When should a dog be removed from his home?

Okay.

So the week I got Oscar I met this small light tan colored, short haired mutt similar in size to Oscar. SUPER sweet dog, running loose in the apartment complex, complete with collar and name/phone number/address tag. I didn't have my phone so I picked him up and carried him to my apartment, got my phone and my spare leash, and called said number. Since it was dark outside and I got him inside to better light I realized he was VERY skinny. As in not healthy dog skinny. But due to his disposition and the tag I thought perhaps he was older or had a health problem. In addition I am not one to judge as the dog I recently got was also quite skinny. Still is, but he's looking better.

The lady acted like it was a non-event, and goes "yeah he does that some times" and seemed torn about what to do because she was "all alone with an infant who was sleeping and couldn't leave him." Again, not being one to judge (who calls their child "an infant"? I thought the general parental term was "my baby" or something less scientific) I offered to bring him over. Turns out it's somewhat far, however the dog probably took a shortcut through the neighborhoods and hopefully not along the main road. Which is busy and lacks sidewalks, or a lot of space off the road to walk on. And is right next to a major freeway.

So.

Brought the dog over to her HUGE house with castle like qualities and fancy twisted brick arches over the driveway which led to a MASSIVE garage. I pulled into the driveway in front of the white escalade, and she came out and picked him up and said thank you and he wagged and trotted up the sidewalk. She told me he was their "Ike find" (I didn't realize hurricanes were like garage sales, but perhaps I have much to learn) and went inside. P.S. A middle aged man (presumably her husband) was standing at the bay window watching... alone with your infant? really?

Today, about 11:15 after watching Letters from Iwo Jima I took Oscar out and between two parked cars saw a familiar tan dog. He came walking up to me and growled at Oscar a little then wagged his tail and followed me down two apartment buildings and up two flights of stairs, and walked right into my apartment. He's just as skinny (it's been about 3 weeks probably) and had diarrhea smeared in his fur. I offered him some food and water (refused both) and called. Again. This time she came to pick him up. He saw the car and wiggled and I let him off the leash and he ran up to the car happily and jumped inside

I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying mean things. I wanted to drill her on her ability to care for the dog and threaten her with all the bad things that could possibly happen to Teddy, and threaten to take him to the pound. And demand they neuter him. But I didn't.

Why? Well for one, he was clearly happy to see them. And maybe he is just a really amazing escape artist. There's no excuse for the lack of neutering but I didn't have anywhere to keep him overnight without risk of an all out dog brawl, or diarrhea smeared on my couches.

And there really is no way to guarantee a better alternative. I can take him to a pound/adoption place where they'll probably just send him home anyway, or hopefully find him a better home, but there's no guarantee. I sure as hell don't need another dog although he's quite awesome.

But the reality of it is, he's running loose to get hit by a car, spread disease and make unnecessary puppies. So next time... what would be the best course of action?

Philosophy on dog training

I'm not a dog trainer. I don't have the patience, or really the big problem is my attention span.

Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh...

I've been thinking a lot about dog training (and horse training) and pet peeves.

This is what I have to say about dog training, and my dogs.

I love dogs because they are DOGS. Dogs are not children. I am not Oscar's mom, and I do not want to be. If I wanted children I would have them, but as you know I do not. I got a dog because dogs are NOT children, and I do not want to treat them that way.

Dogs (and children, but this post is not about children) need LEADERS not parents. Dogs need to be dogs and have a pack. Even a two member pack. Dogs need to NOT be the leader of the pack. So far I think oscar gets it. I can say no firmly and give him a look and 99% of the time he'll stop what he's doing and give me the "sorry" sad face.

We're up to 99% for "come" when we're inside, and about 50% outside with distraction. If I get his attention and crouch down at the dog park MOST of the time he'll come running and barrel into my lap for pats and "good boys" but if he's playing or making his initial rounds about the perimeter to "mark" his territory, he's not going to come for anything. However he usually will look up if I say his name, and check himself if I say no.

The only issue we've really had in the dog parks so far is really due to his youth and size. He's too exuberant and large to play with the small dogs (even though he's only 20lbs and fits in the small dog category), but usually bites off more than he can chew with the big dogs and gets scared and snappy.

I love being able to take him to the dog parks (there's one about 40 min away but it's 14 ACRES and offers a huge area for him to sniff around), and he LOVES playing with the other dogs, and he really needs the space for exercise), but he likes to play REALLY rough and it usually leads to him getting scared and snappy. He will usually just try and put them in their place but several times they don't back off or give him room and I'm worried it's going to get ugly.

I think I just need to stop worrying. Like I said before they're dogs. Dogs will be dogs and sometimes dogs scuffle.

Ring Manners and Riding

I've been riding for the last few weeks with a lady, Sue, who came into my work. She is a really nice woman and her daughter, Stacy, who is about 30 is also really sweet. They have three horses, two TB's and a TB/hanovarian.

Andy is a flea-bitten gray 19 year old OTTB. He's a little lazy but not at all difficult, but has some nerve damage due to EMP and needs a little extra work to keep him collected. Carousel is a 22 year old TB mare who is no longer ridable due to, I think, Founder. They told me but I honestly don't remember.

The TB/Hano is 6 years old, the daughter of their mare, and a bully of a brutish (beautiful) mare. She kicks when you ask her to move forward, she's pushy on the ground and she's not afraid to walk up to you in the field with ears pinned and a menacing look on her face. I'm still gaining trust and respect so I'm not asking for much, but I would really, really like to give her some serious ground manner training. Both of them are really nice, solid, intelligent horse women, but I have a feeling dealing with this sort of an attitude is probably something they're not quite used to.

They did let me ride her today, though. Just briefly and after my ride on Andy. Stacy rode her during my lesson and I felt she did a pretty good job of handling her. She rode her through their hiccups and didn't let up when she tried to kick out and suddenly drop to a standstill. But she's a serious "pretty-pretty princess" mare with a dominance complex and I have a feeling a couple solid whacks with the dressage whip when she kicks out may settle her a little bit. I feel a short, solid negative reaction would be more effective than ignoring the behavior.

When I got on her I asked her for a trot, all I got was a sidestep (in an effort to scrape me off on a jump standard) and a defiant toss of the head. Several kicks and clucks only resulted in her cow kicking and tossing her head back at me. I grabbed a dressage whip and tapped her shoulder and that got her trotting a little, but she'd randomly just completely stop and pin her ears.

-

Now.

Ring manners.

Stacy and I were in the large jumping arena when three women came in to join us. It's a big enough arena (it's huge, actually) that 5 horses would barely have any issues. The jumps add a little problems, but nothing crazy. They didn't warm the horses up at all, just immediately started into a various trotting patterns, circles, randomly changing direction, etc. They were all friendly and introduced themselves to me and said hello and such, but one lady walked over to the trot poles Sue had set up FOR TODAY and starts to move them again. Sue goes "alright Kara head over the trot poles" and I said "actually, I can't, she's moving them" and Sue turns to her and goes "actually we're using those."

The lady continues moving the pole and goes "right NOW?" and Sue was like "yes, right now. I set them up for us to use. What did you need it for?" and she was like "I just need a pole."

Did you notice how I said we're in a large jumping arena? With SEVERAL jumps set up? And poles lying around EVERYWHERE? She huffed and dropped the pole without bothering to put it back where it was and went to the other side of the arena and moved one of the like 4 poles lying by unused standards. Then they'd randomly all stop and gather in the middle of the arena (blocking the ability to use the trot poles) and stop and talk.

They commented on how "nicely" Andy was moving, but you could tell it was in a "...for him" sort of way. Andy is a fairly well put together horse, nothing super special, but for a 19 year old OTTB he's damn good looking, and healthy.

I was so annoyed by their incredibly snobby, bitchiness I could puke.

On to a happier note.

The first time I rode Andy I felt so unbalanced and discombobulated and disjointed I was wholly disheartened by my inability to ride more than effectively. I used to be effective AND pretty. I was good. Damn Good.

But i consoled myself by reminding me that I haven't been in a regular lesson program since I was about 18, and only taken sporadic lessons since. Granted I rode Katie fairly regularly she was NOT at ALL a confidence builder. Working at camp this summer gave me a completely different riding experience, was an incredible confidence builder and gave me a much better outlook and seat.

However it did nothing for making me a pretty dressage rider.

Two lessons later I feel like I improved 500%. I'm not back to my 17 year old self, but seriously?! lol, not going to happen for a while. I don't have the muscle tone or consistent riding time I did then.

That being said, I cannot express the excitement and happiness I feel having a riding routine.

Healthcare

First of all, I would like to say I am FAR from labeling myself as a democrat. Maybe I am, I don't know, but damned if I will label myself as a democrat.

However, the current "republican tea party" movement makes me want to stab myself in the eye. They're running around blaming Obama for the mess we're in... WHAT THE...? We're blaming big government but not big business? Why has the blame shifted from the banks, GM, Ford, Chrysler? Why are we not holding Bush accountable? How much LESS debt would we be in if we hadn't entered in a full scale war (this is not an argument for or against the war, simply a financial point I'm making)? THAT was not Obama. Obama did not control the market research GM, Ford, and Chrysler failed to do, which has caused a significant collapse in the auto industry. He did not control the auto industry that failed to put together the most OBVIOUS piece of economics together... when the price of oil goes up, people are going to try to buy less gas. I.E. more fuel efficient cars, buying fewer cars, and driving less. They should have seen that YEARS ago, and planned. The price of oil has been going up quickly and steadily for what, 9 years? It wouldn't have prevented anything for sure but it could have made life a little easier and less bankruptcy filled for some.

In addition I really dislike the american car maker's methods of manufacturing. Make as many cars as possible and sell them to the dealers and hope like hell they sell them. One of the main reason's Honda and Toyota have been so successful throughout this is not because they happened to make the smaller, more fuel efficient cars (it sure helped though, and was not a fluke. They've done better with research and development in the more recent years, in my opinion). It was because they made cars on demand. When dealers requested cars, they sent them. No excess inventory sitting around and wasting space and money.

Now.

The health care industry has been failing to provide adequate healthcare for years. According to the people who watch Fox News, the current health bill is going to "tax people who can't afford healthcare"

...

Really?

I need to do more research to verify this, but as someone who studied the healthcare industry (and worked for it) for almost a year, I am no expert. What I can say though, is the basic economics of healthcare and why it's currently failing.

Essentially it's gambling. As a healthcare insurer, you get together a large group of people, they all pay you a small amount of money and you hope you get to keep it all. But likely a few people are going to get sick, or injured, so you have to cover that with the money they paid you. But as expenses and costs increase, so does the premium the people pay to you. The higher the price, the more likely young, healthy people (who don't think they need it) are going to stop paying. As well as the poorer people. So because young healthy people are more likely to participate in risky activities, if they don't have insurance and get in a car accident or fall while mountain biking or horseback riding or what have you, they still have the right to care. And because poor people are less likely to take care of themselves (vitamins, regular checkups, etc.) they're more likely to go to the hospital when they're VERY sick (or dying), and someone has to pay for that.

Because neither the young nor the poor are likely to be able to afford the big bills, the hospitals have to increase THEIR costs to make up for what they lose in caring for those without insurance. So in turn the insurance companies increase their premiums to cover increasing costs, and more healthy people fall out of the pool.

What that means, too, is insurance companies are insuring fewer healthy people to help cover their costs of paying for the less healthy, they have to increase their premiums, or reduce the coverage.

I'll go back to why I said it's gambling. Casino's can only make money if the chances of winning aren't very good. Insurance companies can only make money if the chances of paying out on claims is also low. The fewer healthy people paying premiums, the higher the chances of a claim, and so they have to increase the premiums to cover the chances of payout.

Getting denied a claim, or having a $600 bill on stuff you assumed the insurance company was going to cover, because you followed protocol and sent in all the paperwork you were supposed to, week over week, getting "approved" to continue with treatment, only to get that $600 bill in the mail a few weeks later detailing all the costs the insurance company decided they weren't going to pay for, sucks.

So essentially the losers at the casino are the healthy people paying insurance. The more people who win/get sick, the less money there is to go around to pay out winners or cover other sick people.

So sick people get denied claims and the costs go up for everyone.

If you are a casino owner and you want more payouts, you have to get more people into the casino.

If you are an insurer and you want to cover more claims, you need more healthy people to pay into the pool to cover the claims.

Think about it this way;

With what I said above it seems like the healthy people are paying for the sick people to get better. Which is true, and right now the ones with insurance, they're paying a LOT of money. Those that have insurance though have a cushion against illnesses and injuries that come up, and if something bad happens, it's worth the money. BUT if more people were covered under insurance the premiums would go down for everyone.

I'm not going to argue for or against Obama's plan, but it's required to have car insurance for the same reasons as it should be required to have health insurance. It's for every individuals best interest AND for the greater good's interest. Whether or not Obama's health bill will achieve that I do not know, but just about anything is better than what we have now.

New dog

Oscar. I adopted him Monday, March 1st from the Montgomery County Animal Shelter in Conroe, TX.

He's about 20lbs, and needs about 2-3 more to be at a solid, healthy weight. He's probably about a year to two years, and is definitely a terrier. His face is very JRT like, and as he fills out, we will see if his body gets that look. But right now he's pretty narrow, with a deep chest and lanky, whereas most JRT tend to be rounder and more muscular.

Some thoughts on his confirmation:

His head is flat and the back of his head is kind of pointy, his back is slightly longer than he is tall, and his wire haired coat gets curly and stands straight up when wet (hilarious). His tail is long and muscular and when he walks he hold it straight with a slight curl upward. He has a strange gait, where his hips seem fairly wide-set and has a good wiggle when he trots.

Personality:

He gets along really well with other dogs, and LOVES to play chase. He growls a LOT in play and loves to play-bite. When he's just with me he loves to roll over on his back and wiggle around and play bite. Still learning about toys.

So far he's figuring out "sit" and "down." He definitely gets "no" and seems to fairly well understand "come." Generally if I can get his attention he will come running. This worked exceptionally well when he got loose the other night, as soon as he saw me get out of my car he stopped and looked at me. I bent down and called him and he came bounding over. He also did it several times at the dog park, where I called, knelt down and he came running.

I'm planning on crate training him, but as of yet he hasn't needed it. I still want it to be available for when maintenance comes, or other scenarios but as of yet he's been a model apartment dog. Minus the chewing up my camera cord and ironing cord, both of which happened while I was home.

I'm adjusting to having a dog again, and I feel it has been 100 times easier as a sole resident in the household. I get to be the leader, trainer, and there isn't anyone else trying to work with him. I got a head collar for him and I'll be working on walking better on the leash as soon as he gets better with wearing it. I'm just having him wear it for about 5 minutes every now and then, will probably start using it to walk him as soon as the weather gets a tiny bit better.

Side note

I decided this week I need a dog. I feel like I'm in a better groove at work. I'm financially settled enough to take on the responsibility, and I could use the companionship. So I've been browsing petfinder and I will be making a trip this week to the pound. I've emailed a few people about dogs I've seen on petfinder but I'll likely snatch one up at the montgomery county animal shelter this week. They tend to be the dogs in the greatest need, but I'm NOT going to just grab the first dog I see. I love Mae to DEATH but if I get another dog like her I will stab my eye out. I want a calmer, more obedient dog.

I'm also going friday to look at a horse to lease. He's an eighteen year old thoroughbred who needs a bit more exercise than he's currently getting. I'm under the impression he is mostly retired. The lady seems nice and he's at a dressage barn. His owner seemed very down to earth and sweet, so I'm hopeful it's going to be a laid back, fun dressage barn, not an uppity dressage queen castle.

I also removed several people from my life recently. A few more directly, but mostly from my facebook. This weekend was really hard. It finally hit me that Katie was dead. And next month is my sister's birthday, and my dad won't be here for that.

And I realized that girls I've known for 8, 10, 12 years haven't even checked in on me. One person specifically I am so incredibly disappointed in. I completely understand we all get busy and sometimes in life we lose touch (I am the worst at calling people), but I can't imagine someone I've been close with for A DECADE losing their father and their horse (or dog, or whatever), knowing that friend was very close to BOTH and doing nothing. I can't imagine not at least calling or sending a card, or flowers, or ANYTHING.

I've been fairly happy, all things considered, but I need to bring happiness into my life. I can't sit around waiting for my so-called "friends" to be there for me. Clearly, that is not going to happen.

So I'm going to make some room to go out and FIND friends that will. I've been very lucky to have some amazing friends (MaryAshley and Ellen, you two are amazing and I love you to pieces) but in order to bring happiness into my life I'm going to go out and find it. And if you can't be there for me through the tough times, you surely don't deserve to be there for the good ones!

Dating

Dating.

What IS dating?

As my closest friends will tell you, I am not very good at it. Mostly because I have no idea what it is.

I'm not really looking to get married (anytime soon), but I enjoy company and being active and meeting people. My friends will also tell you that I am, in their words "extremely picky" but I would like to say that I tend to suck at dates. In the sense that dates go, usually, pretty hilariously bad for me.

I tend to look at dating as getting to know someone, such as a new friend. However dating is usually a lot more complicated. However, I tend to get mixed up in the beginning; the easy part. Such as the "showing up or calling at the time specified previously," or the "not inviting other girls to movies without telling either girl" part. Yes, that actually happened.

Dating is confusing and makes no sense. Although it can be fun and usually (at least in my case) ends up in very entertaining stories. Which I feel this blog would be perfect for sharing my frequent mishaps. More to come on that later.

In other words, I will likely be getting a tattoo soon. Actually a couple. I have one planned with my sister (although I don't think she knows it yet) for my birthday in May. And one I'm considering as early as next week.

It's been something I've been considering for several months, but until recently have I actually found a design/concept that fits what I want. Now I just need to head to an artist and get a sketch and everything set up.