Since I’m a second shifter I no longer have my “but I have to stay up all night” excuse to drink soda (admittedly diet) so…

I’m on the way to tea.

I found two that I will drink. One I really like (Licorice Spice) and the other is growing on me (Moroccon Mint Green tea). Both are from the same company – Stash – which makes me think of drugs everytime I read the name.

 

 

Last day of my first week on second shift.
My opinion on second shift is as follows: it’s approximately 1.8 time 10 to the 23 power better than third shift. But not as good as First shift will be. (Notice the will be. I am attempting to be optimistic lately). I like the people (no trainees for me!) and I really like the supervisor (though she will be leaving us to start acupuncture school – she’s the lady who gave me my beloved puppydog).

Suishi is tomorrow.
As is Beethoven’s 5th symphony
And Saturday is Jimmy John’s and Cirque Dreams Jungle Fever down in Tucson.
And Sunday is the Arizona Pet Fest – we’re going and taking Mr Dog as it is a pet friendly event. Yay for pet friendly. I need to find more pet friendly places. I like to take Mr Dog everywhere I go. He’s my buddy.

Not much else of excitement planned for this weekend. Not enough TIME for much else of excitement either! I think I may purchase a little baby wee ipod though. I have a $25 gift card from work for Circuit City and I think I may contribute that to the cost – but then the harder decision…do I want BLUE or GREEN?

Indiana will be old enough to start agility training soon.

I’m buying Kimberly’s plane tickets to visit us in July on Sunday.

I’ve been trying to keep on housework during the week rather than letting it build to a crazy filthy mess and then doing everything on one of my weekend days. So far, so good though mowing the lawn in the middle of the week SUCKS. I’m just glad we only have a small little lawn in the backyard (probably 10′ by 20′ at most). It’s mostly an excuse to have grass and it requires much sprinkling come summer. Luckily, Mr Dog loves to fight with the sprinklers (The water is his enemy! He must defeat it by eating it! Bad water! Bad!) This makes him very wet when he comes in the house, but usually yields him being outside alone (with no needed mommy support) for 25 or 30 minutes, which when you’re as lonely as he is (because he is clearly mistreated) is tooooo long. Poor needy puppy. And I want another one? On some level, I must be crazy. But I still want one more.

 

No one is ever on Xanga or AIM when I am.

Stupid crazy job hours.

As a positive, I am no longer a third shift employee.
I now work second shift – 1530 through 0200, starting Monday night.

I am happy?
Only relatively. I still won’t see my husband, but at least I’ll get to do some sleeping at night. I’ll still be bored out of my gourd doing the same retarded monkey work that I do now, but at least I will be working a different shift with other people.

My bestest friend at work left me the week before last to be a police officer and while I was very happy for him, that left me a bit out of place. The other three people at work are significantly not my friends. I don’t dislike them so much as I find them frustrating as hell. One is very, very young. She is a just graduated this is my first job oh no i don’t want to make a mistake so I won’t do anything kind of a girl. She has the most seniority after me. Next in line is a girl is who is slightly older than I, has a degree in biology but this is her first lab job. She has no ambition and doesn’t really care what she does so long as she gets paid. She is not terribly motivated towards anything. Then we have the new guy. He’s about my age and has terrible emo hair (but I don’t hold that against him). But he won’t stay long. He’s been there a month and has already been interviewing at other places because he can’t hack the hours.

Blah.
Work is often a soap opera digest from gossip hell. And while I realize that primarily due to the fact that retarded monkeys could do our jobs and we all have to have college degrees to do them – it’s still frustrating. Anything that is talked about to one person is instantly common knowledge.

I don’t know, it’s probably like that everywhere.
I just wish my work buddy hadn’t left me.

Ah well, I get to have him for suishi next week.

Mmmmm….raw fish.

From here:

1) Where is your cell phone? bag
2) Your boyfriend/girlfriend? working
3) Your hair? crappy
4) Your grandpa? Florida
5) Your father? mechanic
6) Your favorite item? house
7) Your dream last night? work
8) Your favorite drink? Coke
9) Your dream car? Z3
10) The room you are in? office
11) Your ex? fucker
12) Your fear? fire
13) What do you want to be in 10 years? unknown
14) Who did you hang out with last night? work
15) What you’re not? satisfied
16) Muffin? blueberry
17) One of your wish list items? car
18) The last thing you did? eat
19) What are you wearing? nothing
20) Your favorite book? fiction
21) The last thing you ate? chocolate
22) Your life? frustrating
23) Your mood? angsty
24) Your friends? away
25) What are you thinking about right now? employment
26) What are you doing at the moment? whining
27) Last summer? moving
28) Your relationship status? married
29) What is on your TV? plants
30) When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
31) Reason you last cried? angsty
32) Last song you danced to? none
33) Favorite feature on your face? nose
34) Significant other’s most attractive body part? arms
35) No. Really? Indeed

One of the folks that I read on in Xangaland is getting a Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog or Queensland Heeler) puppy. I mentioned that I have one. And then she asked for pointers. I thought maybe I would do a bit of a blog on this, given how many of this breed of dog end up on doggie death row and/or craigslist.

First and foremost, there is a lot of advice about heelers on the internet and most of it, in my experience is fairly good. So – read a lot before you even consider the breed.

Second, after you consider the breed for about a week or so – then you should reconsider. Again. And maybe once more. If you’re ready for the commitment they really REALLY do require, then have at. Be aware that you’re going to want to kill them – possibly more than any other dog you’ve encountered EVER.

Why would you want to kill such a sweet, cute adorable puppy?

He really was adorable. Still is. That’s Indiana at 8 weeks.
Why do I warn people against them? I do it everyday at the dog park with people who think he’s very cute and very well behaved.

I do it because he can be an evil hellhound and I and my husband spend a lot of time making sure he isn’t an obnoxious, hyperactive shithead.

He requires exercise. Not a little trot around the block walk or anything. If we do just a walk on the leash – we’re looking at 3+ miles at a trot to wear him out and he’s been at that level of activity since he was about four or five months old. We normally go to the dog park and work on socialization as well as energy burning. That’s a two+ hour commitment EVERYDAY.

We also have kennel trained him. This is not an option really with this breed unless you are home with them all the time. I know the other people who took his sisters from his same litter and of those other five dogs – they are ALL, by this age (7 months) being kennel trained because they CANNOT be left unsupervised. Not for a day and not really for longer than about 15 minutes.

Why not?
Oh baby, they like to chew. A lot. On anything and everything they can put in their mouth. Yes, this is a generalized puppy trait. But I don’t know any dogs who chew like this. His sisters have eaten: lab top power cords, IPODs, IPOD cords, couches, pillows, comforters, rugs…you name it, they chew it. Especially their people. And especially when left alone. Breaking Indiana of chewing on us is STILL an ongoing process. It took about two weeks of training when we first got him at 8 weeks to get him to stop actually biting and just at least to limit it to mouthing us.

Third thing with cattle dogs. They call them Velcro dogs. They typically have a person (maybe two) and everyone else can basically go fuck themselves. They like their person, typically to the exclusion of everything and every other dog. We’ve worked very hard on socializing Indiana and still, given the choice, he’d rather play with me or my husband, even over the frolicking fun of other puppies at the dog park. If we leave him, especially for extended periods of time, even outside with things to entertain himself with – he gets VERY upset. We’re talking prozac upset and requires oodles of snuggles, snorgles and pets to calm himself down enough to even let us go to the bathroom without attempt to sit in our laps. He is bonded. Firmly. And EXTREMELY protective because of it. EXTREMELY.

Why are they such difficult puppies?
Well, they’re working dogs, primarily. Bred to herd, obviously, cattle. And they herd, also somewhat obviously, by biting the heels. They also like to bite cow faces/cheeks (or other dogs or yours for that matter, they’re pretty equal opportunity).
They are an amalgamated breed that is composed primarily (according to some of the literature I’ve found online) of: Scotch Collie (old school English type herder that is the source breed for many other herding dogs including Australian Shepherds, Border Collies and the modern Collie – this was bred in for the herding ability), Dalmation (the lovely spotted running dog which was supposedly bred in for their fondness for horses and the ability to run), Dingo (wild dog bred in for its toughness and insane endurance), Bull Terrier (the old fighting breed bred in for stubborness, tenacity and strength of grip) and Australian Kelpie (rare breed that is used for sheep herding in Australia).

Okay, enough history. So, why do you care about all of this? The personality of a cattle dog is strongly influenced by its predecessors. The dingo and the bull terrier especially have a goodly influence on the dogs very…er…fuck you kind of nature. They may love you, be bonded to you and want you to not be angry at them but make NO mistake, they are NOT people pleasers. A lab is a people pleaser or a retriever. Most cattle dogs do not care if you are upset. They can read your body language but unless you prove your dominance to them DAILY and HOURLY you cannot make them do anything. Even if you are dominate, they will quite often make certain that you realize they are only doing what you ask because they CHOOOOOOOOSE to. They can be independent motherfuckers considering how badly they want to be with you.

Second, the bull terrier and the dingo have also imparted an almost mystical don’t give a shit attitude about pain. If they’re injured, they’re pretty nonchalant about it. They are bred to be kicked by bulls and still be capable of finishing up their herding job. Why does this matter in terms of puppy-rearing? You can’t hit them as punishment. You just can’t. Even if you want to and/or they deserve it. It only makes them think you are playing. To hit them hard enough to actually discourage them, you would have to break them. Punishment is nearly always SEPARATION FROM YOU. For a dog that is so damn velcro’d to your side, this punishment is akin to torture.

The kelpie and the collie give the cattle dog their urge to chase and to herd. And boy, do they do it instinctively. They will herd around the dog park. I know, I’ve seen my dog do it. They’ll herd you, your cat, or whatever will allow themselves to be herded.

The dalmation I don’t see too much of. I had a dalmation and now I have a cattle dog and I really don’t see much comparison in appearance or behavior. Perhaps, at most, the ability to bond with people at all is from this breed.

Let’s see…did I miss anything? Hrmmm…children are something that if the cattle dog is going to be around need to be introduced early and often. The children especially need to be trained in how to handle themselves around a cattle dog (i.e. never playing wrestle with a puppy, never allowing themselves to be herded etc). Cats are doable so long as you don’t mind that the cat will get chased and barked at.

Ah yes, barking. They like to bark. Not so much just for the fun of it but more for the sheer necessity of driving herds of cattle. Mr. Indiana is known as the “referee” at the dog park because he likes to bark at the wrasslin’ doggies and drive them apart.

To alleviate some of these problems, these pesky pups need a job. They are extremely intelligent, driven and focused and are VERY good at learning. If you are willing to teach them! We’re in intermediate obedience and somedays (most days) go very, very well. He learns fast and he loves to work. Somedays like today, he is a stubborn little fucker who WILL NOT do what you tell him just because he doesn’t want to.

In short:

Cattle dogs are protective, high-energy, dominant dogs with a drive to bite you, herd you and control your actions. To have one and have it be a good dog requires time effort and training. If you’re not active enough with them, they will destroy your house and your things. If you’re not up on the training, they will be heathens. Wild, crazy, uncontrollable dogs that you cannot take anywhere or have anyone come over while they are around.

So, if after this you still want one (Ironically, I want another one), be advised: kennel train it, obedience train it, give it loads of exercise (a tired cattle dog is a good cattle dog) and be willing to dominate the dog (use your Caesar Milan training).

A good website that includes links to other good websites is http://www.cattledog.com/

Also, give the dog a job if you can. Agility training or the like. We’ll be in agility training as soon as Indiana is old enough…

P.S. More pictures of Indiana are here.