Books

The problem with a really good book is you finish it too quickly. Not only is the book now done and you have to find something new to read (something new that may not be quite as good and may be a disappointment after the fantastic book you just finished) but the awesomeness of the book may have forced you to stay up late reading. Now you rushed through the book, you are unsatisfied because you no longer have that great book to read, AND you are tired.

The moral is you should take your time and savor really good books. Most likely I will not be able to follow my own advice. I have never been successful at this in the past.

The book I just finished was Speaker for the Dead. Very good and I finished it too quickly and stayed up too late. Now I'm on Xenocide. The third book. I am borrowing the others but the owner of the books did not have Xenocide, so I zoomed over to the library to borrow it as soon as Speaker was finished.

I just yelled at the puppy. She can hold her bladder all day in her crate. But after work when I am home and she is loose, she has to go out very frequently or she will have accidents. My classes were over for tonight, so I'm on the computer and she kept wandering into the other rooms where I cannot see her. So I put gates up to keep her in the living room, but she kept trying to squeeze out through and opening by the couch. I was blocking her with my foot, telling her NO, but she just kept pushing and pushing. Then I yelled and she stopped and has not tried it again. I guess that illustrates the training idea that one appropriate level correction is much better than 100 nagging corrections. You might wonder if she was pushing to get out because she has to potty. I wonder the same thing. The whining and looking for other ways out also made me wonder. But she had pottied about an hour ago. She needs to learn to hold it. Because I am so good about watching for any small sign she has to go out, I think I have created a dependency on "out of the crate = I can go as soon as I feel the urge." Which is why I am now not taking her out as soon as I see signs. But that tricky. How can I get her to hold it without putting her back in the crate and without having an accident? I am trying the Evil Eye method. Viola Swamp is watching the puppy.

ffluffy and I had a good puppy agility training session. My homework is working on shoulder pulls. The best part of the session was when Dottie pulled ffluffy over to the tire and clawed her way through. Apparently she wanted to do the tire. It was so great because Dottie was at an angle, but she still went through correctly. You had to be there to appreciate the effort on Dottie's part.