Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

Random dog-related thoughts

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Because I just don’t have enough to say about any one thing today.

  • I thought it would be cute to teach “stop, drop, and roll” to the dogs for National Pet Fire Safety Day, which is Thursday, July 15. “Stop” and “drop” were no problem since they already know the moving stand, down in motion, and drop on recall. But who knew that “roll” would not be quite so easy to teach, especially to dogs who roll each other daily while wrestling? Thursday is not looking good, but maybe we’ll be ready for National Fire Prevention Week in October!
  • I just realized that if Axel might actually be a stud dog one day, I need to put together a packet with his photos, pedigree, health certificates (I know, I know: cardiac and DNA), and other “credentials.” Finally, one of those rare moments in the dog game where my print production background is going to be useful! Axe is not holding his breath since he still has only a gallery and no real website.
  • Speaking of Axe, we were watching Backdraft the other day. More specifically, I was watching Backdraft while Axe and Freya were napping nearby. Someone on screen said, “Hey, Axe” (one of the characters in the movie) and Axe the Rottweiler picked his head up, looked around sleepily, and resumed his nap. Okay, maybe you had to be there.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 12 of 31)

Oliver and the great outdoors

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Even though we live right near the edge of the city in a barely-urban residential neighborhood, there’s still enough traffic on our street that I’d never be comfortable with having any of our cats running completely loose outdoors. While Annie doesn’t appear to have any desire to either go outside or interact with the dogs, Oliver always seems very disappointed when the dogs go out in the yard without him. He’d watch them through the window, or if we accidentally left the kitchen door open, he’d stand up on his hind legs and try to watch them through the storm door.

At first, an enclosed cat playground seemed like a great idea, despite the stratospheric prices. I still think that, especially in the larger configurations, it would be a safe place for Oliver to have fun outside. Or at least, it would be fun until Axel decided to mark the playground and the kitty inside. High price is one thing I might be able to get past, but giving the dog the opportunity to pee on the captive cat? Deal breaker!

So it’s back to the cheaper and probably more logical plan of a harness and leash. Notice I didn’t say easier. An attempt to harness-train Oliver as a kitten didn’t go particularly well, even though I suspect we just gave up too quickly. For this attempt, I bought a Coastal Size Right harness in the largest size available (12″-18″) and a 6′ lead for a total of about $8.

This time, it didn’t go too badly. Oliver’s attempts to bite me were half-hearted and didn’t even draw blood. He did try to wriggle out of the harness at first, but he gave up much more quickly than I expected. Like most cats, he doesn’t really walk on leash. He mostly just sits or stands there and moves only when an approaching dog or dog toy requires him to do so.

He was a bit overwhelmed at first, but now that we’re a few days into it, he does seem to enjoy being out in the fresh air and sunshine with his Rottweiler siblings.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 11 of 31)

Reading, not writing

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I spent the evening reading instead of writing since I have an e-book that’s due back to the library in just a couple of days. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson, combines cryptography, geek culture, and World War II vintage historical fiction into a very long, but still readable and enjoyable mix of past and present stories. I hope I can renew it if I have to. I read pretty fast, but it is really long.

I want to do a proper review of my Sony Reader, now that I’ve been using it regularly for a couple of months. I should also do a full review of Cryptonomicon once I’m done with it since it does fit in both the “Computers” and “World Domination” categories here!

I also have two murder mystery novels to review. Who knew there were not just one, but several, murder mysteries featuring at least one Rottweiler in a non-killing role? Not me, until very recently! Look for my take on Rottweiler Rescue: a mystery for dog lovers by Ellen O’Connell, and Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton in the near future.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 9 of 31)

Almost an actual dog training post

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You’ll remember that training hasn’t been going so well for Freya and me. We haven’t been doing very much training except for our minimum daily requirements of sit, down, stand or some combo thereof before meals. This is partly because I was debating about doing a thyroid panel, then doing it and waiting for the results. Also, partly because we both need a break from anything negative, and training and trialing were definitely becoming pretty negative.

I still try to keep up daily with the various dog training blogs in my feed reader. I read several agility blogs. Even though I have almost no interest in ever participating in agility myself, I have a lot of interest in some of the training methods discussed.

The last several posts on Susan Garrett’s agility training blog have been about recalls. Now there is something that the dogs and I definitely need work on. In fact, that is something that most people would (or should) admit needing to work on with their dogs. I’m still working through them, but the posts themselves as well as everyone’s insightful comments and questions are giving me a lot of food for thought.

Check it out if you want to see what I’m reading! Start out with Relationship Truce and go from there.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 8 of 31)