there was a swarm on jones during the whole walk this evening. a quick google search reveals that an apple cider vinegar-water combo in a spray bottle once a day should be sufficient to keep them off. this, apparently, also works on people. in addition to adding it to their water, humans benefit from it as well! it not only helps get rid of the mosquitoes, but also encourages weight loss? i'm dubious about that, but it's harmless enough to try!
aren't generally this cold... and that's the one thing that bothers me right now. the other thing is watching nora react to the thunder. this is our first significant storm since getting her and she seems to be quite afraid of the rain splashing against the big window on the east side of the house.
now papa is home and she's fine. because she's distracted.
there's an unwritten rule in pet-ownership where it's ill-advised to have more of them than there are of you. for the next 4 days, we will break that rule. sam is staying with us until the 26th while the people owned by him are in florida.
try to picture me walking three black dogs on leash in the blizzard that we're about to get.
though, they're the picture of perfect right now because we were just at the dog park for an hour and they're all zonked out.
so, the everlasting fun ball has always been a highlight of the dogs' day... but the last 40lb. bag of food brought with it a free bag of dog treats which fit perfectly in the ball without having to be broken into smaller bits. i think they could be completely occupied for at least 2 hours. which is awesome if you have a dog.
i live by these people who have three border collies and they only seem to let them out at 7:30am and 9pm and they yell at them the entire time to "go potty! hurry up! knock it off!"
it's actually kinda weird how many people who live a stone's throw from our house don't seem to walk their dogs, but there are a lot of people who have to (and do) cross busy fair oaks to take their dogs over to the park.
i don't get people. really.
apparently, if we discuss the previous wrongdoings with nora, she'll appreciate the severity of past discipline and not tear anything up. i didn't come straight home (and kurt was at work) and nothing in the house was moved.
so, maybe the webcam purchase today was premature, but it'll still be funny to watch them from work. i think.
i don't know what to do. i left the house for 10 minutes at the most and nora ate one of our netflix dvds.
so i had to give them $20 to cover it.
and she peed on the kitchen floor.
the frustration is around 7 out of 10.
so this time, she got a bag out of the "office" which really belonged in the bathroom.. containing unimportant hair do-hickeys that i haven't used in several years.
she also tore apart kurt's wrist brace and the guide for the new cable machine.
i wish i understood what she is trying to do.. like, is she bored with her toys and wants to make a mess on the rug? or is she mad that she's not getting as much exercise when they're home with kurt?
either way, i'm wary to leave the house tonight.. i wanted to go visit kurt at the tavern (otherwise, i won't see him til i get home from work tomorrow) but i don't want to lock her in the bedroom cuz i feel bad. but if i leave her out and go, kurt will certainly be upset if she tears up any more of his dvds.
i'll probably just stay home.
p.s., i thought about getting a webcam but i don't think i can do automatic uploads to the server without special software. i'll look into it. she'll probably grab the camera off the table and chew it up.
we're sitting in the computer room with the door shut because the guy installing the dish is afraid of dogs.
so we came home to another catastrophe. apparently nora decided to tear apart the remaining dvds on the table (therein which lies a lesson for both kurt and nora).
what's interesting is that she left the plastic chopsticks completely alone. like they weren't worth damaging.
jones was, again, sorry and submissive.
i think i ought to get a webcam to ease our discontent. or to provide humor.
i came home to a small mess this evening... it would appear that someone got into a (yet unpacked) plastic bag with sunscreen and ferret shampoo and they managed to keep all of the shampoo inside of the bag, thankfully. judging from the possible suspects' reactions, it would appear the guilty one was jones. this is unfortunate, because i know that it was nora. jones is just the one who knows that whatever happened was wrong and gave me the sorry face for it.
nora is definitely benefiting from being a "second-child". i did not scold her nearly as much as jones has had it in the past. mostly because she would have peed, but secondly because she probably didn't remember having been the culprit in the crime.
in an unrelated note, my back has a huge knot that i can't seem to get at.
about having two dogs is that jones hasn't touched the garbage in two weeks. at the apartment, we had to put it out in the back hallway when we left the house, and now, it seems like he just doesn't care. who knows, though, it could be because we have a house now and he doesn't want to mess it up? we just kept putting it out into the back porch, for some reason, until Nora came along.
they're still "gettin-ta-know-ya", but Jones seems to be content with her presence and i think he secretly likes it. :)
today, she made it all day without going in the house. and, she seems to have found her place with jones. at least as much as two days of learning can find a dog.
this week will be another test, since i won't be home all day. she is having a little trouble sharing me with jones, though... every time he comes over to get pet, she gets in the middle of us.
here's them being very good doggies:
what it was like to have a one-year-old puppy. nora is doing okay. she had a hard time sleeping in the bed last night, as she's used to a crate.. so we're going to borrow one from mom and george to see if she likes that better. she seemed to be scared of the ceiling fan.
we've had a couple accidents.. mostly pee. wherever she wants. it's a little frustrating, but she's in a new place, and with new people.
we went to the dog park this morning, and she runs like a rabbit! for no reason! around and around.
we'll probably go back this afternoon. she loved splashing in all the puddles and rolling around in them. :/