Thinking about dogs...

   Today has been a "Dog" day. I own (am owned by?) two dogs - Kylie, aka "Lady Shedsalot", aka "Lady K". is my little old lady at age 13 or 14. I adopted her back in June of 2000 from the local Animal Shelter in North Battleford, SK. Because she was a rescue, we've never been 100% sure of her breeds but I think she's a Jack Russell Terrier/Border Collie cross...with perhaps some Whippet thrown in there somewhere. She's always been such a sweet tempered little dog, although she always has been very protective of her people if she gets an "iffie" vibe from someone. For the record, she's never been wrong on that vibe thing. I wish I had her common sense, lol. 

That brings us to Hendrix, our other dog. Hendrix is a purebred English Springer Spaniel (Bench). He's a very handsome 4 1/2 year old fellow who is kind of a dufus. He came to us via my daughter Erin & her family in Edmonton; she'd adopted him from his original owners, and boy oh boy...did he have a LOT of issues. He is a "piddler" and when we first got him, all you had to do was look at him & he'd pee. He was quite passive-aggressive, but within a month or so of having him neutered, he was almost a totally different dog. He's still a total goof-ball of a dog, but just minus the aggression issues. Because he hadn't been raised with children, I've had to work hard with him to overcome his fear of them...fear that had lead him to nip my grandchildren in the past, which is how we ended up with him in the first place. Hendrix is totally unlike Kylie in that I must work with him daily to keep up his training. With Kylie, it's train once, remember forever. Hendrix? Not so much. He also likes to push the boundaries at least a few times a week..."Is mom still the Pack Leader? Whoops, yup! Never mind". It's an ongoing thing with him...but I must say, it's never boring with him around!

   Speaking of Hendrix, he's taught himself a new trick; and it's one that has me less than amused! He's suddenly discovered that he can "cruise" the counters in the kitchen. Not really a huge issues, if you don't mind dog slobber & missing food...which I do! Now, I know quite a few tricks to train this nasty habit out of a dog, but Hendrix is being very sneaky about it. In order to discourage him from counter surfing, I have to be able to catch him at it...and other than once the other day, I just haven't been able to quite catch him at it in time, arugh! Because of his personality, my plan is to try the "Can of Pennies" trick on him. Basically, it's just a matter of hiding out of his sight and when he goes to surf the counter, I shake the hell out of the can of pennies! It's worked for me many times before in the past, but to do it, I have to be able to catch him at it...which I have thus far been unable to do other than the one time. Hopefully that one dose of the noisy can will be enough, but I somehow doubt it. He's far, far too smart for that, I'm afraid.
   I made a point the last couple of days of making sure he had some chew toys available, to discourage him from looking elsewhere for mental stimulation...which is all this new behavior is, really. I haven't been feeling terribly well this week, so he hasn't been getting his daily walks that he normally gets. Because of that, he's got an excess of energy, and that's what gets doggies in trouble. This doggy in particular! He's been working hard on a rawhide chew toy for the past two days, so he's sort of left the counters alone...but I doubt that's permanent. The moment that chew-toy is gone, counters here we come! Ah well...if nothing else, he keeps me on my toes. One cannot truly say that life is boring with Hendrix around, lol.
   I deeply enjoy working with my dogs...it's very rewarding for me, and it's important to me to have a safe, well trained and people friendly dog. I've seen far too many animals with irresponsible owners out there! Case in point? One of our next door neighbors. They have two dogs, and one of them just drives me totally batshit crazy! All this little fur-ball does is bark...all day, every day. Now, on one level I know that the critter is just bored out of it's mind which is why it barks the way it does. Nobody seems to ever do anything with it, never mind actually walk or train him! He gets almost zero interaction with his own people (they both work), and although there's another dog for company, the other is a very old fellow. Now that one? He's got manners, I have to give him that! You hardly ever hear anything out of the yappy one's companion....other than his complaining at the squirrels that seem to live to torment him, poor old guy. Other that the occasional yip or two at the squirrels, or perhaps the garbageman on Wednesday mornings, you never hear from him. I actually feel sorry for the poor old guy...all that barking's got to get on his nerves too!
   I really don't know exactly what to do. I've spoken at length with both the owners quite a few times about the problem, but they just don't seem to either care or be willing to put any work into their dog. I've even gone so far as to offer to work with their dog for them for free, (not something I normally ever do), but they've refused. And yes...I put it nicely (I can just hear my kids asking that question, lol). Short of complaining to the town about the noise, I don't know what else to do! 
...I'm beginning to wonder if that dog is the reason the lady that we bought this house from moved! She suffered from migraine headaches, same as I do, and I must say...the incessant, "Bark-bark-bark-bark" from next door is SO not helpful when in the grip of a migraine! Hmmm...no wonder we got this place so cheap!

And we begin...

To blog, or not to blog...that is the question! And boy...is it ever. I've often wondered if anything I had to say, think, share, etc. would be interesting enough for other people to read. Due to low self-esteem, I didn't think it was really something I'd ever do: who on earth would read it, after all?! But I've come to realize, thanks to much love and support by my beloved family & friends that maybe, just maybe I might actually have something to say that people would actually want to read! Wow!

So! I've decided to give this whole 'blog' thing a try. Don't know if I'll ever have anything interesting enough for anyone else to bother reading, but if nothing else it'll give me something to do to fill the hours, right? Right! Why the name, you ask? Trust me...when you get to know my life, you'll get it. Until then let's just say "it works" and leave it at that for now.

I guess perhaps some introductions are in order? I'm Wendy...a 43 year old Canadian woman of Irish/Scots roots. I'm engaged to be married to a pretty terrific guy, my very own 6 foot Redneck, whom I call "Old Guy" or "O.G.". Old Guy & I have known each other most of our entire lives. The first memory of each other that stands out for both of us happened when I was just 6 years old...and O.G. rescued me. You see, I was being harassed & picked on by the neighborhood bully - he was 9 or 10 years old, and at least a foot taller then I. Now, I was a pretty tough kid: the youngest child in my family, with 2 older brothers (who also loved to pick on me!), so I had learned how to cope. For the most part.

Regardless of all that, it seems that particular day I was having an "off" day. In a nutshell? It'd sucked. Don't remember why exactly, just remember that this bully just topped off a really cruddy day. So...there I was, being taunted & pushed around by this big, obnoxious kid. He was really giving me the gears...and was apparently having a ball pushing me down on the cement sidewalk just up the block from our house. I remember trying so hard not to cry, but fear was making that quite difficult. I was literally terrified! I couldn't get my feet under me, each time I tried to get up he'd just push me right back down. The cement was hot & dry under me, and I remember how rough it felt. My hands were quite badly scraped up, as were both my knees.

Just when I'd about given up & was ready to just lie down and have a really good cry, I suddenly heard this voice saying, "So...you like to pick on little girls do you?". And without any warning, the bully was abruptly flat on his face on the ground next to me! I stared at the bully, my mouth agape and then this hand was thrust in front of my face, "C'mere hon, let me help you up". He picked me up off the ground & dusted me off carefully. I remember thinking, "WOW! He's TALL!". O.G. did a quick check of my hands & knees; he got this really angry look on his face. I was a little nervous, thinking perhaps I'd done something wrong (bleed on him or something?!), but he quickly assured me he wasn't upset with me, and that perhaps I'd best run along the rest of the way home. I didn't need to be told twice. I was on my way in a flash, but about half-way down the block I stopped to take a quick peek behind me.

All I could see was O.G. repeatedly pushing the bully down onto the sidewalk. He kept saying, "So you like to push down little girls do you? How do YOU like it? Huh? How do YOU like to be pushed around? Is it fun? Are you going to do that to her again?!". And that was it...I had a serious case of hero worship for him for many years afterwards.

Life took us both down our own paths, and eventually we lost track of each other. We reconnected following the tragic & unexpected death of his wife. With both of us now single, (and him totally lost as a single dad with a 5 year old daughter & teenage son) eventually the inevitable happened...after some serious chasing of me on his part that is, lol. I'd two failed marriages under my belt by then, and was quite happily single. Had been for many years...I'd dated on and off over the previous 8 years, but hadn't gotten into anything terribly serious, and was most certainly not looking for husband #3! But, he was quite persistent...one thing about this fellow: once he's made up his mind, that's it. And apparently I was "it", lol.

...and guess what? He was still my hero...and initially, he was still rescuing me. But more on that part another time.

We've been engaged now for almost 9 years....yeah, I know: Long engagement. That's my fault - I've still got some commitment issues I'm working though. Luckily, he's a patient man. He's also very accepting...which is good, considering the fact that I'm not just a commitment-phobe....I'm also a Psychic. Yes, honestly...psychic.

Got your attention now, don't I?!