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14963. thoughtful - 5/13/2005 3:34:40 PM Way to go Uz! 14964. uzmakk - 5/13/2005 5:50:15 PM Thank you, Ladies. Arky, last time I was here your daughter posted in your stead that you were recovering from surgery and doing well. I hope all is well with you.
How is your political battle going? Mine is going interestingly and well.
Thoughtful, I recall that you once gave me a piece of political advice which you probably don't remember giving, but I think I remember it verbatum: "You can't beat the pols without becoming a pol." 14965. wonkers2 - 5/13/2005 5:53:12 PM Nice going UZ! In what state/city do you live? 14966. arkymalarky - 5/13/2005 6:01:17 PM Thanks, Uz. I'm really doing well, except for losing my little dog, which has been very upsetting and depressing. I'm almost completely recovered from the surgery. Yesterday the doctor told me to limit my activities to what hurts for the next three or four months, and that's it.
My political battle has gone to the long-term organization, foundation-building, and recruitment phase. We have non-profit status and the legislature will not meet again until the end of 2006, so we have a break from legislative battles.
Things are a mess with many of those district consolidations that did occur, for various reasons. I wrote a booklet that we published and presented at the capitol, and that didn't receive much praise or blame (we were very much ignored this session, but also very much avoided, which was good--consolidation is apparently now the "third rail" of education discussion in AR politics), but the material in it will continue to be useful to us.
All in all, it's less stressful, but less interesting. Of the two, after the past couple of years, I'd take the latter in a heartbeat. I'm glad it's finally slowed down.
I'm also glad to hear things are going well for your battle. You can build on those victories in the future, too. Some ground we lost last year we will never regain, but at least in this last session we held what ground we had. You may find, like Alice Through the Looking Glass, that you will have to run fast for a good while just to stay in one place. That's how this last session was for us. And we can't really stop now. We can just breathe a little better. 14967. thoughtful - 5/13/2005 6:10:19 PM hahahah...Uz, you're right. I don't remember giving that advice, but it still makes a lot of sense. 14968. judithathome - 5/15/2005 3:35:11 PM Well, I am truly a golf widow today...Keoni just left for the Byron Nelson and my friend who usually comes for Sunday breakfast is home sick with a cold. So I have a bottle of chilled champagne and a carafe of OJ and no one to drink mimosas with.....poor me. 14969. arkymalarky - 5/15/2005 5:56:21 PM Oh wow, what a bummer!
14970. judithathome - 5/15/2005 6:32:26 PM I decided to leave the champagne unopened and settled for a Diet Lime Coke. 14971. PelleNilsson - 5/15/2005 7:38:08 PM the doctor told me to limit my activities to what hurts for the next three or four months
!! 14972. arkymalarky - 5/15/2005 8:49:35 PM Hahaha. What DOESN'T hurt, that is. I had my surgery at S&M Memorial Hospital. 14973. PelleNilsson - 5/15/2005 9:39:16 PM S&M?
How appropriate. 14974. The Summer Woman - 5/15/2005 11:18:09 PM If you hate "cute" dog names you'll hate this name, but there's a story that goes with it. When our son was two, a young calico cat adopted us. She was very small - had been eating out of garbage cans for quite some time. Four weeks later our "kitten" had kittens. All the neighborhood kids wanted to come and see them, of course, and we let them. As soon as "mommie kitty" as her name came to be, quit nursing them we sent her off the vets before she come into heat again. One afternoon, while the neighbor kids were playing with the kittens, a discussion developed about which were "boys" and which were "girls". Our son, who knew which was which because we'd told him and showed him how to tell, started point to the black male and saying, "Penis, penis". "What'd he say?", one of the girl's asked. "Peanut", I lied quickly, "He wants to name that one 'Peanuts'" This pointing and saying 'penis' went on for quite some time, because, wouldn't you know - that was the kitten nobody wanted. It lived with us for another 19 years.
Anyway "Peanut" sounds like a pretty could name for a dachshund. 14975. arkymalarky - 5/16/2005 2:28:08 AM Ha! What a good story!
That is a really good name, but it's kind of out, being in the local dog/people family and friend pool already (as were a number of other ideas). Mose's friend had gotten a cute little dachshund, and when Mose and I saw her, her friend said "there's one more!" and Mose begged us into it--not a hard thing to do, because I wanted it too. That dog, our dog Diva's sister, is named Peanut. Unfortunately for Mose's friend (nothing to do with its name), it's dumb as dirt, according to the family. Diva evidently got the brains in the litter, at least between the two of them.
I heard a cute dog name on Seinfeld the other day: Snickers. Bob also likes Yoyo, so we would have Mojo and Yoyo--and a Yoyo would be tethered closer to home than Diva was, with hopefully some freedom to go out and about, but a way to rein her back in. I sort of like Pixy, which seems apt for a small dog, and my favorite candy is Pixy Stix.
(Pelle---I was joking!)
14976. Macnas - 5/16/2005 8:58:17 AM I had a big speil all written about training the dog, but then I thought, "shut up about the dog Macnas"
You have fun with your dog and teach it some basic rules. Thats all that needs said I think. 14977. thoughtful - 5/16/2005 1:49:46 PM Our area is full of invisible fencing and it really seems to work. but of course it's more expensive than border training the dogs. Old friend of ours had 3 very large and menacing looking shepherds who were border trained and man if they didn't spend their days lying in the front yard with their noses almost touching the road. But they never crossed the line and never bothered anyone...walkers, bikers, whatever.
Other friends lived on 6 acres which bordered a very busy street and they'd lost a number of dogs to the road. Last dog they had was border trained and despite it's love of chasing tennis balls would stand and watch it roll down the drive and across the road without moving a muscle, knowing it was out of bounds.
Don't know the exact technique for doing it, but clearly it's been done. 14978. Magoseph - 5/16/2005 2:33:13 PM It is done around here since our association strengthened the law about roaming dogs—still, when I walk, I always wonder what’d happen if there was no electricity for a while—would that Doberman lunge at me? 14979. Macnas - 5/16/2005 2:43:55 PM Boundary training, very tough, depending on the type of dog. Guard/herding dogs learn it better than others, gundogs find it hard to understand why they can't go afollowing that scent or that interesting looking trail.
Mago, I think you're speaking of the electronic/radio fencing. I've seen that at work, very effective. Even if the radio fencing is not turned on, the dog will be more than reluctant to cross the perceived boundary due to past experience.
This, of course, can go very wrong. I know a family who had a border collie. The dog was a bit on the wild side, very active and loved to run everywhere as fast as it could, no relaxing in the creature at all.
The back garden bordered with a field which from time to time had livestock in. They decided that they would not take a chance and installed the radio fencing, put the collar on the dog and let him off.
He ran straight through it, screaming as he was shocked, but made it out the other side on pure speed alone. He was so terrified and confused that he ran away as fast as he could and it took them 3 days to find him.
They decided not to use the radio fencing after that.
14980. Magoseph - 5/16/2005 2:49:28 PM Even if the radio fencing is not turned on, the dog will be more than reluctant to cross the perceived boundary due to past experience.
Mac, good, I didn't think about that—I won’t worry so much anymore, thanks. 14981. arkymalarky - 5/16/2005 4:37:47 PM gundogs find it hard to understand why they can't go afollowing that scent or that interesting looking trail.
Exactly. My mistake with Diva was forgetting, over six years, that she was ultimately a hound. Her behavior before running off--consistent as it had been for all that time--was assisted by the fact that whatever she may have been after in the past never crossed the highway or got out of earshot from home.
And Mac, you post away on dogs with whatever strikes your fancy! I love your expertise, especially, since you're familiar with hunting dogs. 14982. Ms. No - 5/16/2005 4:42:16 PM My Stepdad trained his chocolate Labs to stay in the yard and the male only broke the rule a couple of times that I ever saw. Of course it only takes one time for things to go wrong.
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