somniloquence

Virtual Benjamins to anyone who knows where the subject line comes from. I am behind on everything in the world, including responding to comments on the Justified vid (thank you, in advance, for the lovely comments).

Why? Because I have me a dog... not quite in the way I was hoping, and not one that will be here forever, but there is a dog in the house and has been for more than a week, and I have basically gotten almost nothing done in the time being. It's probably a good thing both my books that I was supposed to edit this month have been pushed back, although financially not so much.

The rescue group I had contacted about a dog told me the fosters had decided to keep her, but they contacted me right after that about a corgi that needed a home without a lot of stairs. I said I'd meet her, but I didn't realize that they would bring her by and I was going to be fostering her. Surprise! It was a "foster to adopt" scenario, but I could tell right away that we were not right for each other. She is the sweetest dog in the world, a corgi/beagle mix, but she's supposed to be on crate rest for a back injury (she doesn't seem to feel anything so much as her legs go out and she has trouble walking), and this causes her lots of frustration, and she acts out in a lot of ways. We've had massive lunging, barking, and baying issues. And her excitement level at going for little walks (which I'm not supposed to give her, but it's too cruel not to) is sky-high, so she's oblivious to commands, and it never really gets down to a manageable level. I'm doing everything I can, but it's not always easy.

She is okay with the cats in the house, but when she sees them outside she chases, which means she crashes through plants and jumps around, something she shouldn't do. The first few days, I had to lift her downstairs, and it hurt my back so badly (she weighs about 30 pounds) that I never have really recovered, and the foster folks built a little ramp, but... it's hard to get her to keep using it. When I have her on leash, I can, but when she's too excited, she runs down the stairs, often falling. Arg. I've taken her down to my dad's retirement center, and she was apeshit beforehand and I couldn't get her walked out of that. Fortunately when we left she had calmed, but it was hard going. The last thing I wanted was for her to knock someone off their walker or something. But man, did she respond to my dad's commands. I got the feeling that she must have gone for walks or runs with the man in her family.

Sadie (her name) is about 4, and the beagle in her is very prominent, more so I think than the corgi. The other day a woman came by and told me she was looking for an escaped "big beagle," which Sadie found on our walk, and so with a lot of trouble, I managed to get her home and inside before taking TJ back to his house, and I heard the most godawful racket from my house. I turned back and saw her standing on the back of the couch baying out the window; when I got back, she was on the freaking dining table in the kitchen barking at me out the window. So much for no exercise.

But she's got so much love to give. She wants loves 24/7, and she is much more energetic than I am, so I could tell we weren't a good fit, since I often have to concentrate on the computer for a lot of time and can't give her the attention she wants. She was cooped up in a vet's office for a week, so I know she's got a lot of neediness from that, and she's been through so much. Today my neighbor introduced her 5-year-old niece to us, and Sadie was a complete angel to her, so I think what Sadie really needs is a family who can give her lots of loves and action. But of course, be mindful of her back.

It's been an interesting experience, even if it's one I didn't necessarily want. I wasn't prepared to be a foster mom, to take in a special needs doggie right away, and I think the back injury and the enormous time sink it's been (I really am so far behind on very important stuff) has caused my stress level to rocket up, which she can no doubt sense. I think I've learned what I want in a dog and what kind of dog I would be a good mom for. Olive, oddly, is totally blase about the whole thing -- she's not happy, but only gets spooked when the dog is really hyper or comes at her -- and then half the time she just hits her and snarls. Blues, OTOH, panics at every movement, and runs, which makes Sadie chase him. It's gotten ugly a few times. But they have both been so loving to me!! If I'd known all I needed was a dog to make them appreciate me, I'd have done this sooner.

Unfortunately, Sadie also turns her nose up at most food, so I have to bend over all the time to put things in it, stir in broth or something to get her to eat, which doesn't help. Painting and tread taping the ramp did more back damage. It's just been... hard. I want to be loving to her and not let her feel my stress and pain, but she can be somewhat difficult. And she won't tell me if she has to go potty, so I have to take her out constantly -- and the pouring, torrential rain we had last week made me really cranky. I don't like being cold and wet. I want a dog that hates being cold and wet, too!

Basically, I think I want a dog that's a cat. Just a cat that will go on car trips and go to parks and take long walks. ;-) But right now I need to de-stress and get through the next few rough weeks. Tomorrow's an adoption event I'm taking her to, and they told me someone has expressed interest in her, so we'll see. I want to regroup and figure everything out before I commit to a forever home for a dog. Everything has to feel right. At least I know that the kitties won't leave me, even if they're unhappy.

Oh, and here's a link to her pics and bio: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/17580537

Man, yesterday got away from me. I spent the whole day at a bead weaving class -- learning right angle stitch. I have to say, I am really sucky at the whole jewelry making thing. Especially for things that involve spatial relationships. A bunch of people have complimented me on a necklace I made a few days ago, but I think that's probably going to be the one successful thing I do. I should stick to banging on metal and using cord and making the simple (and I suppose simplistic) designs like that. The weaving is hard, yo. I keep getting turned around in the wrong direction, or looping thread back onto itself, and having to pull it apart, which means the (not cheap) Swarovski crystals go flying everywhere. I brought home the two projects I started and tried to work on them a bit last night but I quickly learned one thing: no bead weaving when cats are inside. I think I will try to finish these two bracelets and call it a draw. I love the bling, but... I'm not skilled enough to keep doing it.

Anyway!
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show

Ah, so much to choose from with Buffy. Pretty much all I have to do is rewatch season 6 or 7 and I'm sure I could find quite the handful. I've seen others pick As You Were, Doublemeat Palace, and so on, and those are all good choices. So since the other ones I hate have been mentioned, I'm going with... Dead Things. Or... Empty Places, an episode I hated so much I forgot the name of it. Um... Dead Things. Because it featured the slimy Warren, a character I loathed from the very first moment we saw him, and rape as a plot device where two other guys basically go along with their rapist buddy and don't take action and yet somehow we're supposed to believe they are characters we should like, and Buffy beating on Spike so gratuitously I can't believe the show didn't come with some kind of extra violence warning, and the whole time distortion thing, a device I would normally love because I love fucked-up timeline things except they did it so badly, and I could go on and on. OMG I hate that episode so much. But apparently I hate it as much as Empty Places because I block out their episode titles.

Day 08 - A show everyone should watch

Wow, isn't that tough? Because of course you want to pimp a fannish show that you think everyone should love. But I'm going to go with something a little unusual here. I think everyone should watch The Dog Whisperer on National Geographic Channel. Even if you're a die-hard cat fan (or bird fan, or ferret fan, or whichever animal captured your heart the most) or you don't even think you're a pet person, this show has a lot to offer about what it means to be a leader. Now, I know that sounds crazy, but let me explain -- Cesar Millan is obviously very gifted at working with dogs and getting to the root of their psychological problems that manifest as behavior issues. But what he says at the start of the show, "I rehabilitate dogs, and I train people," is the point of what he really does. Because pretty much 99.9% of the time, what causes dogs to behave badly is their people.

And here he gets into a bunch of things you wouldn't see in many other pet shows. He looks at what's happening inside the person in control of the animal, he hears what they have to say, and he teaches them skills that also make a difference in the rest of their lives. He's had people on the show who were just so dumb that you want to knock their skulls in, but through patience (and sometimes impatience; in an early episode, he totally lost his temper with this idiotic woman who was choosing her dog over her son) and repetition, he helps people see where they're going wrong, and gives them the skills to overcome that.

For some people, that's meant a huge difference in the quality of their lives -- disabled people, people with severe emotional trauma, you name it, he's helped them by helping their dogs, and it's just wonderful to see. Not every dog is 100% perfect, but he follows up with people, and he gives them the tools to tackle things on their own. Some people's lives have changed so drastically they're almost different people when they check in with them later.

The thing I love the most is when kids get involved, and you can see them become confident and proud by being the "pack leader," the concept Cesar espouses. Yes, I know he's self promotional, and there are a lot of naysayers to his methods and beliefs, but I for one, as someone who was raised around dozens of animals and has always had animals in my life, completely understand and believe in everything he does. Yes, he's turned himself into an industry, but if the worst thing you can say is that the guy has helped thousands of people and animals become healthy and happier and gotten famous for doing it? Well, that seems like a pretty good deal to me.

I can't wait till I get a dog of my own at some point, and practice being "good pack leader" as he always says. If the whole world was made up of good pack leaders, even if they didn't have dogs, it would be a better place.