Thursday, May 10, 2007

Trying to get back on that horse...

Then again, all I have is a dog. :)

I'm sure everyone has seen the pictures Al has posted of my little Zeke. If I can't have a kid, I figured the next best thing was a dog. The bonus is that you can crate-train dogs... try that with a 3 year old, and you're going to jail. See, it all works out for the best anyways.

After a rocky start, the little mutt has become my pride and joy. I think I've bored everyone to death with the pics on my treo. So I downloaded them and got them ready for posting. I can bore more people that way. LOL! An undescribable amount of thanks goes out to Gracie for pointing me in the direction of the Superpuppy books. I've still got lots of work to do with him, but without the dominance training and a few other little tips, I think I'd be completely pulling my hair out now. I'll never be able to say thank you enough... but I'm sure my cat is cursing the both of us as we speak. He's still not too happy with the addition to the family. Does the book come in a cat version to show Meph how to teach the dog to leave him alone?

Zeke is not a big fan of poker. How do I know this? The amount of time that I have to spend away from the game while keeping him from getting in trouble while he doesn't have 100% of my attention gives me that impression. Live games or online. While playing HORSE on Sunday, I missed at least 10 minutes because he needed to go out. While he was "making pee", he saw his neighborhood girlfriend. Of course, he couldn't go in without wresting around in the grass with her. And it's really hard to explain that I can't let my dog have fun because I'm having to post an ante every hand and I don't want to lose much of my chipstack. (Maybe I just need new neighbors, but...) Luckily, it was an early level and I wasn't hurt too badly. After much time and much luck, I was able to kick Al's butt. :) It's the first "blogger tournament" I've ever won. Of course, with only 17 people (one of which was just donating), I had a much better chance.

Most weekends get spent with Zeke, lately at the beach. He loves the sand, hates the car ride. Not just that he "doesn't like it", but he vomits. A lot. I was given a little advice on how to deal with his little ailment though. Bonine. Motion sickness/anti-vomiting pills. It also helps to give him a pig's ear to gnaw to distract him until his body gets used to the ride. He's getting much better with short rides though. It used to be that he couldn't make it more than a few blocks before making a mess of the blanket on the back seat. Now, I take him to the dog park, the pet store, and McDonalds on a regular basis.

The dog likes food from the golden arches. My Mom's dog can recognize them no matter where they're driving to and goes nuts. Zeke isn't like that, but he knows the paper bags and waits for his double hamburger plain. I've learned that he doesn't eat ice cream though. Or dog biscuits. Or a whole lot of stuff most dogs would die for. He likes his dried chicken (best dog treat ever!), and I get him random assorted leftover cured livestock parts for him to gnaw on. And I do mean random. Who ever thought you could get whole cow hooves and noses at the pet store? He likes pig ears and cow tails too... not the caramel kind... but I've shied away from the lamb ears and some of the other stuff I couldn't identify. I guess I just feel bad for the fluffly little sheep. Kind of silly since my favorite ones are served medium-rare with a horseradish sauce. I think I have issues.

Well, it's almost 10 PM, and the dog and I have to get to bed. He has his pillow, I have mine. Spoiled brat. He deserves it though. Zeke the wonder puppy is definitely a plus in my life. I still haven't made it around to a lot of other stuff I wanted to do, but his company makes up for a whole lot. The rest will fall into place. It always does...