I swear I’m still alive, but you wouldn’t know it from my online presence as the end of the semester rolls down over me. Please bear with me, gentle reader, and for that matter savage readers should bear with me as well. Classes are over in a week and I should be on to doing something more interesting than writing papers, taking tests, and tearing my hair out.
Here, have a gratuitous Zille picture.
Yesterday we cleaned off the dog crates in the kitchen because we needed to find seeds. Don’t ask. We’re not the most organized people in the world.
Anyway, we’ve got one raised bed built and as an experiment Daniel is going to fork compost into the bed next to it, where we will probably plant potatoes and carrots this season, reserving the raised bed’s super-rich soil for spinach, tomatoes, corn, peas, and possibly cantaloupes. I had forgotten we bought cantaloupe, I think it was probably my fault.
Anyway, we cleaned off the dog crates and found our WEDDING SEEDS, a gift from our friend Steph. There’s purple carrots, purple spinach, purple tomatoes, and purple cauliflower. I was having a bit of a purple fit when filling out the wedding registry, you see. We then tracked down the other seeds we’d bought, which turned out to be nowhere near the dog crates: peas, regular green spinach (apparently I am also on a leafy greens kick), cantaloupe, two types of sweet corn (I love sweet corn, I blame growing up in DeKalb, Illinois, home of the flying ear of corn), regular orange carrots, and parsnips. Root vegetables and spinach, ahoy!
Having found the seeds it was off outdoors to plant them. We forked over the non-raised bed and added compost, and by “we” I mean “Daniel” while I did helpful things like say “wow, that looks like hard work.” To be fair, I also planted seeds in the raised bed and helped cut potatoes into sets.
Hopefully the squirrels, gophers, birds, and deer will leave us some of our garden. We got all the purple veggies in, plus a couple rows of corn, and will full the unraised bed with potatoes first, and then other seeds when we see how much room we have.
Today was Sid Measuring Day. He came in at 25″, which is exciting! Cane height for me is around 34″. The tallest mobility harness I’ve found has a handle height that goes up to 9″, so I needed Siddy to hit at least 25″ to make him a viable mobility candidate. That harness costs $400, so I’m looking forward to him putting on another half inch, which would let us use a $100 harness with an 8.5″ handle height. Although I suspect that once he’s approximated his final adult shape, I’ll go ahead and spring for the expensive harness, it has much better padding and the handle folds down to make it easier for a tall dog to do things like crawl under a table at a restaurant.
I think we might get another couple inches out of Sid, he’s been growing at or just over 1/2″ per month since we got him and his growth plates won’t close for probably another 5 months at least according to my vet. That would also be exciting, since it would let me use the harness with a 6″ handle that I already own, courtesy of my friend F.
Of course, the final determination of harness will be made when Siddy finishes filling out. Right now he’s tall but so narrow that he toes out in front and is cow-hocked behind, a common problem for young dogs who are going up faster than they’re going out. Also his head is broadening before the rest of him, so he’s a wee bit weirdly proportioned at the moment. Soon enough he’ll start getting wider instead of exclusively growing straight up, and will stop looking quite so goofy.
School is into the final rush to completion and you have NO IDEA how much I want this to be over with. Due in the next two weeks: one 5-7 page paper for bio, two labs for bio, one chapter quiz for bio, two math lab thingies, two final exams, and a short paper for Civil War history plus 4 shorter assignments for same. I may keel over and die. Except there’s a good chance I can get bio at least knocked out tomorrow and be DONE WITH IT FOREVER AND EVER. Exciting.
Meanwhile, my friends keep me entertained.
Via my friend F, a link to a pic of Viggo Mortenson playing a version of Manor Rules Footsoccerball.[1] F says, “I think Daniel’s got a harder time of it than Viggo.” It’s true in SO MANY ways, F.
katie at Save the Pit Bull, Save the World posts asking What’s a person in search of a nice family pet puppy supposed to do? and gets some interesting discussion going in the comments.
In another case of interesting discussion in the post and comments, Marji at For the Pit Bulls asks Where are all these fake service dogs?”
Here at the Manor, my beloved husband has fully recovered from his last game of Manor Rules Footsoccerball and has built an 8′ x 4′ raised garden bed and filled it with really good dirt. It’s the kind of dirt I remember from growing up in Illinois: black and rich and smelling all organic and, well, dirtish. Which means that we bought the dirt, because here in Virginia the dirt is red clay and I’m sure it’s very fine dirt and all, and things do seem to grow in it, but I still get wistful about that good black dirt in Illinois.
[1] Since the alt text on that pic is not illuminating, I will tell you that Viggo is playing Manor Rules Footsoccerball in a movie costume, with a chihuahua. He appears to be in no danger of being bitten on the groin.
Things you should know before watching this video:
1) Daniel was not injured, just startled. Really, really startled.
2) Game play ceased immediately and all dogs were forced to come in the house and be bored.
3) Well, OK, not bored, but the Shedders were definitely having less fun in the house where they have to be much more polite and less zoomie.
4) Just before I started filming, I’d said “Now you just have to get the ball back to this end of the yard.”
Transcript/Description:
Video opens with Daniel, a very tall Englishman, down at the far end of the yard from the camera, quite close to the shed. He is contending with Zille, a sable Shedder, and Sid, a black Shedder, for a slightly battered footsoccerball. The dogs are initially winning, but then Daniel manages to get the ball and head toward the camera with it.
Me: (completing that earlier sentence) Without hitting me.
As I speak, Sid manages a beautiful tripping maneuver on Daniel and seizes the ball. Daniel manages to stay on his feet and secure the ball again. Sid, however, in a flash of speed and determination, snatches the ball away and heads away from the camera with it toward the back corner of the yard. Daniel follows, trying to nudge the ball out of Sid’s mouth, and finally succeeds. Sid’s head flashes up and….
Daniel: (turning to the camera) He just bit me in the groin!
The record so far this season:
Daniel: 1 1
Shedders: 0 0 (violation of rule 5b by Sid, violation of newly revised rule 4)
Rules 4 and 5, as amended:
4) It is legal to bite your opponent’s clothing or fur, but you may not bite your opponent. This distinction is important.
4a) If you bite your human opponent instead of the human opponent’s clothing, play must cease.
5) It is legal to pry your opponent’s jaws off your clothing, fur, or body.
5a) If your opponent’s jaws were on your clothing, play must continue.
5b) If you are human and your opponent’s jaws are on your body, play must cease.
New rule:
10) It is legal to distract your opponent by scritching him gently behind the ear.
1) The game is played in the fenced backyard, whose dimensions I do not remember.
2) The Shedders constitute one team, the husband another. The husband may recruit up to one (1) Doberman for his team.
3) Biting is allowed as long as it does not draw blood, with some limitations.
4) It is legal to bite an opponent’s pant leg, but not an opponent’s leg. This distinction is important.
5) It is legal to pry your opponent’s jaws off of your pant leg or your leg.
5a) If your opponent’s jaws were on the pant leg, play must continue.
5b) If the opponent’s jaws were on your leg, play must cease.
6) It is legal to bite your opponent’s neck fur, but if you bite your opponent’s neck, your opponent is totally justified in snarking at you.
7) Biting Tink is just a bad idea in general.
8) You may move the ball either with your feet (front or back) or with your mouth.
9) The goal of Manor Rules Footsoccerball is for the husband to move the ball to the other side of the yard and back, which constitutes one point.
9a) A game is considered “won” by the husband if he scores 5 points.
9b) A game is considered “won” by the Shedders if the husband gives up before scoring 5 points.
9c) If play ceases because the Biting Rules (rules 3-7 inclusive) were violated, the husband will be considered to have won the game.
Game Score for this season:
Husband: 1
Shedders: 0 (Violation of rule 5b by Sid)
Roo is home! Again! He is snuffly and sneezy from a feline herpes flare-up, but being obnoxious about food and wanting attention and having to be contained while Daniel cooks. I am so happy.
When Daniel went to pick him up, he took Sid along to get his weight for curiosity’s sake. 72.2lbs. He weighs about the same thing Zille does (I swear she weighs 75lbs but Daniel says the last weight we got on her was 72lbs). He’s slightly taller than she is. Zille is going on 3 years old, Sid is 9.5 months old. I think he’s gonna be a big, big boy.
1) “should you pet a service dog”
Well, that depends on who you are. I pet my service dog all the time, and also my SDIT (Service Dog In Training). They like it when I pet them, and I often pet them just because we both enjoy it, as well as to tell them in a low-key way that they done good in a particular moment or decision point. I firmly believe that service dog handlers should absolutely pet their service dogs. If, however, you are John Q. Random Stranger, you should not pet someone else’s service dog. You should not ask to pet someone else’s service dog. If a service dog handler invites you to pet the service dog, that is OK, but don’t expect it.
2) service dogs vs. pet dogs
The key difference here is that service dogs are trained to assist a person with a disability. This means that in order to have a service dog, you must first acquire a disability. Then, the dog must be trained to perform tasks that help out with that disability. Also, the dog must be capable of handling public situations without being obnoxious and disruptive.
There are a lot of areas where pet dogs and service dogs overlap. For instance, my SD and my SDIT both spend a lot of time being petted (see question 1) and a lot of time cuddling, and chewing bones, and lying on the furniture, and playing games with me and with other dogs. All four dogs are concerned if I am especially wobbly. The difference is that if I am especially wobbly, Beowulf and Sid (well, Sid is working on it) both know how to steady me.
So for example, if you are get panic attacks, you might have a pet dog who is concerned and comes over and licks your hands, and you pet the dog and it helps you refocus and get past it. This dog is a pet dog, who might qualify as an Emotional Support Animal. If your panic attacks are disabling (i.e. they interfere with major life activities), and you have trained the dog to, for instance, spot when you are about to have one and perform a behavior that helps you refocus and not have the panic attack, the dog may qualify as a service dog.
You do not have a right to take a pet animal to places where dogs are not normally allowed, not even an Emotional Support Animal. But a person with a disability does have a right to take a service dog almost anywhere, because they need the dog to help them out.
Which leads to the final distinction: a pet dog is a well-beloved family member, ideally, and friend. A service dog is a vital partner in every-day life.
He came home yesterday evening, yelled for dinner, sucked it down, came to bed and snuggled with us after demanding attention all over the place.
This morning, he was back to being lethargic and refusing to eat.
We took him to the vet for a weekend of fluids/meds/testing and … he snuggled everyone, yelled for attention, and when they offered him food he inhaled it.
WHAT GIVES, ROO?