My job does something really important for me.
It is something that no other job in the whole entire world could ever do.

It makes me appreciate the firm consistency, natural coloured, small quantity of my dogs' poops.

Orange diarrhea at work today people! Orange! What are these people feeding their dogs?
It was orange!

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I can't wait any longer

I had to start my plants.
I know it's early, but I can't wait any longer. I started with the indoor plants, to try and stave off the need to start the outdoor ones.

I re-potted the ivy and the... possible ficus? Then, because the possible ficus was too top heavy and growing funny I cut it back, braided the stems together to make a nice centered base, and not it's looking pretty neat and tidy, able to support it's own weight.

Then I started my seeds. They'll have to live inside for awhile yet, I know, because we aren't out of frost season, but I just had to get them in some dirt.

Badger ate a lot of dirt in the process.

Speaking of Badger's eating habbits, he's almost outgrown his 14" collar, I've bought him a 16" inch, and hopefully that will do him for the rest of his days.

Later I will take pictures of my planting exploits, and maybe I'll snap a few shots of the dogs, perhaps get them in a photo together? Rare as that is, it will be my best record of Badger's growth.

Rare moments

Badger and Kodi are asleep beside each other on the couch.
Any attempt on my part to move and record this image will result in
A) throwing Kodi in to a sulk
B) waking up Badger and returning my home to a state of chaos that only lapses when he's sleeping

So you'll all just have to take my word for it.

.

Things I do like about Badger

-his 'dirty foot'
-the dairy cow colours on the roof of his mouth
-when he falls asleep with his legs pushed up against my thigh
-the noise he makes when I don't put his food dish in his 'usual spot'
-his ear tattoo PID 1OW which I call "pidlow"
-his snores, which are really loud, but equally hilarious
-that he growls when he plays tug
-how floppy he is, especially when he's sleepy
-how nicely he rides in the car
-how he crawls into to Kodi's kennel with him every night in an attempt at a sleep over (maybe someday?)
-how proud he looks when he finds a stick

not enough love to go around

I found this old post today! It's June 21, 2012 and I guess I better update it!
Ha! Wow!

I'd like to happily report that NONE of it applies any more.
Badger and Kodi are such good buddies that I'm worried what will happen to poor Badger when Kodi grows old and passes away. They play every day, share all their toys, beds, AND my affections. I love my Badger boy to bits and would never give him up.

Puppies are hard. Badger was harder than most because he was quite disinterested in forming a bond with me and he had some oddities that I might even go so far as to call abnormalities in his development. I can't say that now (well, except for the odd part) and though it took over a year for us to 'click' he's now my little shadow and I miss him when he's not around.

I know that I'm not the first person who has had these difficulties with a puppy. After I got through my experience and found the love for my boy and from him, I started to hear about other people, many of them trainers or people who have competed in high levels at dog sports or other things. I heard about people sitting outside ex-pens in tears as they look at the dog that they so desperately wanted to connect with, people being shut down by their breeders or fans of their breeders for daring to suggest that the dogs weren't all they were trumped up to be (my breeder was great, btw) and I know that a handful or them were re-homed, some just shy of a year, some at over two years. I also know that for some of these people they were able to hang on long enough to find that sudden and magical 'click' like I found with Badger the day he learned to stay. For some people it took only a couple months longer than they thought, for me and Badger it took over a year and half (though by six months I'd decided he was mine no matter what he decided he wanted to do) and for some it took years.

I have to say, the 'click' is amazing. I'm sure I had that moment with Kodi too, and I'm sure that everyone who's never experienced a dreadfully delayed 'click' has had them with all their other dogs. But those click happen so fast and so soon that they go unnoticed. I suspect my 'click' with Kodi occurred the moment I stepped out of the breeders house with him in my arms. Badger's was more special, more memorable, and I still get a happy little flutter in my stomach when I see him waiting in the window for me when I get home from work, so happy to see me. And I'm so happy I get to see him, every day. My life wouldn't be right without this dog and I'll never doubt another in the future, I'll just look forward to that 'click'.

I thought about deleting this post, because I come off so beat down and harsh. I was beat down, and I was harsh, and I'm keeping this here so that when the next new puppy comes along I can read back on this one, smile to myself and go "oh yeah, Badger was worse, and look how great he turned out"

Thanks to the worst puppy ever! Love you Badger boy!

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I find myself more and more often looking at my dogs and feeling bad. The problem arises simply from the appearance of the plural now when I refer to my pets. I look at Badger and I feel sorry for him and on the odd occasion I wonder if I made a mistake.
I don't think I will ever love this puppy the way I love Kodi, and that makes me feel terrible.

It isn't Badger's fault that he didn't come first, that he missed out on the last eight years of ups and downs during which Kodi had the opportunity to comfort and console. It's certainly not his fault that he pees on the floor, bites, chews things he shouldn't, whines, barks, makes me get up early. Yet, he's the one I get annoyed at, push away when he makes Kodi snarl, and he's the reason that my favourite times of the day work around his naps.

I wonder if it would help if Kodi liked him. If Kodi loved the puppy then maybe I would feel like I could love him too because he makes one of the most important things in my life happy. Instead, Badger does the opposite.

I will continue to remind myself that the days are still early, Kodi has already come a long way and maybe someday they'll be the best of friends. I remind myself that badger won't pee inside forever, the biting is because he is teething, as is the chewing, and someday he will learn like Kodi did, about sleeping in on Saturdays.

We made one step today. I was too inconvenienced to put the crate in the car so I decided to try badger without a crate. He lays on the back seat even more quietly than Kodi does. It's a glimmer of hope in the world of constant bathroom breaks and puppy bites.

Gah!

Ultimate!

So I bought an 'ultimate pepperoni pizza' to make in the oven, but when I opened the package it only had 12 slices of pepperoni total on it. That is 1.5 slices of pepperoni per slice of pizza.
What kind of ultimate peperoni is this?