Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

Digital spring cleaning

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Maybe I shouldn’t call it “spring” cleaning. It’s been snowing since early this morning, temperatures are dropping like a rock, and the wind is blowing snow all over the place. It’s very clearly still winter.

But it feels like the digital version of spring cleaning as I try to get the past years’ data organized and backed up, and archive non-current items. As I mentioned earlier in the week, my Sony VAIO laptop, which is my primary computer, needs to go in for warranty replacement of the intermittently noisy cooling fan. I actually have another full year to have the repair done as Sony has extended the warranty for fan replacement only. I don’t want to let it go that long, but I didn’t want to send it out until we were done with magazine production for this quarter (that would be The Total Rottweiler Magazine, if you haven’t been visiting here long). The magazine went to print on Tuesday, so it’s a convenient time for me to be without this computer for a little while.

Due to a lifetime of employment in print production, the magazine files are already pretty well-organized. My blog and website files, not so much. I have a lot of non-current versions that should be archived and moved off-line. I’m going to try to get that done over the weekend. If life gets in the way, I’ll just do a couple of full backups and send the laptop on for the repair anyway.

Something else I want to work on is an editorial calendar for this blog. ProBlogger Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog last year had a day devoted to the process, and I really think it will help me in keeping a good balance here between Rottweilers, technology and world domination. It will also help me to make sure that I follow up on ongoing news items.

Winter is a good time for stuff like this, so I hope to make some headway while the weather is ugly enough to keep me inside!

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 7 of 31)

Updates: 31DBBB, Freya’s training (26 of 30/92 of 274)

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Although the results may not yet be visible to the naked eye, I am still making my way slowly through 31DBBB. I haven’t been able to keep up with the one-task-per-day pace during the week, and I’m not caught up as far as I want to be, but I am still getting a lot out of the project. You can sign up at any time, and I suggest it for anyone who wants to improve their blogging. Even if you don’t join the project, check out some of the 31DBBB posts at ProBlogger!

One change that is probably visible, even to the naked eye, is the header on the blog. Back near the beginning of April, the first task of 31DBBB was to write an “elevator pitch” for our blogs. Mine is here, and I’ve finally made some of the changes and additions outlined in that post. I hope you like the new header, which features my favorite puppy picture of the lovely Freya!

I’m currently bogged down a bit on Day 8, where I need to interlink my post with other related posts within the blog. Yes, there’s a plugin for that. But as I started to work on this task, I realized that my categories and tags needed a major overhaul in order to work properly with plugins, and for that matter, to make it easier should I end up choosing to do my related links manually. So that’s a project to complete this coming week. I hope.

Freya’s first rally obedience training session went very well. We didn’t even trip over any of the signs. Our team’s biggest problem is, as usual, me. My leash handling needs work. Rally Novice is done entirely on leash, and keeping a loose leash is very important to avoid point deductions. I also need to get accustomed to using as much body language and verbal encouragement as needed. Extra help like that is not allowed in conventional obedience competition nor in Schutzhund obedience, so most handlers will phase it out during training as early as possible.

It’s not that I don’t want to continue on to conventional obedience competition or a Schutzhund BH, but realistically, I don’t know if I ever will. So it makes the most sense at this point to get through the Rally titles using every legal command and motivator that I am able to, and then worry about phasing out the extra commands and encouragement later.

Counting canine calories (23 of 30/89 of 274)

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Dr. Patty Khuly at Dolittler had a great post today about calorie counting for fat dogs. The following excerpt is something that really hit home, related to the lovely Freya and the handsome Axel:

The first sticking point? It always comes down to measuring everything the dog eats and does. The kids might have fed X. I didn’t know the treats counted. (Seriously?) My mother-in-law sneaks her food under the table.

While we of course know that treats count, we haven’t been monitoring the types and amounts of treats, as well as food used in training sessions, as closely as we should. I am sure that as I start keeping track, I will be surprised and somewhat dismayed, much as I was when I’ve kept a food diary for myself and realized how much mindless snacking happens during a typical workday.

As you may recall, Freya has some weight to lose and Axel has some weight to gain.

In the month since he’s been home, Axel’s put on several pounds. Once we got a good handle on the amount of energy he expends when spending part of the day in a kennel run and part as a house dog, as compared to being a full-time house dog, it was pretty easy to recalculate the amount of food he needs when living with his handler, and the smaller amount of food he needs when living at home with us.

I must admit that I have not been as diligent as I should have been about getting enough additional exercise for Freya (and myself). I just found a nearby source for the low fat formulation of California Natural Lamb and Rice, which is one of the only foods that Freya can eat due to her mild IBS. I was quite relieved to find that she likes it, and that she can eat it with no tummy troubles, so that will be a help in reducing her calories and still letting her eat enough to feel full.

I mentioned in my earlier post that Freya’s vet calculated her calorie requirements. At the time I did not ask for the details (math is not my strong point and I do trust our vets), but I can now double-check using the information in today’s Dolittler post:

Base calories/day (resting energy requirement) = 30 x (your dog’s weight in kg) + 70
* Weight loss needed, neutered/spayed = 1 x base calories
* Weight loss needed, intact = 1.1x base calories

Freya: [(30 x 42 kg) + 70] x 1 = 1330 calories
California Natural Lamb and Rice = 430 calories per cup
1330 / 430 = 3.09 cups per day (if no treats or extras were fed)

She gets 2 to 2.5 cups per day, plus treats, so that should be fine, which agrees with our vet’s calculations. That is, unless the treats I’m using turn out to be more caloric than I thought. I’ll need to track down the information on that, which was another suggestion from the Dolittler post. It is very true that caloric information for treats is not always on the package, but often easy enough to find on the manufacturer’s websites, so it is time for me to do some research and maybe switch some treat choices. I often use “people food” for training treats, usually hot dogs or frozen meatballs, so it will be easy enough to switch to the low fat versions of those items as well.

I’ll stop at the vet on the way home from training on Saturday and get a current weight for Freya, and see how we are doing so far.

(PS: This is also the Day 7 assignment for 31DBBB. Yes, I’m a bit behind, but still working through this excellent series!)

Blogs and dogs (19 of 30/85 of 274)

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As predicted, it’s been raining all day today. The Rottweiler wrecking crew has been extremely annoying due to a lack of exercise and entertainment due to the rain. They have finally fallen asleep due to boredom. I was very pleased to find a website from a local training facility showing sample Rally Obedience courses. Not only are they free to download, they are also set up for a small room, meaning that I will be able to use them almost as-is in the backyard for practice. Couldn’t use them today, of course, thanks to the ongoing rain!

On the other hand, a rainy day provided a perfect opportunity to catch up on “31 Days to Build a Better Blog.” I got kind of stuck on the Day 4 task of analyzing a top blog in my niche. I was not quite sure how best to search for “top personal blogs concentrating on pets and technology.” I did my best, though, and have come to the conclusion that if I want to be more popular within my niche, the following things must happen:

  • I have to have funnier or cuter dogs
  • I have to become an actual expert about either dogs or technology
  • When I go off-topic, I have to write about sex or relationships, or else use the F-word more

Our upcoming adventures in competition should provide some moments that are funny as all get-out to everyone but me, and like the time I tripped over my dog in the obedience ring, they will even be funny to me in a month (or two or three). I will probably never become an actual expert, but every day I add to the list of dog training techniques that have unexpected results, and things that can go wrong with technology. That’s gotta be worth something. But I’m never going to write about sex and relationships. Ever.

Day 5’s task was to email new blog readers. I haven’t had a new commenter in a few days, and I reply to almost every comment on the blog as a matter of course. But I will definitely put this into practice as soon as a new reader or first-time commenter shows up. I will also try to be a bit more active in commenting on other blogs. I know I’ve been somewhat lax in that regard, even with blogs I read daily.

I’ve also read through many of the Day 6 tips and tutorials from some well-known and successful bloggers. Whether or not you are not doing 31DBBB, that post and the links within are well worth reading. Even if you believe you’re at the top of your blogging game, I think you will come away with something to think about from at least a few of the articles referenced.

5 great imaginary bands (9 of 30/75 of 274)

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A great opportunity presents itself today for me to both indulge my love of fictional bands and fulfill the Day 2 31DBBB assignment to write a list post.

So let’s rock!

5 great imaginary bands

I am far from alone in my obsession with imaginary bands. The Rocklopedia Fakebandica lists about a thousand fictional bands and singers from movies and television. Here are five of my personal favorites, in alphabetical order. You didn’t really think you were going to trap me into rating and ranking fake bands, did you?

1. The Barbusters. Light of Day is a (mostly) filmed-in-Chicago movie with a title song written by Bruce Springsteen. Already you see two of my personal obsessions there. Great casting and unexpectedly good performances (acting and music both) from Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett as the brother and sister team fronting the Barbusters. One of the bar scenes was filmed at the Iron Rail on the northwest side of Chicago, which was then owned by a friend of ours.

2. Eddie and the Cruisers. John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band provided the sound for the fictional band from Jersey. Their Springsteen-like sound is the best thing about the two movies (particularly the original one). Michael Paré is hot and mysterious as Eddie Wilson. Tom Berenger is a big personal favorite of mine and definitely in his role as Frank Ridgeway.

3. Ellen Aim and the Attackers. Michael Paré is once again hot, though not too mysterious, as Tom Cody in Streets of Fire. Diane Lane as Ellen Aim is even hotter. Fire Inc. does the musical performances, and the songs were written by Jim Steinman. If you don’t like Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell album, you might not like “Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young.” Get past it… “let the revels begin, let the fire be started, we’re dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted…” what is not to love there?

4. The Monkees. This is where my love for imaginary bands started. I’m sure many other baby boomer females can relate to that love. Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones were pretty much the first made-for-TV-band. I was probably the only girl in my 4th grade class who wasn’t crazy about Davy Jones, though. “Daydream Believer” and “I’m A Believer” still make me smile and yes, are both on my MP3 player.

5. 2ge+her. This was MTV’s send-up of the formulaic boy bands made popular by… hey, how about that, MTV! They were featured in a TV-movie and then a short-lived series. Their actual songs were surprisingly good, in a boy band kind of melodic harmony good, that is. The series was cut short not only by falling ratings, but also the tragic death of 16-year-old cancer survivor Michael Cuccione from respiratory disease. One of the other band members was Kevin Farley, brother of the late Chris Farley, and funny in his own right.