow, it means that every now and then, we throw somebody on death row who is innocent. Kerry said he'd like the perps to fry too, but having his mom or sister fry alongside the perp is a price he isn't willing to pay. Having the death penalty means that you or any of your innocent loved ones may be on death row and wrongly executed. It's like having a bear trap that every now and then traps a toddler, but you take that risk because you want the bear.

Sparky

Sparky. Hit the link to see Sparky in action. Aw...

Makes me want to start collecting push puppets.

big crucifix

No, you're not Catholic

person A: I thought you said you were a member of St. xx (Catholic church).
person B: Oh, yes, I'm a member of both St. xx (Catholic church) and (names a protestant church).

hmm...