April 2011 – Minimal Effort

I knew that when I got older and a little more comfy with my living space and my financial situation, I would get dogs. I always wanted to get corgis and my bf always wanted to get Labradors (Retrievers, Chocolate, whichever). My cousin, who has two corgis, found the perfect match for me and sent me the link. It turns out that a rescue had a corgi-mix named Kisses, and I knew once I met her, I had to have her. So we got Kisses and renamed her Evie (which she took to very quickly. I think she hated the name Kisses too. My kind of dog). Evie had a semi-shaky start the first two weeks, but soon enough, she settled in and loved her new family.
After about 6 months or so, I enrolled Evie into some classes and hired a dog walker…anything to keep her happy and safe, because I’m just an overachiever like that. Then I thought, perhaps she needs a buddy. Evie HATES dog parks (we took her once, and she never left my side or would hide underneath my legs. No more dog parks for Evie), but she’s ok with her walking buddy, a labrador retriever named Bailey. So perhaps she does better with a one-on-one situation without all the crazy activity that happens at a dog park.
So the bf and I start looking on Petfinder, and lo and behold. There he was. A Pembroke Welsh Corgi (purebred) who needed a family. His name is Rocky.

The description indicated that Rocky had “previous troubles” at his former home and he was a serious thoughtful guy. He was tiny (I thought corgis were bigger but then again, maybe because I’m judging off of Evie) and he was living in a foster home in West Virginia. I put in an application for Rocky and got a phone interview from the Tri-State Corgi Rescue. Immediately, I could tell the interviewer liked me. I guess it was the things I was saying (I had already adopted a corgi-mix rescue, I had hired a dog walker. I want to put him in classes) that thought we were the right family. She indicated a few red flags:

   1. He was on Prozac

   2. He didn’t like to be brushed or nails clipped, so she aced him

   (Acepromamine, something like that, a tranquilizer)

   3. He was nervous around other dogs and whined when he saw them

   4. Food possessive and a resource guarder

However, there were some positives, that I liked:
   1. He is crate trained and potty trained
   2. He LOVES to play tug and fetch (Evie doesn’t tug nor fetch, to bf’s dismay)
   3. He takes well to commands
   4. And look at his face! One of the cutest dogs on the planet.

So after some discussion with the bf and time we could dedicate to Rocky (put him in classes, feed him from hand to deal with food possessiveness, play games and classical music to calm him down…) we decided we would trek to West Virginia (4-5 hour drive) pick up Rocky and bring him home with us.

When we got to the foster home in WV, Rocky was in his little crate and he looked up at us with puppy dog eyes. There were other dogs in their other crates who looked on as Rocky did a little dance that he was out and there were new people to greet! We took him in our rental car, with his prescription of Prozac and Ace and drove 4-5 hours back home (poor Evie).

We get home around midnight and take Evie out to meet Rocky on neutral ground. It did NOT go well. Rocky went BALLISTIC! (I had Rocky and BF had Evie across the street). Evie, protecting her owners started barking at him to calm down. I, clueless about this reaction, put him down in an alpha roll and tried to calm him down. Bf went back upstairs with Evie and I walked Rocky around to drain a little of his energy. Maybe it was because he was in the car so long? Maybe it was because Evie was a bigger dog?

Maybe I just make a big mistake?

I finally took Rocky upstairs (after calling the BF and telling him to put Evie into the bedroom) and created a fort (out of M-Audio speakers) for Rocky at the corner of the house until I can figure out he and Evie could get along.

The next morning, Rocky had JUMPED over the fort (WHA?) and he and Evie were just lounging around like nothing had ever happened. So bizarre. So I made this fort for nothing?

I take him out for a walk and again, goes ballistic seeing other dogs. Oh my. What have I gotten myself into? Bf starts shaking his head, this was more than he bargained for….

To be continued…

*Edit note: I intended to make this post a 3 part series and going got to stop at part1. I’ll probably have some anecdotes about him in the future but will no longer continue the 3 parter and end on this post.

The most interesting sign I saw in the Bahamas.

Hello everyone…all 3 of you. I’ve actually had this blog for awhile but didn’t post anything because I just couldn’t think of clever name for it nor a particular topic that would be the focus of this blog. So I just sat on it until something excellent came up. Then I thought, well, that’s why I have yet to make a movie. I haven’t thought of anything clever or good enough to shoot, so the thought of wanting to do it sits in my mind. If I’m going to go at the same rate of writing this blog at the same rate of making my movie, this blog would be blank for decades. So let’s start small. Let’s start with one damned entry and take it from there. Since I can’t think of a particular theme (weight loss, foodie, my doggies, etc) to keep people coming back, here’s a list of things that I will PROBABLY write about (in no particular order): Movies, Doggies (particularly MY doggies…wherein my boyfriend calls them “doggers”). Oh, my boyfriend. Things I hate. People I hate (or really really dislike). Things that annoy me. Eating. Traveling. Training for either a triathalon or a half marathon. MAYBE politics and/or religion (don’t want the crazies coming here). Lists.

To break it down: Movies: I have a degree in film and television. Although this does not necessarily make me an expert, it makes me a person obsessed with the format. I believe that the more movies or television (or media for that matter) you see, the more of a good taste barometer you may have. I know plenty of people who know what a “good film” is but still love “bad movies” (hello boyfriend). I also know of people who have only seen romantic comedies and action movies and hence, anything not following that formula must ‘be bad’. Long story short, I almost always have an opinion of such matters and like to advertise that my opinion is better than yours and will think you are also a genius if you agree with my opinion and an idiot if you don’t agree with my opinion. If you change my opinion, then you must have magical powers and I may expose your magical powers to….the magical power league. I don’t know what the magical power league would do other than play Dungeons and Dragons and/or Cthulu. People who play Dungeons and Dragons and/or Cthulu are biased anyway and hence, my opinion will remain unchanged. In the end, I’m just right. Brava to me.

Doggies: I love corgis but I’m not picky. I love both the cardis and the pembrokes but I just happen to have pembrokes because those were the ones at the rescue (What up to Friends of Homeless Animals and Tri State Corgi Rescue! whut whut). Oh, and I love labradors, some terriers, retrievers and mutts. As a new pet parent, I’m finding it to be a lot more work than I anticipated and will probably communicate as such.

My boyfriend: He’s really tall. Like really tall. Probably why I like corgis…because I feel like a corgi standing next to him ( I shed a lot, am stubby and short). Also, he’s always finding himself in sticky situations which is fun to document.

Things I hate: Because who doesn’t like a good vent every now and then? Current thing I hate? Allergies. I KILL YOU ALLERGIES!

People I hate (or really really dislike): Because who doesn’t like a good vent every now and then? Current thing I dislike? Whippersnappers. (To be documented in a later entry)

Things that annoy me: Right now, people who think television and intelligence are mutually exclusive. Just because I watch Fringe doesn’t mean I don’t read books either. That sentence doesn’t even make sense nor does that logic! It’s double negatives everywhere! AHHHHHHHH.

Eating: I’m considered a “foodie” amongst many of my friends. But, I just like good food and will experiment to find it. Also, I’m a cheater with eating as in, I have friends who ARE genuine foodies and typically pass off the information as if I was the actual person to have found the place. But alas, most places I discover and give my stamp of approval are either recommended to me by a friend, yelp or a blog. And no, I gave up on trying stuff that Food Network recommends. Sorry Food Network.

Traveling: One of the biggest reasons I will never have children but also one of the most important things that I think people should do: travel. We are more than our own culture.

Training for either a triathalon or a half marathon: So I’m currently in training for a half marathon. I start training for a triathalon in about a month. I am terrified, I am fat and I am probably going to be the slowest one. So watch out for entries about my fat triathalon training. Yay.

MAYBE politics and/or religion (don’t want the crazies coming here): I will always listen to every side but sometimes one side just sounds crazy and I have a hard time paying attention.

Lists: Because lists are awesome. And also because I’m too lazy to think of anything clever (like a theme for this blog, a title for this blog or a movie). Speaking of which, if you have a snazzy theme or title, let me know in the comments. Or you can silently stalk me. Whichever. The End.

Month: April 2011

The Rocky Road with Rocky the Corgi, (supposed to be pt 1)

Introduction, again