Pitfalls of Pets

Cats and dogs are hunters. You forget this at your own peril. Especially if one of your animals is an outdoor/ indoor pet. Heck, even just an indoor pet can do plenty of hunting with the bugs that enter the house. We are constantly finding "gifts" left by Boots by our sliding glass door out on the patio. A dead bird, usually dead lizards....with their guts ripped out. One time we had a half grown tadpole get in the house (how? I have NO idea) and Mittens killed it, and then it looked like Mariner was gonna try to eat it. I threw it out. Just now, I found a still twitching lizard's tail that had caught Mariner's and Mitten's interest. I just REALLY hope neither of them tries to eat it. Otherwise they'll throw it up, and guess who cleans it up? Much as I love my animals, this is the one thing I dislike. On the other hand, they eat the bugs too, so that's good, as well as amusing to watch.
Add: I found the rest of the lizard...

Mariner Goes Swimming

My mother and brother took Mariner to the dog beach today. He liked the beach and the dogs, but he was too scared to go in the water. So when they got home, they decided to take him into our pool. I just got home from biking when they decided to do this and I took some pictures. He wasn't too thrilled about being in the pool, but he looked VERY cute.

I went a little camera happy...

Dragon on the back of the car!!!!!

Boots wonders why I bother her the only time the dog is NOT bothering her.

Suki decided my suitcase was a good place to sleep.

Mariner just wants to be played with.

Little Bird didn't like me so close to his cage.

And Mittens of course, thinks I'm crazy.

My Trip to NY and Other things

I had a great time in NY, went to my friend's wedding, met Child Ish and Moshe, visited my aunt in the Upper West Side, and enjoyed myself overall. I stayed by my friend M.A., who was my roomie in sem, and stayed over at my house two years ago for a week. M.A. came with me over to Moshe's for Friday night dinner, and got a kick out of it, though I think she was a bit horrified over the fish. Good food, good company, good conversation, and didn't get home till about 1:30 in the morning. Actually, were it not for her insistence that her mother would be worried, we might have stayed even longer, but as it was, we were exhausted too, and walking back took WAY too long. Left NY early this morning, but for those bloggers upset that they missed me, don't worry, planning on coming back to NY in December, for a bit longer stay than just a long weekend.

And the other stuff? Pictures of Mariner of course! He graduated from puppy obedience training and they had a little graduation party. Including graduation caps...the owners were thrilled about this, the dogs less so.

The Semester is OVER...Among other things

I took my last final last night, and got it over with in 20 minutes. I'm SO glad the semester is finally over, freedom at last...for about a week. And then starts summer class, oh joy. Oh well at least it's only 1 class as opposed to 4, and it will only last 6 weeks as opposed to 16. So there is a bright side. I still have work and will be looking for another job, for when the school year is over.
I took some new pics, and decided to show how big Mariner's gotten by comparison pics. In the first pic, he is 8 weeks old and about 10 lbs. In the most recent (taken today) he is 7 months old and weighs 50 lbs. He's huge. He steals food off the counter ( he LOVES peanut butter) and he goes for "drags" not "walks". He is also going to puppy training class starting tonight. The last picture is the back of a pick-up truck I saw in the Walmart parking lot. It looked so cool, couldn't resist sharing.

The Dog Park

The dog park is an interesting place, and you meet some very interesting people there. Even if you have nothing else in common with them, you can talk about dogs, after all that’s why they’re there. They love their dog enough to bring him/her to the park to get some exercise and socialize with other dogs. Some people spend the time on their phone, or read a book. Some play with their dogs, throwing whatever they find lying around or bring toys for their dog to the park. I remember the first time I brought Mariner to the park, I had to practically drag him inside the gate and he stuck to me like a burr the entire time, being somewhat afraid of the other dogs. Now however, HE drags ME into the park, and the moment I let him off the leash, he’s off playing with the other dogs. Or if there are no other dogs there, I throw a stick, he fetches it, and then he makes me chase him for the stick. He’ll fetch sticks, and even rocks, but he will not fetch a ball more than once. Though, that makes my life a bit easier, since you can just pick up a stick or rock from the ground, whereas you usually have to buy a ball, which then inevitably gets lost.

Random Fun Things

At work, my mother's office is next to the sixth grade boys classroom, and it is very easy to hear them. This week was color war for the boys abd they were being a bit loud about it. I asked my mother, "Does it ever occur to you that being in your office is rather like being in an office next to the monkey enclosure at the zoo?" She said, "Yes" The reason I had brought it up in the first place was that the boys were making sounds rather similiar to chimps....

I went to the dog park and was priveliged to play with threee adorable 8 week old jack russel terrier puppies. I was SOOOO happy, as you can imagine. I got some pics of them on my phone which I am going to try to load onto the computer so everyone can bask in thier cuteness.

Oh, and Moshe asked for a video of Mariner, well, I have one, though since i took it from a kneeling/ sitting position (after being knocked over by Mariner) it's a lil bit dizzying, so here's a warning, don't watch it if you get motion sickness easily.

Spring Break

Ah, first of all I'd like to apologize for the Hiatus, I just did not feel like I was getting any news to write about. Now, however, there seems to be plenty. For one, I started a job as a secretary at an all boys middle school. My mom happens to be one of the principals, which is how I got the job to begin with. It involves a lot of typing, which, fortunately for me, I'm good at. So working there should provide me with lots of blogworthy material. Another thing is the dog park. Three weeks ago, I started taking Mariner to the dog park...there is SO much you can talk about there, the people, the dogs, the park itself, the weather....you get my drift. What else is new...oh, I got a new phone, the Samsung Instinct, which I love. It's pink. I would have preferred blue, but sadly they don't make it in blue...considering it took them this long that if they sold phones in pink and red, women would buy it, I'm not really surprised. I'm on Spring Break now, was planning on going to NY, but not happening, this time at least. oh, and I just took new photos of Mariner to put up. As a side note, he's now 5 months and 40 lbs.

New Comp and Finals

Got up at 3 am Friday morning to get my new comp...went to Office Depot and waited 2 and a half hours for the store to open. I made friends with a couple of people already on line, an Isreali guy and his British girlfriend. Apparently his parents own a bakery in our area....and I found out later that my step-father knows the owner of the bakery. So I got my new comp finally, and now I have some pics of the pup on it. I also have finals this week whicdh means I prob won't really be updating till next week. In the meantime, enjoy pictures of the oh-so-cute puppy, Mariner!