Dog Days

Roswell November 2008

Roswell December 2008

Roswell January 2009... note the glow of evil beginning in the eyes and the smirk she was already practicing at 6 months old.

Love her little heart, but our dog is driving us nuts. She barks like mad the minute anyone buzzes our apartment (think Seinfeld's building) and has a ferocious snarling fit when we have a visitor come in. She barks in the "hey, somebody is out there and I want you to know" tone everytime our neighbor goes in or out their door. This barking doesn't quiet quickly, though, and we worry about how that will fly with the office. Bobby and I have taken turns saying "we just need to get rid of her" while the other says "no, just a little more time". Sydney says we can't because she wants to keep her and "she is the best dog in the entire world." She says she would miss her and, damn it, that kid has a boo-hoo voice that will make you want to take on the world for her. We talked to the trainer at Petsmart today. I am going to try to scrape together the astronomical amoutn for the 8 week class. The trainer says that socialization will help her most of all and maybe we can get a 20.00 coupon. But it is still a hundred bucks...FOR DOG SCHOOL.

(Sidenote: ugh, I have heartburn. jambalaya with chicken, no shrimp, for dinner)

The money wouldn't be too hard to come by if we were getting our deposit back for our old place($415 plus $200 pet). Total B.S there. I cleaned the hell out of the place only to be told, "We still have to clean. The refrigerator is nasty (Uh, no it isn't. The freezer is not wiped out, because I concussed myself while cleaning the fridge and had to borrow ice from the neighbor because my head hurt so bad...and I forgot to clean the freezer) and the carpet is ruined with dog pee (um, another nope)." He says it smells like pee something terrible and the carpet is awful. No, the carpet is awful because it is from the 90s. I know the living room carpet doesn't stink because I laid on it after knocking the crap out of my head in the fridge a week ago while cleaning said dirty apartment. I felt like squatting and taking a leak right there so he would have a reason to complain about pee.

Ah, who am I kidding. I knew we wouldn't get the deposit back. You can just tell some things, you know? There were some scuffs on the wall that had to be painted over and the freezer was dirty (well, not dirty really, just some Popsicle residue and crumbs from some errant chicken nuggets I found when moving out). But, I would eat off the toilet seat, if I were asked to prove my cleaning skills. That house didn't "stink of pee" and if it did, the smell was in the upstairs bedroom where she had a couple of accidents. OH, my question is why did we pay a pet deposit? Wasn't it just for such a situation? And, hell, they charge the tenants a carpet cleaning fee when they move anyway. (which, btw, they never cleaned the guy next door's carpets before renting his place out and he still got charged) The nice lady living there now says she found a few pieces of dried dog poo here and there in a corner. Now what is up with that?? I never saw the landlord agonize over fixing up the place next door as he appeared to be today. The thing is, my carpet is that flat brown stuff. Every neighbor who came in at some point or another in 2 years said "Wow, your carpet looks older than mine. You should ask if they are going to put in the ... " was it Berber, they mentioned? Anyway. I think it was crappy to act like we left a pigsty when I am one of the most clean-freak folks breathing today. Hello! I was in therapy for years for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder! Freaking stress induced cleaning obsession! Argh. Well, water under the bridge and money in their pockets, I guess.

Roswell is sleeping beside Bobby on the bed right now. Bob is doing to work on his laptop and Tiny Trouble is curled up cozy beside him. Oh, how I wish for a big ol' mutt sometimes, but now isn't one if them. She is adorable. We spent some time in the big dog field (its huge!!) training today. Usually she won't respond to food treats outside of the house, but I have found her weakness. Bits of smoked pork from Red Pig BBQ. One small chuck got me through 30 mins of training today. Walk, turn, walk, stop, sit. Focusing on me the whole time. She did great. It was quite warm and when we got back inside, she flopped and napped in the patch of sun in front of the balcony. She has one more walk tonight before it is bedtime and I hope she can do it without threatening to eat one of the neighbors. Cross your fingers.