The life of a Zebra and her dog Charlie

I have no happy face right now. Yesterday I had some kind of stomach affliction and ended up going home from work. I feel like crawling into a hole and knitting. Just knitting. No idea what project - at this point that hardly matters. I just want the gentle swish of the wool and the light click click of the needles. I drank 3 gatorades yesterday, and laid on the couch with my kitties and puppy until all the aches and stomach madness passed.

Charlie is doing wonderfully. He has a tendency to try and anticipate commands and do things he expects us to do based on habit but jumps the gun and does them without command, which isn't good. We've noticed if we can get him to the park and he can run and play that he doesn't do that!

We've been practicing him picking up objects he's never come across to touch - like my cane. Usually I'm in control of it, and it has a little strap so if my hand lets go it won't hit him. He's confused on how to pick it up, but he tries!
  He's helped this weekend with getting the clothes out of the dryer and into the basket. This job took a loooong time. It was like working with a toddler! He needed a lot of encouragement - so it didn't save any time, but it did save me having to bend over and wrangle all of it! He has continued to help by getting my shoes for me, and he has put them away too (by command). We cleaned out our closet this weekend and after Husband left for work I tried to get Charlie to pick up one of the newly empty hangers. We use the plastic kind - because before I learned about the Gyres I read in an organizing magazine that the easiest way to an organized looking closet is to have uniform hangers. To Dollar General I ran and bought several packs for $2 each. Sadly when they break they aren't recyclable. I wish I had known, but oh well! So anyway, Charlie had a rough time and was discouraged about not getting it, so I put peanut butter on it and he kept messing with it until finally he picked it up! I said "Good boy! Bring it!" and he brought it over and dropped it (without the command). I think we're going to need to work on a new task: "Hold it!"

This morning we had to take Husband to work. When we got back home and I let him outside to potty, there was a neighbor from 5 apartments down in our back yard letting her tiny mutt pee on my neighbors' back porch! I was flabbergasted! I never take Charlie any further than the edges of our windows in the back or front, and I would wash off the brick or pavement if it was raining and he peed on it, but this lady hightailed it, with her little dog yapping the whole way. Charlie just looked up at me like "What the heck was that, Mom??" and when I picked my jaw off the floor and said the command, he quickly did what he needed to do. I've thought about it all day and it creeps me out that someone was off our back porch.

Tonight we're going to our friends' house - the couple with the black weimeriner mix and the mini-pitt. Charlie's nails haven't been trimmed since his adoption on the 24th of December, so they agreed to help since I can't control the nail trimmer thing with my hands. Yay!