I don't feel like talking today.

No park until daddy gets home. Come visit and snuggle!

Haha sweet face!

Mom! Mom! Mom!

No better alarm clock than a puppy!

We ain't talkin' chocolate pudding!

So....it was brought to my attention that someone I know is privately curious as to how I can handle....chocolate Charlie drops? ....Piles of fun?.... Oh, heck. Poop.

Yep, this post is about puppy poop.

Charlie is a LARGE dog. As I've mentioned in previous postins, it's hard for me to bend over, so my friend was curious as to how I handle cleaning up after Charlie's bathroom habits. I never considered that it would be something people would be interested in knowing!

I've read online that you can train your dog to launch into a large planter and crouch to do business there, at waist height. That might be a solution for a small dog, but not Charlie. I tire very easily from standing, so he has learned the command "Hurry, potty, hurry!" means "Go now or forever hold it in!". He can easily laze about and take his ever-loving time with Husband, but when I give that command it's like "Hut, two three four!" and we're done. If it's a pile of fun, I wait until he's done, tell him to brace (I can't lean on him much yet, but he has to learn), and I put my cane in front of me so I can lean over without falling over. Then I brace against the cane with my waist and clean the pile up with a baggie, and take my time straightening up again. I can hand the tied up baggie over to Charlie to put by the front door, but I hate doing that, because let's be honest: carrying a bag of poop with your mouth is not a very attractive thing to be doing, especially when it's your own poop and you kiss people with that mouth! So Charlie walks beside me once I'm mobile again, and we drop it by the door so Husband can take it to the garbage down the hill. If Husband is home, I don't worry about all that, because it's nothing for him to lean over, scoop it and toss it in like 2 seconds flat.

So now you know!

Our friend "H"

Our friend, "H" came by today and brought Charlie a rawhide treat! It's his first rawhide ever - and I think he's in love. I wish I could have been there to visit with H and see Charlie's reaction first hand, but I'm sure he'll hand me a slobbery mess of rawhide when I do get there. LOL!

Look at his coat! It's so shiny and healthy! I was petting his ears this morning when I dropped him off with Granddaddy Dadid, and I didn't want to go. I had errands to run before work, but I just felt like staying curled up in a ball with my boy. So far two guests have RSVP'd to his party! I went and got the plates, napkins and forks. :) I've been reading different recipes for cake, and I've decided I want to have real cake for the people at the party, and I'm going to make a dog food cake for the pups. :)

My medicines are working again! Yay! I feel better after I take them. The pain management dosages keep it all at a numbed down version of the pain. If I had a few days I'd hibernate from relief!

...My friend Hawk sent me a starbucks card this week, so Charlie and I got a coffee and puppichino on Sunday. It was so nice to sit outside with Charlie at my feet, a warm coffee in my hand and a gentle breeze blowing. The staff at my local Starbucks knows Charlie now, and are always supportive. Since he's still in training and a bit rambunctious, the only store he's stepped inside has been pet stores. We just go through the drive through, and then pick a spot outside to sit together.

At work today we found out by accident that our Big Boss has decided to tear down our cubicles and put us all in a row like a telemarketing call center. They're going to cover the windows and have us side by side. I'm losing half the cube space I have now. I hate that. My cube is the one place that is orderly and perfect. I can find you a file in under 30 seconds if you ask me for it. I decorate it once a month after I get off work, so it's always fresh and interesting to look at. I believe in the mission of my job, and I'm so passionate about it - but I'm discouraged. I spend all my energy at work, and have no social life, and then it feels like all these changes at work are just picking away at my spirit. If I have to take down my personal stuff it will be the last straw.

....I spoke with the Geneticist again, and he apologized. I'm glad I called because he forgot that he was supposed to be fighting with my insurance provider so I could find out what my final diagnosis is! This morning after doing some of my errands I stopped by the eye clinic and it turns out the reason my new glasses have been giving me so much trouble is because the frames aren't fitted correctly. So the uber cool frames have to go, and now I sit and wait again. I don't really care for the new frames - they're tortiseshell - but if they finally fit and I can see without a fishbowl effect, I'll be satisfied! The good news is that the eye doctor said my retinas look firmly attached, so I'm taking that as hope that it might not be Sticklers Syndrome after all.

Well, my darlings, my coffee break's over and I must go forth and stand on my head. ;) Take care until we gossip again!

My pain pills make me a bit dizzy, but I'm getting a bit of numbness to the pain. Yay

No blah blah.

Bad mental health day.

Very fidgety and unsettled.

Don't feel like verbalizing anything.

Cleaned a lot today, very tired and painful.

Here's a picture of Charlie and me practicing table manners at Starbucks:

He loves Starbucks about as much as I do! I love his silly face.

Here's a picture of him after the dog park. Sorry it's dark, we had to leave because of rain.

Ok, one more:

The question of the day!

Charlie hasn't excercised enough this week. He's been completely uninterested and unwilling to "play" his tasks he's learning. When husband finally got home from work today, I set out to get Charlie into the car. We were interrupted by a neighbor, and Charlie was very hard to handle. Sometimes when I'm writing about him I feel like I'm making excuses or something, but he is still very much a puppy. There is potential, and he has the brute strength I'll need from him, but his size makes people think "wow. He needs training! How can that gimpy girl control such a big dog?"

When Charlie has had excercise and enough time to be a full on dog, he is such a pleasure to work with! And honestly, he's not a machine. We all have off days. I'm so tired, and so very sore from the snow ordeal this week, that I could have easily snapped and popped him on his butt, but that would only instill fear and lack of trust. I don't care if I have to repeat a command hundreds of times. I'm not going to spank unless Charlie is putting himself in danger, or attempting to bite (which he hasn't done just for the record). I'm just saying I don't spank. He's stubborn, but smart dogs have that streak in them. It's like dealing with a toddler, you just have to be consistent, kind and more stubborn than the child! Lol

So my neighbor's question was repeated at the dog park: "wow! Your dog sure is getting big. I see he's not listening very well. Is he a help at all yet, or are you taking him back to where you got him?"

My brain launched into a tirade: No. Charlie majors belongs with me. Period.

He has been a huge help to me! And he's only a PUPPY. I realize we can be quite a scene to watch when I'm tired and he's wired, but we belong together. Everybody has off days...even my dog. And that is normal. I'm throwing a LOT his way, and he keeps rolling with the punches. I've only had him a little over a month. In that time he's learned to obey 4 people and live peacefully with 5 cats he wants to hug and kiss and play with. He's learned "side" and "heel", he can get, give, drop what I ask him to (we're working on consistency), and he lines up at curbs and steps and waits for me until I'm down the step. He walks with a slack leash almost all the time, and he has only had accidents at our friends' house and once here at home (in fairness to him, we didn't listen when he alerted and he lost control, it's not like her actively sought a place to do it). He gets in and out of the car on command and is learning to nudge doors open.

So, my answer was and is "today we're both worn thin. He's coming along nicely, and has been a great help. I hope you have a good day!"

Love to you, my people!