Ears

Lewis P. Wellington has a nasty ear infection.   I noticed it right away and brought him to the vet, but it's since gotten worse. So today we upped the meds in the hope that he's feeling better soon.

There's a lesson in this for me.   Lewis is groomed every month by an excellent groomer.  She's been doing my dogs for 20+ years with very few problems, but unfortunately she is human.  It appears that she missed plucking the hair in one of Lewis' ears on the last groom.  One ear was good and hair-free, but the other (the one with the infection) had clumps of hair growing in it. 

The lesson for me, is that (as somebody who is learning to groom Gemma myself) ears are important!  You have to stay ahead of them - and apparently do them often -  or the dog suffers.

Ears are hard for me.  I'm scared I'll stab Gemma in the brain with the hemostat when she moves around, so I've been cleaning weekly and getting help from other groomers to do the plucking once every two or three weeks.   I think that after this, I'll work harder on getting more comfortable doing it myself, and keeping on top of it every week.

Stretch

It makes me happy that she hasn't grown out of this pose (yet).

Cold night in

It's -30C outside tonight, and predicted to get colder before it warms up.  If you need us, we'll be under a blanket on the couch, with a fire roaring.

Location scouting

Every week since Gemma came home, I take a picture of her with Lewis on the stairs of the back deck and post it on Facebook.  It's been fun to watch her grow from smaller than Lewis to 4 times his size, and now each picture shows her getting lighter and lighter in colour.

Unfortunately, the lighting is getting harder to deal with as winter settles in.  The sun is directly behind the stairs in the mornings, the light reflects off the snow and gives the pictures a blue tinge in the afternoon, and it's dark in the evenings.  So, I have been thinking about shooting the pictures in another spot.

I took this one last night.  It didn't work out so well - I had to use a filter to clean up the colour again because there was too much of a red tinge.

I swear, Apple used to let us adjust the white scale in pictures between blue and red, but now it just intensifies and reduces the colours.  I guess what this means is that using my cheap point and shoot camera or my iphone won't work.  I'll have to bust out the good camera, and make those adjustments before I take the shot.

Colour Changes

I'm learning about the poodle colour thing as I go here.  I can hardly picture her as a light dog, but I'm told that's what she'll become in the next year or so.  She's my third standard poodle, but my first two were black or blue.  (Tallulah was blue... which I didn't even know while she was alive.  Blue poodles get white/grey hairs mixed in with her black hair at about 3 years old... too young for it to be a reflection of their age, but they definitely have a sprinkle of grey worked into their black.)

Gemma is a silver standard poodle; a poodle that's born black but lightens up in their first year or two.  She's expected to be a platinum silver girl, which is the term used to describe a very light silver dog... hard to believe, considering how dark she is today.

I'd pay a lot of money to roll out of bed and have a head of hair that looks that good.  

Somehow, I've never managed to make my curls work for me.  They always seem to want to fight me.

And here's why they're called "silver" instead of just grey... they glow.

This is the poof around her ankle, which appears to be changing first.  

Right now, it looks medium-dark grey from the outside, but if you dig down to the skin it's getting a lot lighter.

One of each

Winter the cat, napping in his pod.  (Black and White will cover a lot of flaws in photography.)

The view behind me today, as I worked...

And the wee beastie, trying to entice me to go for a walk at the end of the work day.

Sunbathing with Lewis

The Pod

Winter loves his "Pod".  The Pod is a tacky plastic footstool-ish thing that is designed to look like a knitted poof.  There's a bed inside with a cat/small dog sized entrance on one side.   Most importantly, it's poodle-proof.


Sort of.

Back again

Well, hello strangers.  It's me again.  I've been looking for a place to post photos for a while (I suspect people are getting sick of me posting so many on Facebook and Instagram hasn't clicked for me), so I figure I'll post pics here.  I expect there will be more pics of pets than nattering from me, but I do like to natter.

So... a quick summary of what's been going on...

• Same house.  Same job.  Same car.
• Single again... not looking.
• Winter is 17 years old and still believes he rules the world.
• Lewis is 3 1/2 now.  He's a super easy going, mellow dude that I think of as my little hippie.
• I lost Tallulah last year after she had a series of strokes.  It broke my heart, and thinking of her still makes me weepy.
• I couldn't live long without a poodle in my life so in July I adopted Gemma, a silver standard poodle.  She was born to be a therapy dog, which is what we are working towards.  

Gemma was born black, but will be a very light grey when she is mature.   She's really quite striking now with the silver face and feet and black body, but I can't wait to see how she turns out when she lightens up.

Lewis; my metrosexual boy.  He loves to be combed and groomed, so I'm growing his hair out to the show cut.  It isn't easy to keep a short white dog clean, but he's game to try.

My pictures of Winter have been archived, but I'm sure I'll have more to post soon. 

Impulse Purchase

Tallulah has at five full-sized dog beds in the house.  All of them are big enough for her to stretch out on her own, or curl up with the wee beastie.  The two dogs often share beds, so it never occurred to me that Lewis might need or want his own bed.

I'm not sure what I was thinking last night  - this was a complete impulse purchase - but something tells me it's a hit.

These (quick - low quality) shots were taken at various times throughout the day today.

Apparently, Lewis wanted a bed of his own.

Training

Lewis P Wellington and I had our first session with the trainer.  She was nice, and I liked the way her focus was on looking for behaviour I'd find acceptable vs perfection.  (eg - All I need is for him to walk on a loose leash beside me, rather than demanding a perfect heel to my left.)

As expected, Lewis was a little over eager when it came to the possibility of getting Treats.  We only had to ask for and reward a behaviour two or three times before he started offering it... you'd think I never fed the dang puppy.  It's kind of hard to practice recall when he won't move more than 2 feet from me when I have food, so we worked together.  We ran around the basement and called him back and forth between us, celebrating and rewarding each time.  For practice this week I'm to get a 30' line and take him out to a park so that he (hopefully) gets distracted from the food in my pockets and wanders far enough from me that I can call him back.

When I first contacted her, I said a priority was teaching Lewis to LeaveTheCatAlone!   He's been getting a lot better, but as the trainer left she declared that we had work to do on that and would be focusing on it next week.

Incognito

Snip

My little man-dog, who had just returned from the vet where he made the Big Sacrifice in the name of social responsibility, immediately went outside and pointedly sat in the snow.

He's ok, though...  a little wobbly but mobile and none too pleased.

Lewis

Lewis P. Wellington is reaching his 5th month on Wednesday.  He's got missing teeth, loose teeth and a few chew marks where they don't belong to show for the new replacements that are coming in.  Even so, he's a keeper.

He's housetrained now, and knows his rudimentary commands.  He can sit, lie down and come to me when I call.  I haven't worked on "stay", so I won't judge him that he can't do that.  He can, however, do an excellent imitation of a zombie when the mood strikes him. He stands on his hind legs, lifts his front legs up over his head and growls as he walks towards me- it's terrifying, I tell you.

Today I introduced the collar... again.  We've tried them off and on, almost from day one, but he doesn't like them.  Instead, I use a vest-style harness to take him for walks.  However, he'll be coming with me soon to BC to visit my sister and her boys, and he needs tags for that.  So, the collar is back on.  The weight must be oppressive, because he lies down for hours with his chin flat on the floor until I take it off.

He's gravity challenged... not that gravity won't hold him down, but in that he's seemingly unaware of it.  He climbs, jumps, dives and rolls as though he's got no concept of it, or fear of landing.

This week, after what seemed like forever, he became a lap dog and started to ask to lie on my lap.  Finally, after almost six weeks, I get to sit down for more than 2 minutes and relax.

Radio Silence isn't so bad in some ways...

I still haven't heard from the contractor.  Odd, because radio silence was the one thing he promised he wouldn't do to me if I hired him.  Huh.

Oh well, at least there's no deadline for this project, so I guess it doesn't matter when it gets done.  It's hot and humid this week... the kind of hot and humid that makes it hard to sleep... and I keep telling myself that this time next year I'll be able to work and hang out (possibly sleep on a couch) in a nice cool basement.

Also, I'm trying to pick my battles.  If I don't nag about being here all the time, hopefully he'll be more receptive when I go all OCD on him over other things.

I am back to the drawing board with lighting.   I wanted a chandelier in one corner.  I was leaning towards a whimsical, mobile-like fixture that had frosted glass bubbles hanging from it, but couldn't find pendants for above my desk to go with it.  I had a few other chandelier options in mind, but could never seem to find pendants that went with any of them.

Then I found these pendants, and the angels did sing.  They don't go with any of the chandelier options I had in mind, but I've decided that these are the pendants I have to have, so now I need to start over with all the other lights.

One of these will hang on either side of my monitors, over the built-in desk.

(psst, those are loose crystals at the bottom of the glass)

And then, after all that, I realized last week how low the ceilings are.  With all the natural light that shines in there, I never caught on to how low the ceilings are; but for some reason, the boob guy who built this house made the ceilings only 7'9" in the basement.   So chandeliers won't work unless I want to frequently bonk my head.   Like I said before, back to the drawing board.

Tonight, the dogs are taking an unscheduled nap.  In another room.  I can't sit for 5 minutes without jumping up and dealing with one pet or another lately. Tallulah won't stop barking at Lewis.  It's a friendly "we're playing and having so much fun!" bark, but it's been going on for days and she won't stop.  And, she's bloody loud about it too.  If I split them up, I have dogs on either side of whatever door is keeping them apart, scratching and whining to let them play.  If that wasn't enough, Winter is mad at the world, hissing and spitting aggressively at the dogs every chance he gets and needing to be separated.  I know there are all kinds of training tricks to deal with these things, but the truth is I'm tired.  I just want it to stop, without any effort on my part.  

On top of that, the dogs keep wanting to go outside.  They are like bobbsey twins, so wherever one goes, the other follows... but they haven't synchronized their potty schedules, so they're in and out like yoyos.  I'd be OK with them hanging out outside, but there is a pair of gigantic crows that moved in nearby and who keep looking at Lewis like he's lunch.  He's doing so well at his house training, I feel like I have to let him outside when he asks to go out; but the crows mean I have to go with him until he gets a little bigger.  

It look me three hours to watch a 1 hour tv show last night.  So, tonight the dogs are in their crates, Winter is somewhere else - away from the dogs - and I'm giving serious thought to getting a spray collar to see if that will convince Tallulah to play quietly.  

And a scarecrow.  Apparently, I need a scarecrow.

What's up

In renovation news, although the primary reason why I decided to finish the basement room was to make space for the Boy when he moved in, I've decided to do it anyway without him.   I'm looking forward to having a dedicated place that's larger than a shoebox to work in each day.  The contractor was supposed to start today, but today's a holiday so I wasn't surprised when he was a no-show.  I'm guessing he'll be here tomorrow, or we'll have to have a talk.

These are the before pictures... it's basically an unfinished basement, but I thought it'd be fun to keep a photographic record of the progress.

From the stairwell, the left hand wall and door will be opened up in the foyer.  The floor will be changed out on the basement level of the foyer (the stairs won't change) to match the brown porcelain tiles that will go down throughout the basement... haven't decided what pattern it'll be laid in yet.

This is pretty much half of the basement.  We'll be finishing 2/3 of what you see here.  

A wall will go in at the far end of the little bump out on the right.  That wall will go all the way to the other side of the room on the left, closing it off, and will be floor to ceiling bookshelves.  There will be a window built into that wall, to avoid blocking off all the light that comes from the window at the end.  ... And we're mulling over possibilities for a hidden door amongst the bookshelves for untraditional access to the room behind it (which will be finished at a later date).

The bump out on the right will be my new office area, with a built-in desk and shelves.

This view is from me standing where the wall of bookshelves will be, looking forward.  The bump out/office area is to the left now, stairs to the right.  I am planning a sectional couch in that front area, with the tv on the front wall.  I know what couch I want (a down sectional) but I don't have plans to buy it right away.... maybe in the new year.

In other news, the wee beastie is growing like a weed.  He's trouble and he's bad; but he's all sorts of cute so I suppose I'll keep him.  I like the shaggy look, so I comb him every day, brush his teeth/clean his face most days (to prevent the goopy eyed look he's got in that first picture), and give him a bath every week.  He's *almost* house trained, and he's *almost* leash trained.  He can sit on command, and knows to come to me when I call (but isn't quite 100% reliable yet.)  I've been teaching him to lie down on command, but I've also been teaching him to shake his paw and to imitate a zombie.   He's quick, but not nearly as quick to pick up new commands as Tallulah was.  I think maybe he's getting confused by learning the three new commands at once, so - as cute as the zombie is - we will be focusing on his lying down on command until he masters that and then moving on to the funner tricks.

Teaching Moment

Calm Before the Storm

Lewis seems to get a burst of energy in the evenings.    Tonight he came with us on Tallulah's nightly walk and walked 2-3 blocks (not altogether) and then came home to rumble.    This has been going on for about two hours.

I suspect he'll sleep well tonight.

Welcome Home

After a long day yesterday, I picked up Lewis and we drove home.  He cried for less than a minute before curling up and going to sleep.  He slept through a couple of big rain storms, and in me getting lost on an unintended detour.  After a couple of hours, he woke up and cried a little so I pulled over and took him out for a pee.  The gravel road where we stopped had too many sights and smells, though, and he was too distracted.  So, we loaded back into the car and came home without any complaints.

The Boy met me here, so that I could have a second set of hands while I introduced Lewis and Winter for the first time.  I figured things would go fine, and they did.  After the initial few sniffs, Winter thundered up and down the room with Lewis in hot pursuit.  Winter could easily have jumped onto a couch or other furniture to get away, but mostly chose not to.

This morning, having a constant shadow and tail nipper might be getting a little bit old, because he's told Lewis off a few times.  Both are back at it within moments again anyway, though.

Surprisingly, Lewis slept through the entire night.  Again, he cried for a minute or so when I put him in the crate, but settled down quickly.  I thought he'd have me awake at least a few times, but I actually woke up before he did in the morning.

Tallulah comes home to meet him in a few hours.  I am not at all worried about her being aggressive towards him, but considering his size, I am a little worried she'll overwhelm him with bounce.  We'll see.  She's used to having a small dog around (just not quite this small).


I am no cinematographer, but here's a sample of the cute:

School

School and I don't generally get along.  We never have.  There's a reason why I studied English in university and then Accounting at college, only to end up in a process management role in IT.  Book learning isn't for me - I'm much better at learning 'on the job'.  Unfortunately, some formal education is necessary to prove that I know what I know.  For example, I need a certificate proving that I know all there is to know about change management because I am a change manger.  Otherwise, people would think I make stuff up when I make then follow a particular process or prove that they've met specific requirements before approving their changes.  They'd be sure I do it for no other reason than to contribute to the government bureaucracy that we all marinate in every day.   I suspect they do anyway. Funny the way these things work...

I used to have a certificate in ITIL change management, but then ITIL came out with a newer version and I had to start all over again.  (ITIL is a set of best practices for running an IT shop - it's pretty much based on common sense, but they use old words assigned to knew definitions.)

Reading this stuff is dryer than dirt.  I can (and frequently do) happily pound back 100 pages in a book in one sitting.  Those are fiction, though, and written with entertainment in mind rather than delivery of information.  For the ITIL books, entertainment isn't even on the radar.  It takes me about an hour to read 10 pages, and even then I think I only retain about 25%.

This week has been dedicated to working my way through a 260 page book.  Next week is the class, for which reading the book is a prerequisite, and then the exam.   The exams are designed with the intension of most people failing.  (Really, they've made the questions so complicated that I don't think that the ability to pass the exam has anything to do with one's knowledge of the class content, but that's a whole other rant.)  Please, God, let me pass the exam.

It'll all be over on next Friday afternoon, assuming that I pass.  Friday evening, I drive south of Calgary and pick up my new baby.  Lewis will be coming home.

If you ask me, I think he looks kind of annoyed in this picture.

I asked for an updated picture of him yesterday, and apparently he was disrupted from something important to provide it.