We went out last night, to our friends' place for dinner. We had a really terrific time and stayed out a bit too late, so Rosie was extra happy to see me when we picked her up at my mom's place.
I bent down to clip her leash on, while at the same time she decided to hop up and give me a little kiss. We collided mid-air - she felt nothing, while I felt a searing pain in my eye socket and my lower lip. The lip's fine - just a nick - but she split the skin on my eye-bag and now I have one extra-baggy, slightly grey eye. Gorgeous. I put makeup on it but it still looks funny - slightly waxy, if that makes any sense, and grey even through the makeup.
She means well, my Rosie. I can't blame her. We do, however, have to curb her habit of jumping up on people. Usually she's fine with me - she makes no fuss when I greet her in the morning - but she hops all over hubby and all over strangers too, unless they ignore her completely. She can really put on a show. Often this hopping is accompanied by piddling, which I thought was over but she's doing it again.
This is now the main problem with Rosie. I think that's pretty good - we've managed to get rid of the biting, the attacking in the evenings, and her cat-attacks. Hubby cured the last one - mostly - by scaring the bejeezus out of her when she does it. He'll grab something flattened in the recycling (a cereal box or milk carton) and run over in a huff, and smack it on the ground near the ruckus until she stops. She is instantly contrite, and goes and sits quietly by herself. Hubby waits a couple of minutes and then goes and makes up with her. He only had to do this like three times before she got the message, and now she leaves Loki mostly alone. She still mauls him a bit by way of greeting but it's not mean-spirited, and he doesn't mind too much. All we have to do is say "no, Rosie" or "Rosie, be nice" in a warning tone and she gets it.
She would still steal food given half a chance. We've become experts at keeping all food out of reach, but she still will hop up and lick plates on the counter, or eat the cat food off the table when we're not looking. That's an ongoing problem, but one that is linked to her species and breed, which is a tough signal to break. She is very food-motivated, and we keep most food away from her, given her history of colitis. She really loves bread but I am trying to keep her from eating wheat, which I suspect aggrevates her situation.
She does a bunch of other stuff that I don't find problematic but others might: she still pulls on the leash, but more often than not the leash is TOO slack - it gets caught around her front legs. She also just seems to enjoy walking at the limit of her leash, which doesn't really count - she'll walk easily at the limit of a 4' leash, a 6' leash, or a 16' leash. She drinks out of the toilet - so we make sure to flush well and clean it often. Once in a while, she'll pee on the floor if we miss her pleas to go outside. No problem, that's what cleaning products are for.
She's still jealous of the cats, but it subsides quickly when given equal loving. She's starting to leave us alone while we eat dinner, though she still begs a bit and comes nosing around, and has taken to lying on the floor and moaning until we're done just for attention. It's quite comical. She usually comes when called, except when she's on a mission. She's starting to get it when we yank her off of dead frogs etc. in the road, or cat poo, or something else that she (disgustingly) wants to put in her mouth. She's excellent in the car - but that's due to the gate. She doesn't whine and either sits and looks out the window (which is all smeary now - I should clean it) or she sleeps. She is satisfied to be tied on her rope while we do our construction stuff outside, as long as she knows we haven't left (we never leave her unattended). She still lays on the couch - even when completely muddy or wet - but I have to just be vigilant to keep a blanket or a sheet on it, and I wash the cushions regularly. She's pretty well-behaved on the couch so I have no problem with it; she mostly just sleeps, or chews on a bone or something, or cuddles and lets us give her tummy rubs.
Her vocabulary's coming along as well: she now knows sit, down, come, Loki, Dad, pee, water, hungry?, apple, bone, ball, tummy (sort of), gramma, stay, no, off, and maybe car.
So for an 8-month (TODAY!)-old dog, I think she's doing pretty well. And so are we! Black eye and all.
I am in love with those purple potatoes. Digging them up I felt like an archeologist, digging up jewelled egyptian beetles or something. They're iridescent. They far outgrew the 'Russet Burbank' yellow potatoes I grew (see the photo - they're the weenie ones) so they are the stars of the show. However, I served up all the tiny potatoes for dinner that day, and the russets did taste a bit better and cook up more elegantly - the purple ones are floury and go a bit soft for my liking. They also do not make great french fries.
The garlic you see in the photo is the world's most potent garlic. I made a greek-inspired dinner on Saturday when a friend came over (and we lost power for 8 hours - I did it all on the BBQ), and I made chicken souvlaki-like skewers with garlic, yoghurt tzaziki-like sauce with garlic, greek-like salad with garlic in the sauce, and I used one clove in total. And had wicked garlic breath the next morning. So tread cautiously with my garlic. I take heart that I will finally rid myself of that pesky vampire problem that's been plagueing my household.
