The only problem is that my room is a perfect square with two unblockable doors on two opposite walls and a radiator and window on the third. This leaves one wall mostly free for bed installation, but my art and computer desks block part of that wall. If it comes to a choice, I'd rather move the art desk and have a proper bed. I've been sleeping on a pokey mattress on a rickety bunk bed for like two years and I'm ready to move on to something that won't stab me in the ass or squeak loudly when I turn over.
I've been pondering the idea of getting a bean bag that converts to a bed. Or a day-bed. Or a Japanese style futon. Hmm.
Today the Captain met a bunch of new dogs at the park. A very large, very dominant black lab pushed him around until he started showing teeth and growling, but they eventually got distracted by somebody who was throwing tennis balls and it became a sort of free-for-all dog race. The Captain wallowed in a mudpit for a little while, and as the other owners tried to discourage their own animals from imitating him, I realized that I'm the pet-owner equivalent of the paren of THAT kid. You know, the one who comes into kindergarten every morning smelling like he has ferrets stuffed in his pants.
We found a gate that opened on the river for dogs who like to play in water, so I was able to encourage the little bastard to go rinse off all the mud eventually. It took him hours to dry off, but he was mellow and happy. Come to think of it, he hasn't shredded anything since I first took him there... hmm.
Knee feeling lots better. I can manage the walk to the park and back without it exploding, and going up the stairs only twinged a bit. As soon as the pain is gone, I'm going to go back to the gym. I'm feeling kinda wooden and my energy level's gone down a bit.
Major goals for the rest of the fall: get some invisible fencing so I can leave Stupid outside to play more often instead of putting him on a tether, get a new curtain that is not pink, find a bed, and install shelves in the closet outside my room so I can put my clothes away.
...Wow, this post was dull. I promise I'm doing awesome and exciting things with my days, I just haven't felt like blogging about them. I did a pic last night, though, just messing with art styles:
Aight. Back to inking.
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Just a word of caution about invisible fencing. If they ever DO get on the other side of the fence (say, they chase after an animal and bolt after it and are on the other side before they know what happens) they won't come back in the yard. Invisible fences (to the best of my knowledge) don't take into account which direction the dog is coming from, so if it attempts to come home it will get shocked as it approaches.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they've improved and take that into account these days, but its something to consider, and questions to ask at purchase time.
Depends on the dog, too. We had a dalmation who'd leap the 6' fence, so we got electric fence... didn't stop her. She'd run right through, defend the perimeter, then run right back into the yard. Never even phased her, err, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteThe next dog was a terrier-mutt, and she'd chase a squirrel out of the yard and then go wait at the front door for someone to let her in, crying the whole time. Because going slower, coming back, she'd actually register the warning (and shock).
A'course, that was the same dog that learned "white wire" equals "scary!" I think when the dog was about 8, my dad ran over the wire with the lawnmower, and we just never bothered to fix it. Didn't matter, Boo saw the wire and would immediately react as if she had just been shocked.
Terriers: not the brightest. Okay, not beagles, but still. Damn close.
Ah, the other thing: invisible fences don't work on sight-hounds. They see prey and they're focused; beeping/shock is just one more stimuli, along with you yelling your lungs out and throwing rocks. For those dogs, you can use invisible fence but you must also have some kind of barrier, something visual that says: do not cross here. (Same for cats, actually.) I've seen low bushes ringing the yard, knee-height chicken-wire on stakes, even open-woven bamboo.
Invisible fencing works best in conjunction with training, not replacement. I use the command, "stay in the yard!" as an alert when either dog gets too close to the perimeter. After enough times (depending on dog-brain and size of prey), it sinks in, and the dog knows "this is my yard" and will run to the edge but no further.
(Which was actually true of our dalmation -- the problem was that she considered the front yard to be part of her territory, fence or no. She never actually left our property, but she'd run along the sidewalk, on the grass, to 'scare off' any joggers. Damn those joggers. Bad people.)