A Wicked Convergence of Circumstances Mk 2.0

I finally finished the transferring all of my book reviews to good reads from my word press blog that I haven't used since roughly 2010. Which is also why I deleted it! Next step is continuing the Post Redaction Project on dreamwidth.

 

Roy thinks cement is a chew toy.

 

So last night was for some reason was full of anxiety dream chaos. I dreamed about encountering a former coworker/LJ acquaintance this was accompanied by a role play setting and a centaur boyfriend. The plot of the dream mostly involved me flying around to avoid the coworker/LJ acquaintance while remembering in lucid detail exactly why I wanted to avoid her. (It is an epic story involving panic attacks, some dude thinking I'm part of a faceless conspiracy out to get his ill-tempered aggressively know it all ass, the wife of the asshole unfollowing me with a dramatic flounce, the sudden discovery that acquaintance was in fact, only being friendly to be polite when she said she wasn't, (she defended me to the asshole as being "strange but harmless" if I recall correctly) and more panic attacks expressed as flailing incoherent rage.) So I dream about this person in fits and starts and generally wake up in the middle of the night still seething in rage.

Then I had a weird dream involving a movie with John Wayne in it that may or may not exist with extra scenes that mostly likely didn't happen. Also horses. Also a small creepy girl. I was simultaneously in the movie, watching the movie and trying to research if it exists. I woke from these dreamlets vaguely confused and wondering if I should look up the movie on my phone.

Then I had a dream I was out to eat with my family. Except I was at a different table, and I think at one point they drove off without me. And there was something else about the restaurant silverware where I almost took it with me. And then they show up again in the car but the traffic is bad and they can't stop. I am of course not all that interested in getting into the car and am thinking of taking public transportation. Also there's a movie theater that's wrecked but used to be a theater theater before it became a movie theater or wrecked.

So I woke up very cranky this morning.

 

OtherCat: hears what is probably a bird in the early morning hours while taking out puppy.

Othercat's Brain: Decides it is the high pitched and deceptive call of an immense murderbird THAT IS STALKING YOU AND YOUR HELPLESS PUPPY AND SOON YOU WILL BE CONFRONTED BY ITS AXE LIKE BEAK AS IT TURNS THE CORNER AROUND ONE OF THE BUILDINGS.

PUPPY: has no idea why big sister keeps twitching because of the BIRD

 

I love my new apartment. It is so big. So so big. I do not love the sliding glass door because the lock does not latch properly half the time. I am getting one of those security bars that hold the door closed. I already have one of those screw widgets that you stick in the track.

But the apartment itself is lovely and huge and weirdly easier to keep neat? That is, nothing looks too cluttered. And the bathroom isn't a room inside the bedroom. Which I hate.

 

They were able to replace the old lock on the screen door, and I discovered there is a pin you can stick into the top of the door in addition to the lock.

I got a Scary Sonic Device that has immensely improved Roy's tendency to lunge and ignore me. I also got him a prong collar. (The prongs are snap together blocks with triangular "prongs". It is supposed to be easy to adjust. They are not. My hands are not strong enough to do the twist/snap so I end up doing a lot of swearing.) The prong collar does not seem to phase him very much, but he's getting more cooperative about letting me get it on him. The Scary Sonic Device does phase him.

He is learning not to yank on the leash, not to lunge at people or out the door and so on. I also want to stop the biting because he seems to think I want to play I Bite Your Face with him, and I lack the thick skin and dentition. I am also giving him treats when he does things he's supposed to so it isn't all negative reinforcement. (It's just. He doesn't seem to understand no? And he's very smart, but he won't pay attention?)

Speaking of treats, I bought him a couple cow hide bones and a few boxes of Milkbones. He is completely ripping apart the one cow hide bone I gave him. I'm also getting new leashes.

So far I've taught him "sit" and sort of taught him "heel" and "come"I am not sure how to go about teaching him "stay" or "lie down." This is why I want to get him into some obedience classes.

 

i was actually going to recommend obedience classes, if you have any in your area, yeah. animal training is a bit of special interest of mine (i taught my betta tricks, my cats know commands...) but like, it is effortful, and sometimes just having another person their who has a lot more experience and can watch what's happening can be good, because they'll be better able to figure out what he's thinking and then figure out how to more effectively dissuade and distract him from behaviors you don't want and encourage behaviors you do

re: biting your face, not a tip for in the moment, but. one of my cats gets bitey when she feels like she's been neglected playwise overall, and trying to commit to 10-15 minutes of playtime with her at least every other day really helped cut back on that. (the other thing we did was, when she bit us, she got a 1-3 minute time out; really mostly what happened was, because she would bite us while we were on the bed, she would get picked up and put out of the room, but if it happened anywhere else we would leave and go in the room and always close the door so she couldn't follow.) i don't know what you're current activity level with him is, but a combo of immediately physically removing yourself when he does this + increased play time (not just exercise, and this is where an irl dog trainer would be good because they would have advice (if this is the right guess!) on what kind of play would be most satisfying for what he wants out of this) in other circumstances might help?

re: not understanding no, he is also just a puppy so he might be going through a deliberate rebellious phase. teenagerdom

 

Roy: *about to do something he shouldn't*
Me: No.
Roy: *does something he shouldn't*
Me: No.
Roy: *Barks*
Me: No.
Roy: *Barks*
Me: No I don't like that.
Roy: *lies down, then barks.*
Me: No
Roy: *muffled barking because now he's biting a throw pillow.*
Me: No. *removes throw pillow.*
and so on. with variations until he gets "no." He has taken to, when I catch him playing with the throw pillows to attempt returning them to the couch. To continue chewing on them like that won't get him in further trouble. Also, he chewed on the dresser drawers and I didn't catch him soon enough because the chewing sounded exactly like the chewing on his rubber ball.

 

Me: Lie down!

Roy: *lies down*

Me: Okay, now stay! Stay!

Roy: *still lying down, barks, manages to stay for about five seconds*

Me: *starts over from beginning*

Roy: *lies down, stays for a few seconds and starts barking. while lying down.*

Me: Yes, I know this is frustrating, try being the one trying to teach it, instead of doing it!

I may or may not be able to teach him to replace the throw pillows after knocking them off the couch. When he sees me coming around the couch he's started trying to pull the throw pillow back with him. Now if I could just teach him not to murder them, or my couch. (So far he hasn't, but...)

There is a well meaning older gentlemen who is slightly annoying me because he keeps distracting Roy. He has offered two toys for Roy, one of which has already died, with Roy having found the prize in the center. (That being the squeaky.) The older gentleman keeps giving me advice, none of which is particularly useful. For instance, there is no way i am ever going to use one of those reel-leashes that extend 20 ft. Why would you even want to do that. It's not safe for you or the dog. It would give the dog way too much leverage.

It is particularly upsetting because Roy has managed to nip this dude hard enough to draw blood. (Roy has almost never drawn blood with me.)

 

What I do have is a lot of bruises all up my arms because I still haven't quite convinced Roy I'm not delicious.

I have tried:

• Hi pitched "ow" noises in hopes he gets I'm a delicate flower who should be played with gently He does not care
• Grabbing his snout (sadly I sometimes grab the parts with teeth) he dodges very quickly. If I can get a hold of his jaw I can pinch him, and that works
  
• Doing the "collar yank and telling him to settle down" This is actually not effective with his ordinary collar, though the prong collar I got him does get the message across
• "Scruffing" him while telling him "no!" Sadly, Roy has very loose skin and can turn around in it very fast

I end up doing a combination of of all of the above! He's been much less excitable since he's been able to have more time out of his kennel/hanging out/playing/getting trained.

 

Roy: Can I play bite you?

Me: No. *grabs muzzle*

Roy: Just a teeny bite?

Me: No. *grabs muzzle*

Roy: You're on the floor! That means I can bite you! *jumps and play-growls, tail wagging.*

Me: No. Stop biting me. *flails around until I can get a hold of muzzle and close it.*

Roy: I'm not even biting hard! *barking and play bow*

Me: I don't care! Stop it! *tries to get hold of muzzle. Roy dodges and runs off.*

Roy: YAY TAG!!

Me: No, no it isn't. *tackles and gets hold of muzzle after grabbing the sharp end of jaws.*

Roy: Waugh! sister is so mean!! *flailing and then lying flat, barking sulkily.*

He's also chewing on the dresser. After I managed to dissuade him from eating the end tables. He is either very smart and testing me, or very stupid and doesn't know what "no" means. Possibly it's a six of one, half dozen of the other situation. I think he actually wants the chewies, which aren't there because I'm out. Except for the pig bone which I don't want to give him because the previous pig bone gave him diarhea.

Roy is however very good for exercise! Sadly I am almost out of treats and food, otherwise I'd be able to give him some training/distraction/enrichment. He's destroyed another of his toys! Still hasn't managed to destroy the throw pillows.

 

Roy has destroyed yet another toy I got for him. I also got a new prong collar for him since the older one was too hard to put on/not really working on him anymore. Also got him more chewies, Milkbones (for bribery purposes) and a new harness. (He murdered the old harness.) I also got him dog food and a tie out. (I plan on using a short training leash for the lead) I also got him a mesh muzzle because he is still a bitey little brat.

 

I have not finished the post redaction project for my dreamwidth or done much writing. This makes me sad. :( Hopefully I can do better this month.

 

I vague over a kerfuffle I witnessed on one of jjt's
(copied from tumblr):

The Thing That Upset Him: (I think) was the part where you called the dude he stans a scrub. That was not a super great allegory. Describing where he went wrong about the story *exactly* sans the allegory, and why he shouldn't use that particular story would have done better? Because the allegory trips a definite "do not trust" wire, and I know the (in)accuracy of the story. But that's me. I got no horses in the race, as I am not in the fandom.

But I am going to vague because someone who doesn't respect "I didn't understand, and it seemed like you were calling the dude I'm a fan boy of a scrub" Isn't going to respect "Um, I think there was a miscommunication here?" Probably for the same reason they don't respect the former. For lo, I also have brainweasels/lack of spoons.

Extension:

So, the story in question was in the new testament about Jesus kicking the money lenders out of the temple. It's uh. Pretty much pasted in antisemitism. Very historically inaccurate, my sources/research says. It was as stated in the post, a kind of exchange to ensure the celebrants had acceptable sacrifices, *not* a bad thing, *not* moneylenders. The exchange was in a huge outer courtyard area *not* the inner temple. Where the other's explanation went wrong was a pretty nasty allegory comparing JC to a dirty creepy asshole wrecking shit. (A religious scrub in other words.) *this* was very understandably upsetting.

The allegory and the other person's very obvious anger/mutual misunderstanding was very upsetting. (To the point where I asked them who they were yelling at since they reblogged directly from me, but didn't name/ at anyone.)

 

I have an e-bike, woo! It has been a very very long time since I've ridden a bike, so my first ride was very wobbly. I really appreciated how much easier it was to pedal the bike since it had a motor. (the major issue of why I stopped riding a bike is because of a) my knees b) my asthma. One caused extreme pain, the other made it impossible to breathe and pedal at the same time.)

Once I get more used to riding the bike, it should be easier to get around, since walking in this weather (horribly hot) is awful. I am also hoping to walk Roy while on the bike, but that might not be a thing I can do. (That is, it might be too hard to try teaching him, and the pavement is currently too hot for his paws. The boy loathes asphalt.)

I've also gotten a bike chain and a helmet and a few other odds and ends. Next I'm going to see about getting bike insurance.

 

I took a slightly longer ride, and I can see it's going to take some extended practice before I can go anywhere on the e-bike. I tend to uh. try to pedal break, even though the pedals do not break. (I used to use both brake line brakes and brakes in the pedal.) This made turning difficult and briefly terrifying. I've been on the first setting. The second setting is...too fast. And again, I end up having trouble with turns.

 

...The back of my heel is bruised. I have no idea of how this happened. OW.
(Yes I know the heel is in back of the foot, I mean the spot right over the tendon.)

 

I'm going to jump completely into the water tomorrow and bike to my phys therapy appt! After that, I'm going to go to the library.

 

I did not go to the library. Getting to the phys therapy appointment was hard enough. (My legs were too pooped to pedal.) When I got there I found out that the power was out, so no appointment.

 

I am still getting used to the e-bike, so it was still tough going around curves in the sidewalk. Also there's a hill between me and the therapy office. There were some moments where I was a little wobbly, but no spills so far. (I am still trying to break with my feet, which is exasperating.)

Related: I fucking hate bridges. They are horrible and terrifying.