No One Complains If You Clean Up After Your Dog

I always think if I saw a shiny quarter in someone's yard I wouldn't touch it, because technically it's on their property, it's theirs. Or it should be presumed to be theirs, just like a lawnmower or a grill on their property should be presumed to be theirs.

I would be very careful about taking anything out of someone's yard. They might see you from the window and come running out with a gun. Or call the police. People do look out the window, too. I did it today, and this is a real coincidence. I went over and glanced out the window and happened to see a guy I know driving by ... at that very second. Let's say I look out the window 5 minutes of the day -- various glances here and there at random throughout the day. If I just happen to look out and see this particular guy drive by, the chances of that are remote.

Anyway, if they looked out it might look like you were sneaking something that belonged to them out of their yard. Which I wouldn't want to happen.

But no one complains -- I've noticed this -- if you clean up after your dog. I've got a bag and it's clearly a bag for cleaning up after my dog. The big complaint they'd have is if you didn't. And again, my presumption is always that someone's looking out their window when I'm walking by.

Animals Don't Care For Money

That's so true. If we see a quarter laying on the floor, we scoop it up.

I went through the kitchen a while ago and there was a quarter on the floor. It must've fallen through the hole in my pocket. I have a pretty good hole in my pants pocket. I was at a store today and I felt the embarrassing escape of about a dollar and a half in chance going down my leg. I tried to pull the pants leg in a little to keep them from clanging against the floor and rolling off in a dozen directions. Fortunately I was successful.

After that I kept my change in my coat pocket. But somehow, at some point, I must've had a quarter in my pocket later. Because I went through the kitchen and there it was on a throw rug.

The dog was sitting there in the area, of course not paying any attention to the money. She'd probably sniffed it -- I don't know -- to see if it was edible. But that would be about it.

It made me think. They simply don't know, they simply don't care for money!

Picking Up Poop Even When It's Not Necessary

I took my dog for a walk in a deserted campground today.

We're going through the place where there are sometimes 300 campers and tents. But now there's none. It's completely wide open. Nobody there. The attendant is long gone. The newspaper machine has a September newspaper showing through the window.

It's so bare even sagebrush avoids it.

So there we go, walking across a deserted campground. My dog takes a poop. I think, Why am I cleaning this up? There's not much of a good answer, but I guess I'm just conscientious. I cleaned it up.

Dog Poop Conjunctions And Coincidences

I feel I can attract more followers if I do a blessing over my ENTER key before sending every tweet. Bless you, dear words as you go. ENTER.

I faced a strange conjunction -- a dozen different coincidences -- involving my dog, neighbors, their dog, and my dog pooping that second.

If any one little thing had been different -- and there were a thousand variables -- it would've never happened. [Bless you, ENTER key.]

I saw the people coming from a block and a half away but didn't realize they were the neighbors, so I crossed the road, which I never do.

This put them coming from the block down, cutting across, and meeting me right at their corner. My dog pooped, then the dogs tangled.

My dog leash is tangled around the back of the woman's legs, I'm meeting the boyfriend in the dark for the first time. And the poop is lost.

There I am then, with a weak flashlight, and enough poop-colored leaves scattered around, making the perfect camouflage for poop.

The only good thing that came out of it...It's an ice breaker at parties? ...I'm looking at my dog. None of that had to happen. My fault.

I'm like The Who smashing their guitars and drums at the end of a concert. I smash my keyboard every night before bed. I have many new ones.

So here goes my keyboard. Goodnight. sadoi32 DKLJWE[ kk e P;DLGFMSDO kjfds dhp32rnl sfsdklsdk12130rgg3fkf03w2 kaput

My Dog's Trapped

My dog was just trapped by the sound of a woman's pleasant voice downstairs calling her.

She went running, but by now must regret it, since she's getting her hair/fur brushed. She doesn't like that, because there's usually snarls that need to be worked out. And it means laying on a hassock thing with some combing and picking.

But the voice, the call, it all usually indicates something desirable, like a walk.

Poor thing. But how much more kissably soft she'll be when she brushed. It's just I know she hates it so much.

My Dog's Motto

Frisky with delight.

My Dog

My dog got to go to the park (different ones) two times today. That's a great day.

I may not be doing a lot right in life but at least I'm treating my dog well. And that ought to be scoring me some points, right?

She looks at me with devotion. And I look back at her with devotion. I'd like to know what she's thinking. Maybe, "Alpha Dog nice guy." Which is true, I am pretty nice.

All the petting, cleaning up after, saying "Good girl," etc. People see me coming and, if they knew about how great I was with this dog, they'd surely be going, "There's that guy who's so great with his dog."

And if they knew about this blog, they'd be saying, "Let's read his blog today and see what he said about us." And his dog.

They Love Meat

I took my dog to a fancy restaurant.

She says to the waiter, "Could I see your meat menu, please?"

My Plant

I've got a new plant that I'm caring for. Trying not to give it too much water or too little. And the same for sunshine and shade and being indoors. (Except yesterday I was too busy and forgot it, so it was inside all day.)

It's called Diamond Frost, which I'd never heard of. I read the tag in a little more detail after I had it home. And, I don't know much about plants, but it says something like it was developed by a particular company and that it's prohibited to propagate it. Does that mean what it sounds like to me? Is this thing natural or Frankenstein?

Prohibited to propagate it? I hope it doesn't take over and shoot spores everywhere that I can't control. I don't think I would've bought it if I knew it came with special rules. But I don't know anything about plants.

Now I have two things to care for, the dog and the plant. Well, the cats might constitute a third thing, speaking technically. Dog, meet your brother, Diamond Frost. Diamond Frost, meet your sister, Dog. Neither of you disturb the cats, please, so they won't need anything.

Queasiness

I've got it tonight. Morose, listless, energy dissipated, feeling of unease in the middle.

Yawning, eyes lazy, down in the mouth, perturbed, tired.

I took my dog to the park and felt this bad feeling, also scared of mosquitoes.

There was a police officer there, like a community rep guy who buzzes around keeping an eye on the activities. So naturally I kept my dog on the leash. Another guy didn't. The officer was talking to me, chit chat, and said he needed to go tell that guy he needed a leash for the dog.

There I stood, innocent.

Woof Woof Woof

A while ago I was hearing the persistent background noise coming from the windows of "Woof, woof, woof," a neighbor's dog. Then below that, or filtering around the edges of that noise, I could hear a deeper and more distant (at least 30 feet further) "Woof, woof, woof," as a second dog added his piece.

My own dog was sitting on the couch with me. And I glanced down and could tell she was hearing the same woofing noise, but it wasn't rousing her to reply in kind. It's one of those things that we get familiar with outside. She knows they're just woofing to be woofing and that her own joining in wouldn't accomplish anything.

But it was remarkable that she heard a closer noise, not animal, not human (probably was human), someone dragging something by, perhaps, and she woofed three times. I said shut up, she woofed again, I said shut up again, and after one more poorly phrased woof she shut up.

Dog's Bathroom Habits

I am scientifically astir tonight over a very interesting subject that is fraught with mystery. Dogs taking their potty breaks.

Sometimes I take my dog outside in the yard .... and sometimes I take her to the park. If I take her in the yard her output -- 1 and 2 -- is at one level. But if I take her to the park it is generally twice that or more.

This leads to the obvious question. Are dogs just storing it up and still feeling comfortable while walking around inside? Doesn't it stand to reason that when you go out -- whether in the yard or at the park -- the output would have to be pretty much the same?

I need a good website to research this stuff at.

Pills With Meat

When our dog takes her pills we put them in meat. Maybe wrap them in ham, but sometimes they fall out in that case and she gets twice the meat. The best way is to stick them in the center of a piece of hotdog, and down they go.

It's such a great idea that I tried it myself. Not exactly the sticking it in a hotdog. But fixing hotdogs and just before eating them taking my pills.

Now they're down there dissolving and all mixed in with chewed up hotdogs. Nice picture.

Bo Obama

The Obamas got their dog and his name is Bo!

Bo, easy to spell, easy to remember.

Reminds me of the old commercial that had a song that went like this [clearing my throat]:

I got a dog, his name is Bo!
And he's got the High Pro glow.
Healthy, High Pro glow,
Energy, the High Pro glow.

I would guess it was for a dog food called "High Pro." Whether they still make it or not, I don't know. But it's really something that I could remember it, huh?

There's Nothing To See

Every time my dog sees me looking out the window like I'm looking at something, she wants to be held up to see. She's smart, because sometimes there are squirrels, which she goes wild over. But even when there's nothing in sight -- I might just be looking and lost in thought -- she still things there is.

It just happened. She lets me know by jumping against my leg. Let me up! I can say "There's nothing," but there's no way to convince her except by convincing her with her own two eyes.

"See, there aren't even any ants, unless they're ones so small you can't see them from here." They all are, of course, but she doesn't have to know.

My Dog's Legs

My dog got her leg fur trimmed today. Not quite shaved because there's still fur there, but they're about half the size they were. It's weird looking, like a sheep.

Anyway, I'm thinking, she can barely support her weight now with those skinny legs. She needs the extra fur to hold herself up. There's hardly room in there anymore for her bones.

Wouldn't a true dog bury the bones in her legs so she'd have them for later?

Taking A Nap

I layed down at around 1 and got up about 3. It seemed like a longer time than that. But the daylight outside let me know it wasn't 3 in the morning.

My trusty dog was right at my side. She was downstairs when I layed down. (By the way, I don't know my 'lays,' laid, layed, laying, lain, whatever. So I'll just type it the way it seems best. My little spell thing keeps telling me 'layed' is wrong. So be it!) Anyway, I layed down and gave a high pitched call to the dog, her name. She came bounding up and was in my bed. And by golly she was still there when I woke up.

That's faithfulness. Dogs have to be the laziest animals. Like cats but faithful. Whether I should have taken the nap is up for debate. It's refreshing but also a waste of time. But once it's done you need to move on from there.

I really could use some candy right about now. But there isn't any.

The Language Animals Know

I'm constantly on the lookout for what my animals know, the cats and dog.

They start out knowing nothing about us, our mannerisms, what we say, all that. But then in the course of time they learn all sorts of things, whether to trust us or not.

Somehow they come to associate their name with themselves. I'm still not exactly sure how that happens, except obviously by repetition. But whether they know the names of the others, that's not always clear. I do think our dog knows the words we use for the cats individually.

Then there's all the other things we communicate, especially with the dog. The dog comes in for a lot more interaction because of the bathroom duties. And she, being a dog, cares to be with us more in an intimate and ongoing way than the cats. So she responds to things that are kind, sweet, complimentary, and comes to know things like "Stay" and "No." We think of "sit" as a kind of trick, which is just more of the same.

One thing the cats get trained to respond to, by getting a treat or by having something that will be to their liking, is "Kitty, kitty, kitty" in a high pitched call. You figure they're a blank slate till they get the associations.

My Dog Always Contradicts Me

I'm talking about my dog. She always contradicts me.
It's like a routine.

"You always contradict me."
"No, I don't."

This deserves a threat. "I'll put your fur on the other side of your collar."
"It already is."

Not Wanting To Breathe

I examined my dog's nose to see if dogs had nostrils or just a smooth, uninterrupted surface. It turns out she does have nostrils.

I told my dog I wouldn't want to be breathing through a dog's nose. I would be polluted by its body.

The cat also has nostrils. I told the cat I wouldn't want to be breathing through a cat's nose. I would also be polluted by its body.

They told me, 'We wouldn't want to breathe through your nose either.' I halfway expected that.

I told them, 'Hey, my air's OK.'

'Ditto,' they said.