Kunoichi: Doggie Ninja

At first, Ichi seemed to really love her yard. Picture to the left as proof. Much running was done along with much fetching. There’s still fetch, there’s still running…but we’ve now begun to really find our nemesis: rain.

I should mention…Ichi is not scared of thunder or lightning. Or fireworks as we moved in shortly before the 4th. But, like most Shibas, we’re not exactly okay with water. Rain is just a lot of water that’s not really predictable.

Ichi has thus stayed almost always on the patio. It’s like she thinks of the grass as a very large bathroom, instead of a play pen. You have no idea how much begging I had to do to get her into the grass for the picture. If the ball goes into the grass, she hesitates and often decides not to go get it.

Well it’s been particularly rainy this week. Like every day, flash flood warnings, whole shebang. Naturally, this meant a lot of howling. Because Ichi must think that howling at the rain as it falls from the sky will stop it (she looks up as she does it). So we’ve worn our no-bark collar a LOT more. And we’ve been brought inside more (probably the real reason for the howling).

Last night I knew that I would have to bring her inside for the night or risk angry neighbors as the weather man said major storms. So at 11pm, I went to get her, figuring there would be some tv/petting time first. NOPE. She ran STRAIGHT to my room and under my bed, no-bark collar still on (what do you call a dog that is a scaredy cat?). Normally she comes out when she realizes I’m not trying to get her out. Not this time. When I realized that she probably would not come out before I wanted to sleep, I cleared the floor (easy in a new house) and made sure each door was securely closed.

Sure enough, I was awakened at 5am to a little scuffle sound that was Ichi waking up and getting out of “bed”. I patted the top of my bed and up she came (although from the other side, she’s quick!). I put an arm securely over her and held onto her until she was comfortable. Then I rolled over and went back to sleep. Imagine my surprise to find Ichi still on the bed when the alarm went off.

So now that we have a yard and don’t have to sleep in the house, we are well behaved enough to actually fall asleep and somewhat stay asleep on the bed next to me. This will not be an every night thing, but it’s nice to know that if I’m feeling a little depressed I can now fall asleep next to something cute, soft and furry. To be awakened to a lick in the face (yep that happened…a lot).

I may not always be the best at taking an active role in my own life. But I’m getting quite tired of all the pick-a-little, talk-a-little about our government. People, listen to me: it does not matter how many times you tell your friends how much you despise the current political climate and how you feel it’s just digging a deeper hole. I have no more authority than you do and neither do most of your friends. Therefore, I emplore you: stop complaining and DO SOMETHING. Tell someone that can do something about it.

Dislike universal health care: tell your congressman or senator! We have evolved into a culture with almost instant access to our elected officials. Most of them have twitter now. Yes, the president has twitter.

So, I did some digging for you. I’m making this really easy for you. Here’s how to get in touch with anyone from the state of Alabama on up. Read the rest of this entry »

Moving is going okay. Ichi has developed a new love of cardboard. She already liked it, but now she feels compelled to eat it. HOWEVER, she does the cutest thing now. I gave her an empty roll from packing tape to play with (it’s cardboard) and now whenever I’m packing, she’s got the roll in her mouth. I think she thinks she’s helping. And she is (by staying out of the way).

Movers are hired, fridge is bought, fans are bought, light kits are bought, paint is picked out (and a sample bought), utilities are transferred, inspection is done and my closing appointment is set.

Expect a picture of me opening the door, but then no other input for a while as I will be very busy.

Things have gone about like this: I’m standing in Lowe’s and it occurs to me that the fans I’ve picked out, one is not an outdoor fan, so I find one but it has no light kit. So then I’m standing at the light kits trying to decide for like 30 minutes (there are only like 20 of them) and the Lowe’s guy is probably bewildered as to why it’s taking me so long. Why did it take me so long? I was trying to remember if flies and mosquitos are repelled by yellow light (or at least not attracted to it). I bit the bullet, buy the teastained light fixture and am on my way. I checked this morning, they are indeed not attracted to yellow light. The closer the light gets to ultraviolet the more attracted they are to it and I’m about as far as you’re gonna get without being dark.

Plus I figure, yellow light will be all “hey look, it’s night and we can see” but white light would be “hey look, it’s night, we can see, and EVERYONE in the neighborhood knows we’re out here”.

Many boxes are packed. I numbered the ones that are newly packed, but my closests are already  deep chasms of rubbermaid tubs. Hopefully everything will get in quickly. And then I can unpack, see what I need and go see folks in ATL for costume fittings and an Ikea trip sometime in July.

And finally, yes, I ordered a new phone. Not becuase it was a new release, but because my screen is doing some wacky things. It’s like it knows. It hasn’t shipped yet (because there’s no way I’m standing in line at 7am, no).

Cause that’s totally how she’s gonna view it. Her yard. And for that matter, her house. Closing should be on or before June 30. I anticipate it being more exciting after I get out of the financial stages.

Pictures

And because I was asked to: Registry. The bed bath and beyond registry gun was heavier than I expected. If you want to get something off there, but find it somewhere cheaper, by all means get it there. Consider it more a list of suggestions.  I’m tempted to make Ichi one on like Petsmart.com if they offer that. A couple of people have expressed wanting to get her a more outside oriented toy.

More to come soon, including trying to move with a dog that doesn’t like strangers. At least in the new house she hopefully won’t be as possessive as it won’t instantly be recognized as “hers”.

No, Ichi didn’t have surgery, I did. On Thursday. Mom came up to take care of me and then we boarded Ichi while she took me home to surprise Dad for his graduation.

Thursday and Friday, Ichi was normal. She and mom took lots of walks while I slept and I think Ichi got petted quite a bit. When I picked her up from the vet yesterday I was told how squirrely she had been all day. Running everywhere.

So we get home (and she got petted the whole way home because I wasn’t driving). And she wasn’t the least bit squirrelly. She picked up almost instantly that I was practically couch bound. There would be very little bending, I moved slowly, and definitely no ball throwing. So Ichi, good dog that she is, parked herself on her pillow positioned at the edge of the couch. If I was there, she was there.

At some point I got up to make dinner. Ichi followed. She sat at the edge of the kitchen and huffed at me, throwing her head in the direction of the couch, as if to tell me “you aren’t supposed to be up”.

Later I went into my room and Ichi waited at the door until I lost my balance for a moment at which point she ran to me. She wouldn’t leave until I said “I’m okay, I promise”.

I’m amazed. She’s not usually this perceptive. I guess she figured something was up and changed how she behaves. Usually it’s “oh you’re sick? I still want to play fetch, here I brought you the ball”.

I guess after work today (I’m back but still don’t feel all that great), we’ll see how crazy she’s gone with worry.

Since it would be my last opportunity really, to make BSG themed food (and particularly cake), I cooked a big dinner (apparently for myself) on Friday night.

I like my cake. I’m not particularly adept at frosting, but I think I accomplished the humor goal. And why yes, I did make gray icing. And yes, his eye sparkles with dreams of your destruction. Or freedom, take your pick. Maybe he thinks your destruction is his freedom. Doesn’t matter, the centurions are still my favorite characters. Them and Doc Cottle. And Tigh.

Click for the insides (they are special). Oh and there might be some spoilers, but I’ll try to keep it vague.

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Too much has been going on is the short story.

For more excuses see: deciding my fate as a grad student, work, the end of BSG, trying to get back to sewing more often, etc.

But the number one reason is because Ichi is simply getting worse. I don’t know what has caused my sweet loving puppy to suddenly go off the deepend. But after a month of prozac’d bliss, we chewed our head collar off. She was great for a few days and then needed one again. But 4 days later she chewed off the new one. Now her aggression is not just becoming more frequent, but physically expanding into all areas of the house, EXCEPT the living room.

No new bites, thankfully, and luckily. But it is very scary for me. Decisions have been made. And I’ll leave it at that.

So, this has happened twice now at my apartment complex and I intend that first thing in the morning, I will be alerting the staff. Tonight a young woman knocked on my door. After taking control of Ichi, who immediately began barking, she and I headed towards the door and opened it just enough for only the 2 of us to be seen (I used to live in a college town where people would knock and beg for money so they could see what was in your apartment and how long it took for you to unlock the door, so I’ve learned a thing or two). 

She began to disjointedly tell me her sob story about how she was going to be majoring in journalism soon (but looked much older than 17) and her mom thought it would be good for her to meet strangers (by knocking on their door alone at night?). And then here’s the kicker: she only needed x amount of points to earn a scholarship. Out comes the familiar set of cards. Laminated cards for me to pick out a magazine to buy, for which she’ll earn points. 

Last time it was a young man who needed to win a trip to Hawaii. Same cards. 

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So, this is all afterwards since the during was encompassed by bigger issues.

Ichi bit me. It’s happened before, but not where I couldn’t calm her down. And she had never attempted to bite someone in public, just in the house (both mine and my parents). I had talked to the vet about it and we were in the process of training her out of this behavior. And she had been doing very very well.

But the guy I’ve been dating and I took her for a walk while I was sick on Wednesday and she got kind of aggressive to a new member in our community. I’m not sure he recognized it as aggressive, but when she did the same thing inside the house, I immediately went to calm her down and put her in her kennel. Well, she bit me three times. Joey got her in her kennel, but not without trouble. She bit my right thumb, left hand and right wrist. Nothing more than scratches and bruises though.

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Well, Ichi and I managed to survive the holidays. And before my mother sees that and decides to infer something, let me put plainly: I HAD NO INTERNET. Yes, I consider no internet for 9 days having to survive. I’m addicted. What can I say.

Surprisingly, Ichi was very calm through most of the holidays. She’s had the typical trouble of readjusting now that we’re home again, but even Joey remarked that he had never seen her so calm. And then there was dinner…

Last night was interesting. It’s like the one time I can ever fully get away with saying that a whiney bitch kept me up all night. Backstory: we’re having icky weather up here and she really doesn’t like the rain. 4am she started with the howling and didn’t stop until I moved her kennel to my room and said “stop” or “no” every time she started until 6:45am.

She’s also finally learned that begging works a lot better than demanding. Before she would jump all over you to get what she wanted, but via 2 holidays in a row, she’s figured out that sitting in the middle of the floor with this “I’m a good doggie, don’t I deserve a treat for how long I’ve sat here looking cute” face will get her pretty much anything she wants (see picture). Like cheese or steak or cheese covered chicken. Yep, she’s spoiled. Read the rest of this entry »