food plus dog plus work

It turns out the exact right number of hard-boiled egss needed for an egg-salad sandwich on regular sandwich-sized bread is one and a half. It’s sort of hard to boil half an egg, so I ended up eating half an egg’s worth of egg salad off the plate, where it unceremoniously fell out of my sandwich.

In other news, I’ve been writing all day, doing pretty well at it, and now I’m ready to take a little break. Take one with me! Enjoy, on your break, these photos of Himself.

Watching the street:

Giving me the eye:

Enough with the pictures!

a doggy update

Now that we’re back home, Himself has relaxed back into his normal personality. For much of our Christmas trip to the Angst-in-laws’, he was alternately hyper and subdued, skittish and manic. We’re pretty sure it’s because he thought he was in trouble–no getting on the couches at the Angst-in-laws’, for example–and yet was super excited to have a yard to run around in.

So today he’s been very sweet, and very obedient. He was especially good on his morning walk. I’m glad to see he’s no worse for the wear, and that being home hasn’t been too confusing for him.

[Unfortunately, while on vacation, he picked up a very doggy smell–and I say unfortunately because he had a bath just a week ago! The downside to all that playtime in the yard, I suppose.]

a request

Please, people, for the LOVE OF GOD, keep your animal on a leash when you are outside with him or her. Your dog may be the most obedient little ball of fluff in town, but if he or she gets curious and approaches my dog, who doesn’t really like other dogs, there’s no way for you to get your dog back before my dog reacts and tries to establish his dominance.

(On that note, my dog really needs some training in this area, and we are aware of it and looking into it. But when he’s on a leash and other dogs are on their leashes, I NEVER have problems just scooting past trouble. Which is to say that, other, better trained or more submissive dogs shouldn’t get a free pass just because they are better trained and submissive. Or, rather, their OWNERS should not get a free pass.)

gotta give the dog something to do, too

I bought Himself a Kong toy today, with some peanut-butter-flavored paste. He is completely enthralled. What is this red rubber thing that bounces and has food inside??? He works at it for a while, then sits back and stares at it. If he stares too long, I ask him, “[Himself], where’s your toy?” and he’s back at it.

Amazing how a teaspoon of peanut butter paste and a little bit of rubber can occupy a dog for hours.

so dark. where's the light??

Every year, I mention how much I hate Daylight Savings, how it completely screws up my schedule when the light changes. (I’m equal opportunity, here, too–I hate it in spring AND fall.)

My complaints were obviously made before I got a dog and assumed the morning walk responsibilities. I am so glad that next week, 7:00 am won’t be pitch black anymore

Seriously. You try finding poop on a bed of leaves with only the yellow streetlights to guide you.

dog = perspective

Sometimes all I need is a little dog to remind myself that things really aren’t that bad.

Yes, I was reminded of an assignment due at midnight this morning, and I wasn’t able to get started on it until this afternoon; and yes, I need to be doing research for my comment and actually writing some of the damn thing; and yes, I am about three days behind in my reading for all of my classes.

But I also have a healthy happy dog (who just turned around three times before plopping himself down in the middle of the cushy chair, and I have a yummy dinner in the works, and I have a brand new battery in my computer. I wasn’t really thinking about all those good things today when I thought I was going to completely lose my mind, for thinking of all the work I have to do that I am not getting done. I am now.

That is not to say my stomach doesn’t twinge a little when I realize how busy the next month will be. But I’m hoping if I can get through this semester, next semester will be a little less hairy–and at least I’ll be sort of inoculated to the workload. So for now, I’m going to finish up this assignment and send it on, and then I’ll tackle the next item on the list.

a doggy day

This afternoon, I opened the door to take Himself out for his afternoon walk and came face to face with our upstairs neighbor’s dog.

For background, Himself is not great with other dogs–mostly territorially–and the upstairs dog is also not great with other dogs, though I don’t specifically know what sort of issues he has with other dogs.

As soon as I opened my door, the other dog came towards our apartment, and Himself reacted. The two dogs nipped and snapped at each other, all gnashing teeth and growling, right on my threshold. My neighbor pulled his dog off, and I pulled Himself back inside; my neighbor apologized and asked if Himself was OK and I said he was fine. I closed the door.

[I want to make it clear that I am not blaming the other dog or Himself here; as far as I am concerned, the upstairs dog was either intrigued by our open door or by Himself while Himself was reacting territorially to a large dog coming towards his home.]

Himself was shaking and I noticed a little blood spatter on my wrist. Himself had a little blood on his muzzle, so I led him to the bathroom, where there is good light, and looked him over. He had a spot of blood on the side of his mouth, but it didn’t appear to be bleeding actively, so I figured it was either a very small cut or it was blood from the other dog. I wiped his muzzle, calmed him down, and took him out for his walk. While we were out, I stopped a few times to see if he was OK, and noticed a bit more blood, apparently from his gum. I wondered if he broke a tooth or cut his gum. Our walk was short, because I wanted to get a calmed down Himself back home to check him out further.

Upon returning, I noticed something sitting on the carpet outside our door–a tooth. Himself’s tooth! Himself lost a tooth in the tussle with the upstairs dog! This is what the blood was from–the tooth socket! The whole tooth appears to have fallen out, and it didn’t bleed for more than a few minutes, so I am not TOO concerned. I called my vet and they told me to bring him in tonight, but we’re taking him there in the morning, to board for our out of town trip, so I told her I’d bring him then unless he seemed to be doing badly.

So now I’m sitting at home, Himself curled up next to me, and I’m worried about him. Not about his health–I know he’ll be fine–but about his future behavior. I’m concerned he’ll start having even worse reactions to other dogs (though, while on his walk immediately after the tussle, we passed another dog without any particularly unusual reaction, which is to say Himself pulled a bit, but didn’t growl or lunge).

And, OK, maybe I’m a little worried about his health. What’s up with his teeth that one would fall out during a fight? The vet told us he needs to have his teeth cleaned, but didn’t mention that it was urgent or that Himself’s teeth were in serious condition. But he lost a tooth in an 8-second tussle with another dog!

My evening, understandably, I think, has therefore been a little less than ideal. I thought it would be a good evening–I was very gung-ho to get some work done, I had some really great ideas I wanted to start exploring for my comment, and I thought I might even do some pre-packing for our trip. Instead, I’m sitting on the couch, googling “canine tooth loss” and not finding anything helpful. And being very concerned for Himself, while trying not to act too concerned, such that he would get anxious.

Sigh. The perils of dog ownership. The benefit, of course, is that Himself showers us with so much love.

the cute and the sad

One of the funniest things we do with Himself is blow in his face. I know, it sounds mean. But it’s actually quite cute, because Himself smells whatever-he-smells on our breath and tries to BITE THE AIR. He licks and bites at the air and then stops and rubs his eyes because they’re getting dried out. And then he licks us all over, because he loves us.

In other words, I am so sad that we have to board him this weekend while we make a road trip to see some family (who don’t know we’re coming and therefore can’t give us permission to bring him to their house). I know he will make new friends (well, I hope he will make new friends), and will be loved on by new people, but it doesn’t make me any happier. I will miss my little man this weekend.

weird dog

Himself is a funny guy. He is totally unfazed by the super-loud neighbors (I should say “was” since those guys are long moved out). He barely reacts to the train going by. He doesn’t seem to mind how loud our floors are (squeaky AND clicky-clacky from shoes).

But one thing he does freak out about: whenever I go into the lower cabinets to get my big saute pan out, he runs out of the kitchen. And then he stands about four feet out of the kitchen, watching me, while I pull out the pan (or lid or whatever). I don’t know if it’s the noise, but he doesn’t seem to react until the pans make noise, not when I just open the cabinet door.

So he’s a strange fellow, Himself is. Absolutely adorable. But a strange fellow.

things i don't like about my neighborhood during baseball season

#72: People will throw just about anything on the sidewalks and the grass, including glass bottles, plastic bags, and things my dog likes to eat that will make him sick.