Second and Last Day Between Classes

I don't really want to write about this because I know some people reading it will have the same reaction I have when I hear or read about professional dog trainers complaining about going to work. Remember the animated movie, "Oliver and Company?" The quote, "If this is torture, chain me to a wall." comes to mind for the situation I find myself in.

I know of three people who read this blog who will probably say, "Oh please! I wish I had that problem!" Anyway... I am so bored. I have nothing to do. I stayed in bed as long as I possibly could, but eventually had to get up because I wasn't tired. Then I took a long, hot shower, played around on the internet, and tried to take a nap, but of course, I still wasn't tired. If I was at home I'd have all kinds of things I should be doing, such as cleaning the house, maybe planting some grass, etc, that I'd probably be needing to do, but I'd be tired so I'd rather be napping. But here- I have nothing I should be doing. I looked at the movies playing in town, but nothing caught my attention. I had just finished my most recent book (Flawed Dogs- more on that later) and felt like since it was now two o'clock, I should probably leave my room. I decided to go to the mall.

I wish the three people I have in mind could have a day when they had absolutely nothing to do and could just relax. But think about it- if you had a day like that, what would you do, and could you still do that if you were not at home? For one of the three- yes, for the second- maybe no and the third- no clue. I personally would say if I had a day with nothing to do that I'd read a book, but in my actual case, I've just been doing that so much I felt like I should get out of the room, as I said. If I had the dogs with my I would not be in this situation.

I found the mall on line and convinced myself to go since my watch is having episodes where it slows down. I thought getting a new battery would help. Off I went. The mall was empty. The mall in my parent's town is probably more crowded than this when it is closed. The mall was nicely maintained, clean, safe and had stores that people should be interested in. It was however, small. I walked around it but could only do that for so long. Since it was so small and so empty, it was obvious that I had walked past the same store three times already. I was worried something was going to think I was casing the place.

Which reminds me, I enjoyed watching Gran Turino last night. Even if I did know what was going to happen. What other choice did he have? Other than calling the police because of the crime against the girl and the drive by shooting? Since it is a movie that is too realistic. I noticed during the credits that the song at the end, called "Gran Turino," was written by Clint Eastwood. Actor, director, song writer...

After eating a peperoni pretzel (I decided to try something new) from Auntie Anne's I went into the bookstore. They had a $2 bin where I found a Susan Conant book that I haven't read before. She is the author that writes mysteries that revolve around her Malamutes. Her books are where I first learned about competition obedience.

I'd be thrilled to be a published author, but less thrilled if my books were in the $2 bin.

I then went over to the higher priced bargain books and found Michael Crichton's book "Next." And another dog mystery, "Hounded to Death" which instead of obedience competitions and Malamutes, revolves around foxhounds and foxhunting.

And finally, I stopped being cheep and got a full priced book, Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol." The guy who checked me out at the cash register (that is, he took my money, who knows, maybe he was checking me out also) said most people say this one is better than The Da Vinci Code, which is good. I preferred Angles and Demons over The Da Vinci Code, although I did not care for the ending.

It is a bit contrived that I left my room looking for something to do in order to do something other than reading and I came home with four new books. Hmmm....

Since I listed all the books I bought to read (and I actually have at least four more I brought from home but haven't read yet) I'll also list the books I've already read, in order-

Footfall by Larry Nivren and Jerry Pournell: Sci Fi alien invasion story attempting to be as realistic as possible, including the politics between Russia and the US during an alien invasion and the more usual alien invasion problems of death from above in the form of laser beams and asteroids; and the aliens and humans having different fundamental beliefs about the way beings should behave and interact. I've read it before but didn't remember too much about it. A good story.

The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin: Sequel to the Mistress of the Art of Death- A mystery novel about a woman doctor in around 1175 during the reign of Henry II who is trying to uncover an assassin. Very good but the first one is better.

Grave Goods also by Ariana Franklin: Another sequel to The Mistress of the Art of Death- this time the woman doctor is trying to determine if a skeleton found in an abbey belongs to King Arthur. Also enjoyable but I still like the first one the best.

Crossfire by Dick and Felix Francis: The last book written by Dick Francis before his death. An army infantry captain has his foot blown off by an IED in Afghanistan and goes home to his mother's racehorse training farm since he has no where else to go. His mother is being blackmailed and he tries to help her. Obviously another mystery. Seems I'm reading a lot of mysteries lately. I never figure out who the bad guy is. I just wait for the author to tell me. Dick Francis is always a superb story teller, but ever since his son began helping him, I felt the plots got a bit too technical (such as the one about internet betting) and the action suffered. I've read that his wife used to help him a lot and I think it was after she died that his son began assisting. It is my opinion that Mary Francis is a better story-teller than Felix. I enjoyed this book as well, but it was not one of his best. And now there will be no more. RIP Dick Francis.

Hornet Fight by Ken Follett: Action story set during WWII in Denmark. Spy thriller, I guess you could say, but with the twist that the spies are not trained military members, but random civilians who wanted to help liberate Denmark for the Nazis. I have yet to read a book by Ken Follett that isn't amazing. From "A Place Called Freedom" I learned that the Scottish coal miners were slaves to the people who owned the coal mine. If a man tried to run away they were fitted with an iorn collar with the name of his owner. That story took place durring American colonial times. Back to Hornet Flight. The only complaint I have is the title gave away the ending. Oh well.

Congo by Michael Crichton: Action/ Adventure about corporate diamond hunters and a scientist who taught his gorilla (Amy) to communicate with American Sign Language. I saw the movie when Craig was a toddler. I remember because we were watching it but didn't want him to be scared so we kept pointing out how nice Amy was. In the movie Amy wears a glove that translates her ALS into speech, but not so in the book. Reading the book I realized they had to make that up for the movie so the other characters didn't have to keep saying. "What did she say?" for the benefit of us watching the movie. The story was fine- it passed the time.

And finally, Flawed Dogs by Berkeley Breathed: This is a strange story. I think it is young adult fiction, but can't be sure. The story may be anti-purebred dog (although the main character is a dauchsund) and I would say it is definitely anti-dog showing. There is a line about how the show dogs mistake all the pampering and primping to get them ready for a show as love, but it is not that. Sadly, in many cases, that is the truth. In my opinion, sending your dog off with a handler for 6 months to campaign him isn't love either. I was on a webpage of a top Tibetan breeder who said how much she was going to miss her Tibetan while he was with his handler for the next six months. Ugg. If you are really going to miss him, why are you sending him away with someone who probably has tons of other dogs all crated up in their toy hauler motorhome, only being interacted with during potty breaks, grooming, and in the ring? But an unhappy dog won't show well, so they must be happy! People say. To which I would reply- The dog is happy to finally be getting some attention in the ring so while he's in the ring he is very happy- or- conversely, We've all seen dogs with their tails tucked under win Best of Breed. Obviously unhappy yet the judge picks them anyway, so who cares if they aren't happy? Doesn't seem to matter, does it? But enough griping, back to the story. The only 2 real dog breeds mentioned are the dachshund and a standard poodle (the bad guy.) The rest of the dog breeds are made up as is a lot of the terminology regarding the dogs. Oh wait- there is a pit bull mentioned by that name, but later in the chapter the same dog is referred to as a bull terrier (think Spuds McKenzie or the Target dogs)- 2 different types of dogs. I think the author did not do very much research when it comes to dogs and dog showing. The dachshund goes through a lot of bad stuff including loosing a leg to a steel trap, being experimented on, and being put in a pit to fight the pit bull. He hatches a plan to destroy the Westminster Show to gain revenge on all the show dogs and the evil poodle. In the end we learn the important lesson that love is more important than hate and that mixed breed dogs deserve to have homes also. The accompanying illustrations (by the author) bring an added flavor of oddness to the story.

I just looked up Flawed Dogs on the internet and the author's webpage says it was inspired by the millions of adoptable pets euthanized in shelters every year. As anyone who reads this blog should know, all of my dogs have been from shelters, so I applaud someone trying to shed light on this problem. But there are purebred dogs in shelters also, and while I think conformation showing has many, many problems, it is not the fault of dog shows that dogs die in the shelters.

Since you asked, I think it is the fault of a fundamental problem with our society. People who make impulsive decisions without thinking or caring about the consequences. (In the following, "buying a dog" also refers to taking a puppy from a neighbor whose dog had puppies accidentally, even if no money changed hands and adopting a dog from a shelter.) This includes buying a dog without researching the breed, buying a dog without thinking about if you REALLY want a dog for the next 16 years, buying a dog if you plan on having children in the future and are not competent enough to have both a dog and a child at the same time and buying a dog and if you keep your dog intact but are not intelligent enough to keep it from reproducing accidentally. It is also the fault of irresponsible breeders who breed dog then sell them to anyone who shows up with money and if the new owner calls back in a few years (assuming the breeder is even reachable) laughs in the owners face when they ask for help or say they need to give the dog back. But still, the main fault lies with the people who buy (or accept as free) the dogs, then dump them when they don't feel like having a dog anymore. But again, if all breeders were truly responsible, then all breeders would take back any dog they produced for any reason at any time, and the only function of an animal shelter would be for stray dogs waiting to be reunited with their owner or breeder if the owner refuses to collect them.

It is frequently reported that the main reason a dog is turned into the shelter is "owner moving" but I don't buy that. "Owner moving" is just an excuse the scumbag gives when dropping off a pet that they just don't feel like taking care of any more. The pet that was cute as a puppy but they never trained and now it is out of control. The pet that because it was out of control and never trained, may be now showing aggressive attitudes. Or, the pet that is actually perfectly behaved (even though it is left outside all day, everyday) but the owner is tired of feeding after 8 years since they never intact with the poor creature and get no satisfaction out of the dog. And then there is the owner that is actually moving and could easily take the dog, but doesn't want the dog, so finds this as a good time to get rid of the dog. After all, he's moving. It's understandable.

Mandatory spay/ neuter, breeder restrictions, mandatory microchip, etc will not stop the problem. I really don't know what will. How can we stop people from making poor choices? We can't. I am also against registering or licensing owners like they do in a few European countries. You have to take classes and pass a test, pay dog taxes in addition to license fees and fulfill some other obligations before you can legally own a dog. Way too restrictive and nanny-like.

This post got a bit off track. But talking about a problem that has no solution that I can see has helped me pass the time. Now it is closer to the time when I'll be tired enough to go to bed. And when I get up tomorrow I'll have class to pass the time, then PT, then studying since I am back in class. Plus, of course, all my new books to read. Actually, I'll get started on that tonight.