She’s Young and With It

Sherman has been shedding A LOT. We are talking about enough hair to fill almost a whole vacuum canister each day. Yes, daily vacuuming because he sheds so much.

We were looking around at groomers in town and a bunch of websites talked about something called a FURminator. We thought this was a special groomer thing until we happened to see it at the pet store. But, hoo boy, it was dang pricey for what looked like a regular comb. We were actually looking for pet clippers and thinking we were going to shave him to help stop the insane shedding. We actually bought some clippers before coming home to google “furminator.” The reviews of the FURminator were glowing. I found it online for roughly half the price it ran in the pet store.

We returned the clippers. I ordered the FURminator. It came and I immediately set to work on Sherman, despite the fact that it was dark and too cold to go outside. I worked inside, which was not very smart. Still! The amount of hair that came out was amazing. Sherman still loses a few hairs every now and then but I no longer feel an intense need to vacuum daily.

If your dog has an undercoat, you need a FURminator. I promise. I used it on the cats too. All of the animals seem to enjoy it to some extent. Chim Chim really likes it… until he gets overstimulated and starts biting. That’s no fun.

We went to the dog park today. I really love meeting other nutty dog people at the park. It makes me feel less insane about having all of our pets. You learn the story of a dog or two or three each time you go. For those of you who know her, Lisa from The Work*Shop was there with her three cuties today so we chatted for a while. Yay!

Taken on our way to the park:

Settle in for a long, boring story about a low-key holiday.

On Christmas Eve, we went to Whole Foods. I know that we spend a lot of money buying groceries at Whole Foods, but we just can’t go back to traditional grocery stores. We have considered traditional stores, but the thought is too depressing. After a recent news story about Jeremiah Cunningham’s World’s Best Eggs and how they are only sold at Whole Foods, we tried them. They are indeed pretty tasty eggs. Local! Organic! Truly free range! They are worth every penny.

I try to remember to bring my reusable bags to Whole Foods. They recently stopped offering plastic bags at checkout and now only offer paper or the $0.99 reusable bag. I was amazed at how many people bought one or two bags of groceries but did not go for the reusable bag. $0.99 people! You bought your expensive groceries so why not splurge on a bag?

So they always thank you at check out for bringing your bags. The guy was especially nice on Christmas Eve and said, “Thank you for bringing your bags and making that conscious effort towards change. Happy Holidays!” It was very sweet.

One of my goals for 2008 is to stop feeling self-conscious about bringing reusable bags to places besides grocery stores, like Target and Home Depot. So far I have not made that conscious effort towards change and I really need to work on that.

On our way home, guess what happened? A husky or husky mix was running down a 50 mph, four-lane road. He was right in the middle of the road. We thought we were going to see him get hit. Cars had to stop to keep from hitting him. One car never even slowed, but the dog was smart enough to dodge the car. We pulled over to try to help, but he did not come to us at first. We drove down to a big church parking lot, I got out of the car, knelt down and called him. He came to me. Whew. Out of the road. He had tags! Rabies and a name tag! He was neutered! In East Austin! It was amazing.

But we did not have our cell phones. We both left them at home. We were not too far from home, but the dog would not get in our car. We even had dog treats but he wanted none of that. Then this guy drove by in the otherwise deserted parking lot. He asked if he could help. I asked him if he had a cell phone that we could borrow since we left ours at home. He was very suspicious, asking, “Who are you going to call?” Me: “The owner. The number on his tag.” Um, duh. He reluctantly handed over his phone.

The family came to get him pretty quickly. They were very appreciative. The guy even tried to give us money, but we refused. They seemed pretty distressed that he had gotten out. There was a little boy too so I am glad we were able to get his dog back to him on Christmas Eve.

This brings me to an important point. If Sherman had been wearing a collar with tags when we found him, he would have been promptly returned to his home. He had no identification and his owner did not claim him even though his information was at the city animal shelter.

Later that afternoon, we went to the dog park. We even took Neko! She caused a little trouble though so eventually she and Clint went for a walk while Callie and Sherman stayed to play, but overall she did better than expected. Callie is submissive to other dogs. Usually she squats and pees when she meets new dogs. She must have been overstimulated because she kept rolling over and peeing on herself and in other dog’s faces. Poor gal.

We met some really nice people and dogs on Christmas Eve at the dog park.

Clint and I did not exchange gifts this year. This is due to a lack of extra money as well as discontent with the holiday in general. This time of year becomes too stressful and Christmas is too commercial. It becomes less about what is important in life and more about how much one can spend on another person. So instead we spent Christmas Day reading, taking a nap, and then going to see Juno. Juno was excellent. Go see it.

Looking forward to 2008!

It would probably take me two days to fill you in on the whole Sherman custody issue. We (mostly Clint) talked to a lot of people this week, most of whom advised that we should have never engaged the woman in the first place. This is great advice in hindsight, but it was such a shocking thing to hear that we did not know what to do.

The animal shelter confirmed that we did everything correctly to locate his owner. She did not come forward and claim him despite the fact that his photo was on their website and in their “found” dog photos at the shelter for over two months. When Clint asked her why she did not check the shelter, she says that she called them but that she did not have internet to check online and no transportation to go to the shelter. We have provided for his care and proper ownership by registering him, vaccinating him, neutering and microchipping him.

She and Clint got into an argument when he told her that we were providing a good home for him and that we were not comfortable relinquishing Sherman. Remember, we still have no proof that he was her dog. We offered to meet with an independent mediator to resolve the issue, but she refused. She has now called a bunch of times. She sent a text message on Wednesday saying she made a report and she was told that she does not have “2 talk 2 nobody” to get her dog back. She called and left a voicemail last night that said we are avoiding her and that the police told her we have to give her the dog. She finished the message by advising that she was trying to do it the easy way but apparently we want to take it a little further.

We filed a police report for harassment. This has been a nightmare. Clint has turned the ringer off on his phone since every time she calls, it just stresses us out. She tends to call three or four times before leaving a message.

If she were a reasonable person who had not chained her dog and offered proof that he was her dog, we would be willing to work with her. However, she seems to just think she can threaten us and say he is her dog and we will hand him over. She never even said thank you for taking care of him or asked how he was doing. She acts like he was a possession rather than a companion.

We love that big goof. When we took him in, he was terrified of bare floors. He did not move for 12 to 24 hours. We thought something was wrong with him. Finally I had this idea to lay a path of rugs and towels to the door and sure enough, he got up and ran outside. The vet told us that it probably meant he had never been inside. He was not house trained when we took him in and he still has severe separation anxiety to this day. In fact, before this whole drama began, he had just learned to escape his crate.

This has all been such a horrible nightmare. This drama may beat the whole Super Alley Fun House issue, the bamboo issue, the drug-dealing-puppy-starving (thankfully, former) neighbor issue, and even the whole Clint losing his job issue. In fact, none of that even matters anymore when you can’t walk your dog in your neighborhood for fear that some woman is going to come beat you or shoot you and take your dog. We are giving the dogs lots of run time in the backyard and a few trips to the dog park for Callie and Sherman (sadly Neko can’t go to the dog park just yet).

In another grand turn of events, Clint was walking Sherman yesterday when a woman stopped and said he was her dog. Her grandmother lives in a nearby neighborhood and apparently Sherman (whose name was Max if this lady is right) was chained in her grandmother’s backyard while she was at work. When she came home, he was gone. She says she looked for him but could not find him. She now lives in an apartment supposedly and she wants him back.

There is more, obviously, but I am too tired at this point to even try to delve into it all. We don’t want to lose him. We don’t know what to do.

Screw you, 2007.

The kidney stone passed almost as quickly as it struck. Or about 36 hours later. Clint described its appearance as “like a meat Nerd.” Every time I think about the phrase “meat Nerd” (meaning Nerds candy), I kind of want to vomit. The whole stone deal is kind of fascinating. They are so small but apparently so incredibly painful. Clint needs a job so he will stop watching YouTube videos about kidney stones.

On a totally different and much more pleasant note, I was alerted to the most awesome blog yesterday. Aaron’s Lawn Gnome cannot commit to one stoop. I laughed out loud while reading the Flickr photo captions for Aaron’s Lawn Gnome. Good times. It made me want to watch Amelie.

I was also alerted to a Flickr group just for Dogs Named Sherman. Of course I joined right away.

You know what is good stuff? The Hidden Cameras. I wish they would return to Texas soon.

I have many orders to package up. I am procrastinating.