I'm sorry for the puzzling behavior, bonny. I figure if anyone can figure him out, you can. The question is, do you want to invest that much in a dog that may not ever be simpatico?

This question is burning in my heart, Beverly. I just don't know. And I don't have a particularly good feeling about it.

I wish I'd been a Buffista when I first had Bartleby, so that folks could remind me of what we went through. I know it wasn't all good, by any means, but I can't remember enough to know if it was this hard.

When he's great, he's great, but MAN, when he's not he's more than a few hands full.

sj, fortunately, Cagney loves all people. Except for the homeless fellow who has lived on my street for the last 20 years and is now in a wheelchair. His barking and posturing at the chair is stressful and embarrassing.

Our last training session is today, and I'm thinking about opting for something I said I would never do again, but I feel like it would satisfy my 'Did I do everything I could' need.

Congressional Cemetery is a symbiotic dog park. 30 acres, fully fenced, with water stations and strategically placed rubbish bins. I'm thinking about re-upping my membership there to see if crazy exercise over the next two years would help.

It is expensive...$250 per year...ouch...but part of it is a charitable donation and the fees help to defer the $90,000 charge each and every time it is mowed. Seriously, 30,000 headstones, many of them centuries old, need specialized care.

It is inconvenient...1.2 miles from my no-car-having ass. Still the 4 mile walk 4 or 5 times a week wouldn't hurt that ass.

I don't love all the people involved, but it is a much healthier physical environment than any of the other dog parks near us.

The massive upside is there are strict rules about aggressive dogs and Cagney can run himself ragged without me having to worry about him getting lost.

That, and maybe some group classes. It's all I can think to do at this point.

The truck is almost full and there is still more to put in it.

Oh, my office. You so crazy. Every month we order out to celebrate the birthdays in that month. And every month, we get an e-mail telling us what restaurant, telling us a menu will be circulating soon so we can order, and the birthday lunch will be at noon on such-and-such day.

And every month, noon on birthday lunch rolls around, and the people in charge of collecting our money and getting the food still haven't even come to get our money. We all know the promise of eating at noon is a lie, so why keep telling us that every month?

Chatty!co-worker and I usually bet on the *actual* time that we'll get to eat. Since it's just about noon right now, and no money has been collected yet, my bet is on 1:15.

And I am so hungry I am about to eat my hand.

Andi, and Daniel, I said it on Facebook, but it bears repeating: SO happy for you!

Thank you again, and to all. We are once more basking in Buffista love.

Brackets and other punctuation for you, sj.

Okay, it's almost 12:45 and no one has come around to collect money for our "noon lunch." People are starting to get pissed.

The move is going well but taking longer than we hoped. We still have to go back to the apartment tonight and empty some closets. I only slept about 3 hours last night and am ready to fall down.

{{{SJ}}} hope it goes well.

Bonny, could it be the wheel chair that is setting him off? I know my crutches gets dogs barking sometimes.

Tep, if you ever meet my mom, she has a whole rant about junk like that. Also, non-Buffista Secret Santa and etc. Ha...I get a "Justified" toaster. Which will either blow up in my face, or dispense bourbon, I can't decide, but Fandom Friend has agreed to start watching. Paradoxically, at times like that, I feel a little closer to my Mormon ancestors, even if they spread LDS doctrine and I read about the Church of The Cool and Beautiful JC.(if there was a real one I'd so go, best name ever) (She's worried her DH won't like it...it's hard to imagine he would not...maybe he's a Documentary Guy.

Love you, amyth.

All my extra spoons are belong to you, sj.

Cagney!! Chill, son!

I know a lot of dogs who have fear responses to wheelchairs, strollers, etc.