A Major Setback

Doofus bit one of my tutoring students yesterday afternoon. No harm was done and the skin was not broken, but this only proves that we did not get the proper training at M'sBF. I will call them today to discuss the situation.

As usual, there were circumstances that helped create the problematic situation. But bottom line, Bubba must learn that biting is inappropriate behavior. If he can't learn this, he will be out of here.

On a better note, immediately after this incident we picked up Sue and went to Big D for the Dallas Summer Musical production of Phantom of the Opera at the State Fair Music Hall. I was able to drop the girls off almost at the front door as if I were a limo driver. Sweety said the production was wonderful - great music, performances, sets, etc. That's good because I tried to find her a Christmas present that she would enjoy as much as I enjoy the golf cart she gave me.
She still has six more shows to see.

It was easy to pick them up, too. Went right back to where I dropped them off, waited about a minute for them to get to the car, whooped a u-turn and drove 2 blocks to get back on the freeway headed for home. Got here about 12:45.

Except for the attack, it was a good day.

A Minor Accomplishment

Bubba and I were working on obedience training in the driveway when the mailman came by. I told him to sit, stay. That would be Bubba sit and stay, not the mailman.

He did a great job. He didn't even offer to bark. Very proud of him.

More Home Improvement

Sweety and I installed this DIY awning over the new back door. Not hard to do and I think it will provide a little shade and some rain protection. A local awning company quoted $320 for a similar one. We got this one for less than $130, including shipping. Woohoo!

Pretty cool, IMHO.

I think we need some plant(s) in that white planter next to the door. It will be very sunny and hot there this summer. Suggestions will be appreciated. 

He's Baaa-aack!

We picked up the Bubster Saturday, and frankly, I'm disappointed in what we got for our $2,200. What I got out of it was that he is a good dog, he didn't display any aggressive tendencies while at Man's Best Friend, and we just need to work on obedience. And I shouldn't make the leash shorter by using my left hand. And we get lifetime training for him (and us).

I admit I have not been as consistant as I should have been in making him heel when we walk. I also learned to not put him away in a bedroom when a stranger comes to the house. We need to put his leash on him and teach him to "make friends" by letting him see the visitor come through the door, getting the visitor to stand still while Bubba "makes friends", and yanking his chain when he shows the slightest aggression. Hope this works.

Sweety needs to practice with him, but so far, nothing has happened. I hope she will try to become a good master so he will come to her when she calls him. That seems to be a big deal with her, as it should be. But he can't be blamed if she doesn't work on it.

So, long story short, he is still going to be around for a while. Hope he sticks.

UPDATE: Sweety spent several minutes walking Bubba last night. Way to go.

Amazing Technology

I know others have said this many times, but I was reminded this morning about the amazing age of technology we live in.

Sweety posed the question of how do "they" determine when is Easter? Since my laptop was sitting on the foot stool, somehow connected wirelessly to the internet, I picked up my wireless mouse and Googled "Easter dates" and in less than a second I had a list of hundreds of thousands of references to those two words. The first one in the list had something to do with "Ash Wednesday", but the next was exactly the bit of information I was looking for.

So I was thinking about H's birthday coming up and how she probably takes for granted all this technology. She is exactly half my age, and she has had computer access for more than half her life.

But it also occurs to me that her generation has not witnessed one of the greatest technological accomplishments of my generation. She was born six years after man first walked on the moon on 20 July, 1969, and three years after man last walked on the moon on 7 December, 1972. BTW I googled that information.

So, you ask, when is Easter? The simple explanation is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox on March 21st. Or, no earlier than March 22nd or later than April 25th.

Inside Improvement

Sweety turned the bathtub in the master bathroom into a seat because we don't take baths. Last fall, this is where we kept trees and flowers until we got the greenhouse put together.

Oh, yeah. We take showers.

Backyard Improvements

Here are some pictures of the new, improved backyard. All pictures are taken from the new door out of the computer/guest bedroom room. The adirondack chairs around the giant, green, plastic spitoon.
An angel praying that anything in the new flower beds survive.
A post.
The iron butterfly and iris. Note the recently re-transplanted banana tree.

Mush!

While checking my site meter today, I noticed that someone from India had had visited "Bubba Bites". One of the site meter reports tells me how a visitor got to my blog. This person had searched for information on "Iditarod", and they found me because I have pictures of the Iditarod race dogs from Sundog Kennel in Talkeetna, Alaska!

I was reminded that the Iditarod race is going on now. The Sundog Kennel team was in 20th place at the time I checked this afternoon.

Speaking of dogs, no news on the Bubster. But in this case, no news is good news. He has not starved to death nor has he flunked out of school.

We still take Paypal.

Help, He's Starving!

Not really. Just trying to stir up some sympathy for the tip jar.

I got a call yesterday from Amber (or Amy?) at Man's Best Friend saying that they noticed that when I signed Bubba in Friday I requested he be fed a lamb and rice dog food as he is allergic to either corn or beef, we don't know which. She left a message on the recorder that since I didn't leave any food for him, and if I still wanted him to have lamb and rice, I would have to buy one of their bags of dogfood.

When I called back, I told them of course I would buy a bag of food for Bubba as I didn't want him to starve. Of course I knew they wouldn't let him starve, but she was all "Oh, we wouldn't let him starve. We would feed him." I told her I was just jacking with her, but I'm not so sure she was convinced. I did tell her that we brought a new bag of food with us, but they have a sign that says "If you bring food for your dog, you must bag enough food for each meal individually. No food will be returned." So, since we had not known of this rule (and would not have bagged up 14 days of meals anyway), we just brought the food home, assuming incorrectly they would feed him the proper kind of food. Looks like for what we are paying, they could chip in with the correct food.

Anyway, just remember when you make your DONATION to the Save Bubba Fund, to kick in a little extra for the food.

We still accept Paypal.

'Nother Chance

I haven't blogged this week because I'm concerned about Bubba. He may not be allowed to stay with us much longer.

Sweety has reached the end of her rope with his vicious outbursts towards strangers, visitors, walkers on the street, kids, golf carts, UPS delivery guys, and other animals. She would like to have another dog, but when we brought another dog over to see how Bubba would react, he was awful. So we decided he would probably have to go back the rescue people we got him from. We are just concerned that he is going to hurt someone (ELSE) or someone's pet and we will be in a world of hurt.

Monday, we saw the movie Eight Below about the sled dogs in Antarctica. I was really depressed after seeing it and thinking about what I was going to have to do to the Bubster. So I asked Sweety if I could find someone who would change his behavior, could we give him one more chance. She agreed.

Unfortunately, none of the local trainers gave me much hope. So I called Man's Best Friend in Dallas. They assured me that they have trained many dogs like Bubba. They will train him to be a "Protector Dog" but in so doing, will train him to have an "off switch" so that we can tell him he can take time off from protecting us.

He goes to Dallas tomorrow. It will be expensive, but I think he is worth it. The price includes lifetime retraining and after he graduates, we will have to go back every couple of weeks for a while so they can correct any problems. Also, they said if they judge that he cannot learn about the "off switch", they will only charge for boarding.

So, now I'm going to find out how to attach a "tip jar" to this blog and invite anyone who wants to help save Bubba to contribute. We take Paypal.

BTW, I recommend Eight Below. But beware the leopard seals.