Meandering Maunderings

So, awhile back we took Kyle to a Rabble Rouser class- the instructor was Janet Smith. Wonderful trainer, we learned a lot from her. We actually saw her at the dog park the other day - and she recognized Kyle as "Oh it's Crazy Dog!" yeah... On the other hand, he does do a good 'Crazy can't focus must RUN!!! DOGS!!' impression when we first get to the park.

The point- I'm still on her e-mail list and she's sent info on alldoggedup.com. There are nifty pins and t-shirts. Personally I like the Three Hot Bitches logo they've got. Plus the 'Alpha Bitch is Redundant,' 'I am not a Barbie Dog' and 'YOU rollover!' pins. :)
http://www.alldoggedup.com/buttons.html




Kyle has made some new friends at the dog park- including Sunny a 4 month old great dane puppy. Sunny is *already* taller than Kyle. He's gonna be huge. What's fun at the moment though is watching him run... see, he's got the puppy klutz thing goin' on. I also got to meet Bear, a 4 year old Eskie. I told his people that I was in love and offered to trade. They didn't seem to keen on the idea though. Oh well, they were still nice guys.

Last night Kyle got in a TON of running. Some people I met on a yahoo group were there- including a slightly large lab mix named Jalopy- isn't that a great name for a dog? So Jalopy, Sam, Loki, and Kyle all played tag. Every once in awhile we'd add a new dog to the group. It was fun. Not too chilly last night as long as the people kept moving, and the dogs barely stopped moving- so they were fine. We also didn't pause by the water - so fewer dogs tried to swim.

Was fun! And I so enjoy the after-park time when Kyle is so tired he can't run around the apartment- he just sits around looking happy. :)

Bleah, tired today. (okay, someday I really should go back and check to see how many of my psots start that way...) Hubby had a presentation to prepare, and was dragging his feet something fierce, last night. Which meant that I ended up staying up too late so that I could provide microsoft answers. (even though he was actually using OpenOffice programs...)

In other news... went to a baby shower for my cousin on Saturday, drove over with SIL B. She and I have never spent very much time together - as just the two of us. So that was actually new, and really neat. Way back when she and my brother got together I kinda got the impression she didn't like me- mostly because she never talked to me. I think now that she and I are just both kinda shy at times and we take awhile to open up to people. (well in person anyway. ;) ) So now we've been hanging out a lot more (usually as a foursome) so we've been talking more- and this is cool. I no longer thinks she dislikes me. ;)

Saw several cousins that I wasn't expecting to see- which was great. Didn't have a whole lot of time to talk to them, but what little there time I did have was entertaining. My 14-year old second cousin (? child of a first cousin) showed me the names she had picked for her future child. I just smiled as I read them and thought they were neat- and made a passing comment how she may change her mind. (Dunno about any of you, but I wouldn't want to give my child middle names that included Chaos or Confusion...)

Sunday was obedience class. Kyle did pretty well, though he has decided that little Ella IS his girlfriend, and he wanted to make babies. Sadly, both are lacking the necessary bits. He was not happy about being pulled off her. Brat. Achilles the mastiff was just as placid as ever. He did come somewhat alert when food was offered. The class worked on 'loose leash walking' of course when the instructor took Kyle out to see how he did- he was lovely. Then she left and he went back to being himself. Walks are now more often 'step, step, stop. step, step, step, stop.' But I think we're making improvements. He still REALLY wants to greet other dogs though. He scared two puppies at PetSmart, they didn't want to say hello at all. Today he met one that didn't go so well. Hackles were raised and hubby and the other dogs owner pulled the boys apart before they got into it. I used to be really nervous about that- but as I watched today, I could tell that they weren't getting along and that letting them stay so close (on leash) was just going to ask for trouble. So I'm reading the interactions better, which gives me more confidence in deal with him and the matter of other dogs.

Ah well, live and learn, isn't that what they say? :) Going to go home now- try to say cool since it's way too friggin hot outside.

Except it's not, but it is and...

Yeah, very, very tired. Was up early yesterday and then stayed up very late. I had to finish my application, resume modification, and cover letter for the library job. Husband insisted. For which I am quite grateful (all had to be in to the library by 5 pm today). This was all done by 1 am (mostly because up until the evening I had procrastinated and didn't have much done), when the panic tried to set in- my new sexy Dylan does not have the right bits to connect to my printer! So there could be no printing. Hyperventilating may have taken place were the husband not there to keep me calm. In the end the final decision was for me to load things onto my flash drive and print the documents out at work. This was accomplished and the materials faxed in! :) So yay. Sleepy yay, but yay nonetheless.

Yesterday was also a trip to the parents' house with Good Dog Kyle. He quite impressed my parents with his gentleman-like behavior. :) He was also pretty good in the car, it took him awhile to settle down in the backseat, and we'll likely buy him a seat belt harness thing, but for yesterday he was fine. Fairly exhausted when we got home too, not so much that he didn't sneak his treats out of my purse... See, we brought some treats with us, and then didn't give him all of them. After we got home he pulled the baggie from my purse and into his crate he went to eat them all. Brat. At least the remains were in his crate. So far that's really the only thing he's done 'wrong' I think I can live with this.

In cat news- there's much improvement. :) Pan Cat is back. Which really, really made the hubby and I happy. Leo is still skittish around Kyle, but he's not just hanging out in his room anymore. He's taken his meal-time place on the organizer again- also a relief. So all around things are just calming down bit by bit. Not bad for Kyle only having been there one week. :)

Have I mentioned I'm really, really tired today? Oh, and it's Monday- right?

The Nelson household has a new member, Kyle. Kyle is a one year old lab/chow mix, and possibly the sweetest puppy boy ever. He can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/r8efh (oh, focus on the picture on the left, it's more representative of him).

Isn't he cute?! He's a lover/snuggler. As of yet he has shown absolutely no interest in toys of any kind (save the one cat toy he pulled the feathers off of). We're thinking this may change as he gets used to being here- he was in the shelter for nearly a month. And we've already signed him up for basic obedience classes- with the hubby and I both participating. :)

In cat news- Sasha is instructing Kyle in his place in the household, and Leo is sticking to the high ground as he has no CLUE how to deal with this newcomer.