Taking care of me....and my dog

Thank you sweet blogger friends for your kind thoughts and words. I was told one time by a Doctor that there is depression, and situational depression. I have a situation that is depressing, but I've decided I'm not going to let it get to me I've done what I can do. Now she has to do what she can do. And I have too many blessings to be grateful for. I'm also not going to talk about it today :) My Shug and I have to talk about it. It's part of our lives. But it doesn't have to be a part of everything in my life.

And I did answer all of your comments on my last blog post in the comment section, so if you really want to hear more about it, you can go there and read my replies. One thing my cousin Gloria sent me that really made me feel good. She said

People cry, not because they're weak.

It's because they've been strong for too long.

Now for one of my blessings this last week. My Shug came home from work on Tuesday, instead of going out to our house that we are building, because he knew I didn't feel well. And he made me home made chicken and noodle soup! YUM YUM YUM. When My Shug was laid off for several months a couple of years ago, he made it his mission to learn how to make chicken and noodles. Comfort food. Tis yummy.


So, after last week, I decided I was going to have a great weekend. I declared Friday night from 6:30 pm on, sit on the couch, watch a movie and crochet night. I told My Shug to plan on it. He was home by 6:30, we were on the couch, turned on the movie Contagious and we both fell asleep at 8:00!

Saturday morning I got up and was cleaning house a bit. I went to put away a stack of plastic cups that were opened at the wrong end, and they all fell on my dog-haired floor.

I picked them up, rinsed them off and stuck them in the drainer. I'm going to have a good day, dammittohell! I stayed home and cleaned house until 1:00ish...then I took Dixie for his free training lesson at the pet supply store. Remember a few posts back.......

I asked if they cared if I snapped some pictures. See these dogs....

They had them heeling, turning about, leaving it, sitting, and staying, all in a matter of minutes.

Not my little guy.

The first thing she did was put this 'training collar' on him. She let me feel it first and it didn't hurt. It had these prong looking things that "imitate the Mother's teeth."

There he is....doing better......but

he would NOT look at her when she talked to him. I laugh every time I think of it. Look at this picture. LOL! He is just like a very strong-willed child. She would talk to him and tug his collar and he would turn his face away from her!

Last week, before she met him, she said she could probably get him trained in a session or two. This week she suggested I sign up for obedience training classes. Six weeks, $100, guaranteed results. She even said she'd give me two for one! Both dogs. I just don't have the time right now. I refuse to add one more thing to my schedule. Some weeks I have lots of time, but weeks like last one....So on weeks that I have time, I am going to work with them. I see how it's done now. And when the weather gets nice I'm going to start walking them more. I used to take Dixie bye-bye with me, before we got Winston. Winston is more of mans dog. He likes my Shug better than me. He insists on going with him. I'm going to start taking Dixie more often. I think they have been ignored lately. Go figure.

Anyway, I did tell my Shug about the lessons and he said, "I don't care if they heel, sit, speak or whatever...I want them to stop peeing on stuff." Oh yeah....that. Well, she said Dixie should get neutered. But I had a miniature dachshund that was neutered. He peed on stuff his whole life. 15 years. Winston is neutered, he pees on stuff. I think it's a male thing. I do. I've never had a female dog pee on stuff. And I explained to her, they are potty trained. They go outside to potty, this is different. They are marking their territory.

Here is what she suggested...

• Do not yell at them. It does no good. Use a calm, stern voice and say, "NO. BAD DOG."


• Be persistent.


• If you don't catch them at it, and don't know which one did it, take them both over to the spot and say, "NO. BAD DOG." They know which one did it.


• Be persistent.


• Praise them when they listen to you and do what you say.


• Be persistent.


• They just want praise. They want to please us and make us happy.

She didn't say Be Persistent that many times. I just need to hear it that many times!

So there you go. We're keeping the dogs for now. We'll see how it goes.

Cindy Bee