May 29 2008
Tails
Blaze is convinced he is being followed. He occasionally catches a glimpse of the perpetrator following him and spins around quickly to catch him. Sometimes he succeeds, but other times his tail gets away from him before he can grab it. It’s quite entertaining to watch. One time he arched his head over his back, grabbed a hold of his tail. and did a complete backwards roll. It was hilarious. Over the last three days, we have been working on him following us on the leash. I am trying the technique of walking forward until he tenses and pulls back; not looking at him, I stand there with the leash taut until he moves forward, praise him and repeat. Yesterday, it took me ten minutes to get to the mailbox at the end of the driveway. Today, he did much better. Each of the kids took a turn walking him around the yard and back and forth in front of the house. On one of my practice walks with him, we came around the corner of the house to discover the black cat sitting in our path. Her eyes became slits, her back arched, and she hissed at him. Blaze moved a little closer to me. I informed her that this was my house and she best move aside. She backed slightly up into the bushes and we walked past. Apparently, the cat isn’t the only one who thinks she lives at my house. When I informed my neighbor that I had gotten a puppy, she said, “Now you have a cat and a dog.” I told her no, the cats weren’t mine. She replied, “But they are always in your yard and mine.” I am unsure how many of my neighbors believe I own the black cats. If it’s a lot, I imagine I am not too well liked. Maybe I’ll have to wrap the whole house in tinfoil.
Yes nothing like an Organizational...
If you wrap your head in tinfoil, it will keep people from reading your thoughts. I’ve tried it a couple of times, and it really keeps people away!
Wrap your whole house, Mugs…I think you should! That will really give the neighbors something to talk about! =)
Hi Mugs,
If it makes you feel any better, AOM (Animal Owner Misidentification) is common.
Elena and I live in a condo overlooking a lake, which has a permanent population of 200 Canadian Geese, hundreds of squirrels (tree rats), birds, and feral cats. Our upstairs neighbor has a squirrel-proof birdfeeder which the squirrels knock about, knocking birdseed to the ground, which the Canadian Geese feed on near our deck. So the neighbors now know Elena as the “Goose Lady” even though she has never fed them, and indeed tries to shoo them away with pebbles!
Random Legion Notes:
-Elena’s favorite picture from our wedding is 6′4″ Mike
Preisser standing next to her 4′11″ grandma. Likewise Paul Wynn’s “Welcome to the Army” sabre arch love pat caught her completely off guard.
-Saw Conrad Ramos(C-1) at a Christmas Party last year. He is a Sales Manager with Boston Scientific, and is married to a Johnson+ Johnson Sales Manager he met while working for J+J. They live in Atlanta’s high-rent district, Buckhead, as does Will Hinshaw. Mutual friends of our and the Ramos’ are trying to get Conrad and his wife to come to our church, thus far unsuccessfully.
You and Dale look exactly like you did in 1986. Dale still has his same sense of humor. The only real difference I can tell is the four children, and the fact that you two don’t have to ping down the hall to see each other.
Stay Safe All,
Rick
I wish I could ping down the hall to see him right now, but the Army decided that different companies were not enough to keep us apart. They assigned us to different continents instead.
Point taken, Mugs. My deepest thanks to you and the kids for sharing Dale.