Dog or Dogs?

As many of you already know, we adopted a greyhound two weeks ago. He is a retired racer. His name was K's Lincoln. We call him Abe. He is a sweet dog. Very smart and friendly. But we suddenly ran into a very serious problem soon after getting him home: He cannot be left alone.

Well, he can be left alone, but he suffers from separation anxiety and barks and cries all day. I have video taped him in our absence and he displays nothing short of shear terror when we leave the house. For two weeks as we left every day for work Abe would have to deal with being left alone during the day. Given our current living situation, we can't have a barking dog disturbing the neighbors.

So I called the adoption agency and explained our problem. Obviously, this isn't the first phone call they have received from a distraught couple. For two weeks, we were prisoners in our own home. Everything that had to be done outside the home had to be done by one of us while the other stayed home. As many of our friends have joked, we should've just went ahead and had a child.

So last Sunday we took Abe back to the adoption agency. They're "evaluating" him. The foster home he stayed in had another dog and they didn't report any issues with leaving him alone during the day. The adoption agency is testing to see if the presence of other dogs calms him.

Monday night we received a call. Abe is doing fine. He was left alone with other dogs and he didn't make a peep. Next, they're going to leave him alone without the company of other dogs to see how he reacts. I have a feeling I know what the prognosis is going to be. Abe needs friends.

So now we're facing yet another crossroads: Keep Abe and get another dog, or let Abe go and adopt a different dog hoping that new dog can handle being alone. In all fairness, we originally set out to have ONE dog. But caring for two is not out of the question. In fact, it would be great fun. I'm just not sure we're set up for two dogs given the lack of space in our modest condo.

The most important point in all this is that Abe has a chance for a happy life. Forcing him to learn how to be alone all day does not seem fair to me. Granted, most dogs do learn. But for the two weeks I feel like we tortured this poor creature. And Abe certainly didn't do anything in his life to deserve such hellish conditions.

Skater Dater

Sausage Uprising

LINK (pun, he he)

You Didn't Believe Me!

I told you so! Monkeys CAN ride bicycles!

Sorry Folks, Park's Closed.

Well, not really. It's been a week and a half since I last posted. Much has happened in our lives. First, there was a four day visit from L's parents. Then on Sunday we adopted Abe, our new dog. Abe is great. We like Abe. But there's one problem that has sent our lives into complete chaos this week: Abe has separation anxiety. Apparently, he has never spent a single moment alone in his life. He was either in the presence of humans or surrounded by fellow dogs. So, to our surprise on Monday morning, Abe went nuts the moment we left the house.

We called the adoption agency and they recommended crate training. To be honest, I have no problem leaving a barking dog at home all day. It's not Abe I'm worried about. As you know, L and I recently moved into a new condo. We're waiting for that one neighbor to come knocking on the door, or that first complaint to come from the building manager. We did speak to a few of our close neighbors. And we put a note on our door.

If you were to see our faces today you'd think we just had a human baby. I mean, the stress we've endured this week is ridiculous.

In Abe's defense, he is perfect in every other way. He is completely house broken. He eats whatever we feed him. He walks on the leash like a pro. He lays around a sleeps while we're home. He's totally cute. It's hard not to like him. I just wish I didn't resent him right now.

Burning Corpses Sold Seperately.

Star Wars toys that never were. LINK

BTW, if you don't know what Alderaan is, well, I can't help you. Maybe learning about Alderaan will be your first step to becoming cool like me.

Happy Friday, Everybody!

In case you missed it or refuse to take my advice and watch good television instead of that crap you usually watch. I mean, seriously, how many of you people are keeping the CW on the air? Calm down, I'm just breaking your balls. Watch whatever you want. See if I care. No, I care. Don't watch crap TV. Watch what I tell you to watch. Do as I say. I am the boss of you.

Stormtroopers Gone Wild!

Sputnik!

50 years ago Sputnik freaked the shit out of our grandparents. Scaring grandparents = bad.

His Name is Earl

We got a phone call Saturday night from the people at Blue Ridge Greyhound Adoption and found out that our future dog is currently residing at a foster home in Florida. His name is Earl. He's two years old and has been retired from racing for several weeks (which means he didn't win many races). Here's a picture they sent us:

We're very excited about him. Estimated arrival is in two weeks. Obviously, you'll be getting more updates on this creature as more details come in.

Oh, also, the Cubs are in the playoffs. So it was a pretty good weekend.