But, like, show dogs are an investment -- they're a business. Their owners love them, I'm sure, but there are breed-standard and financial implications to owning that critter. It's not strictly a pet; it's a pet with subtext.

If you just want a pet to play with, and don't care what it looks like, you're far less likely to select a pet that you know in advance will be prostrated without AC, or who wheezes when it breathes, or who is likely to flop over onto the floor from narcolepsy. All those people who bought Dalmatian puppies because they were cute got rid of them when they realized they're not really suited to be household pets.

I gottta learn to train good recall for Seabiscuit.

I have the sinking feeling that the entire universe is going to irritate me until I get a nap.

just about every school in the county cancelling because of the cold

Except mine, damnit. Stoopid online education. I bet the kids aren't doing any work! Why do I have to?!? pouts

Hippo birdies to the multitudes!

Craxy dog breeders make me sad. For several weeks, I drove past a billboard talking about the eeevils of puppy mills, and I think they found a picture of just about the most pathetic puppy evar. Depressing. Poor little things. And they can end up with all manner of issues.... Man, now I want to go adopt a puppy.

Puppy Bowl made me want to adopt a puppy.

I missed the Puppy Bowl. But the Biscuit did look sympathetically at the screen during the whimpering bits of the dog commercial.

Liese, in that Nature show -- the lady re-training the Beardie started "recall" right beside her. She called him -- when he paid attention -- she rewarded him. Her point? It's impossible to train recall when the dog is heading for the horizon line.

Often people will put a lounge line or laundry line on a dog so that he/she can be grabbed even when they've taken off - you know, until their recall is solid.

Also, not everyone who shows their dog is a breeder. Sometimes you have a dog that you show, for the breeder, but that way you know that the dog you're getting should have more of the characteristics that you are looking for in the breed you've chosen.

There's more to dog breeding than show -- there are obedience and agility trials, as well as more esoteric ones like flyball and dancing.

I've now been on hold with Macy's for over ten minutes, interrupted by a brief moment when I got a "customer service" person, but he couldn't hear me, because I guess we had a bad connection between here and India.

I finally ended up on the phone with someone in Florida, and it turns out this is the same old pain in the ass -- not the people opening up the cards in my name, but a separate thing on the Macy's card that never got cleared up, because apparently they never got some letter back from me that I'm sure I sent, but then they sent the letter saying that to my address from 8 years ago. ISTG.

Now I'm hold again while she tries to transfer me to someone in Ohio.