Nora and smonster! A friend of mine is moving to New Orleans in June for her first residency. Can I hook you guys up?

How old is Cagney? I wonder -- and this is just a wondering -- if there's a bitterant you can rub on forearms to help break the mouthing trend.

He's roughly 11 months and just got neutered this Monday. So. Yeah. Bitter apple may be the next logical step.

At this point, the stuff I was worried about seems sorted, but there are three things that I am just not sure I can 'teach out.'

One completely unexpected thing is an intolerance to heat. It's not even 70 and he seems to be suffering. I figured that his nose was not snubbed enough to be a problem, but I might be wrong.

He did learn the 'give' command pretty easily...in the house that is. Other dogs in the mix and he has no ears for me.

Man, I wish my dad lived in D.C. He would be a perfect dog walker for you guys. Short walks, maybe 1 or 2 clients, but he is an EXCELLENT animal trainer. We have always had Scots and he trained them to everything, with nary a raised voice, and, at the most, a gentle tap on the nose with a finger.

OMG, so do *I*! I'd give anything to get a few, more mature, alpha folks on the payroll to do special needs and individual walks. (And Scotties are a challenge! You go, Dad of E!)

He's got the gift when it comes to animals. Astounded our hillybilly neighbors when he trained our Appaloosa to a hackamore and never used spurs or a whip, and awed them (he didn't hunt much or beat his wife, so they all thought he was a bit of a wuss) when he broke up a Dobie/Rottie dogfight with his bare hands and his voice.

I love my dad.

"...you could have heard a pin drop when Tommy stopped and locked the door."

THANK YOU FOR THAT EARWORM.

Goddammit, Daniel!

Billytea - that was wonderful! I don't know why but hearing kids sing just makes me happy. Thank you for posting it - it will make me smile all day.

bt, that was absolutely adorable! He did a good job of articulating some very difficult words in there! And he was on pitch. Give him a couple years and you can enter him in one of those talent shows.

bonny, glad to hear things are going mostly well. I have complete faith that you'll train Cagney out of the bad habits.

IOmeN, I've been struggling with a sore back and pinched nerve that makes my right forearm sting like I'm being bitten by fire ants. I broke out the heating pad, and that seems to be helping some, because Aleve ain't touching it. If I sit up perfectly straight or stand, I'm fine. So I decided if I had to stand, I would cook. I've currently got a Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake in the oven, but since I've never made it before it is going to be interesting to see the results. I've also done the dishes, taken a 34 min. walk around the neighbor hood and done 20 min. of yoga (just stretching, no fancy stuff). I think it's back to the heating pad and more Doctor Who.

Goddammit, Daniel!

Now you see how I live.

Skippity skipping a lot. Um. Anybody up for playing the productivity game?

Anybody up for playing the productivity game?

I need to clean the bathroom, and I mean ALL of the bathroom which I think needs to be broken down into parts: scrub bathtub, clean toilet, scrub sink, sweep and mop floor. Hopefully NOT scrub floor on hands and knees.

I also need to do dishes and declutter the side table.

So, yeah, I'm in.

(Wait, how do we play the game? Go be productive and report back?)

Anybody up for playing the productivity game?

I'm in, 'cause otherwise I'm gonna sit here and watch tv all day.