Some Things Friday for January 16, 2015

We picked up Mackenzie from the shelter late Wednesday afternoon. She had been spayed earlier in the day, so she was pretty loopy recovering from the anesthesia.

As you can see, she is apparently crate trained. When we went to bed Wednesday night, Tom put her new bed in the crate in our bedroom and she walked right in, fell asleep almost instantly, and slept through the night.

What we've learned about Mackenzie in barely 48 hours:

1. She has little to no idea what dog food is, but if we head to the kitchen cabinets or refrigerator and she is at our feet, tail wagging in anticipation, waiting to be fed any human morsel we are willing to share. We're not willing. This does not please her. We started her off Wednesday afternoon with a cup of kibble in her bowl and 48 hours later over a half of a cup remains. All that people food she's been used to eating has made her fat. She's too fat, eighteen pounds, and could stand to lose about six or eight pounds at the very least.

2. She may have been housebroken, but we've had two "accidents" in two days. This appears to be precipitated by excitement and/or anxiety. It's as if she has no control. We will have to work on that.

3. She wasn't given a lot of affection or attention by her previous owner. It's not that she's afraid or timid. She just doesn't seem to care one way or another. However, if we make a specific effort to pet her or pay attention to her, she seems to enjoy it. Otherwise she is content to go back into her crate and sleep most of the day away. But we'll keep trying to socialize her more.

4. For no apparent reason, she will begin walking in circles, always to her left.

5. The shelter described her as Lhasa Apso mix, but in the original photo taken at the shelter, she looks like Gizmo, a Shih Tzu we had about 25 years ago. Mackenzie was groomed while in the shelter and the groomer cut most of her coat away because her hair was matted and dirty. Now she looks completely different. The groomer told the shelter staff that she was probably a Lhasa/Pomeranian mix. We might just have to do a doggy DNA test for a definitive answer.

So, now for Some Things Friday...


Some Things I Love:

• Sunshine
• Finally finding a new doctor who looks at me when he's talking to me, performs a thorough exam, and provides many alternatives on how to proceed. Thanks to my friend Tammy for recommending Dr. Lea. My doctor's appointment yesterday went really well, but we'll know more when the blood work results come back.
• Pedicures
• Finishing paying bills and filing the invoices away.
• Only 63 days until Spring!!!

Some Things I Hate:

• Cold weather. And the older I get, the more I hate it.
• Walking on my treadmill in the garage instead of walking outside.
• Not living near a coastline.
• The Republican National Committee just announced there will be at least nine GOP presidential debates and as many as twelve. One clown show is all I can tolerate. Twelve is tantamount to torture, which is unconstitutional.
• Rand Paul makes my skin crawl. That is all.

Some Things I Just Don't Get:

• Ted Cruz, a climate science denier, was appointed to chair the Senate subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness. {Head meet desk.}
• When Fox News says "More blacks kill blacks than whites". And somehow that makes white cop gun-happy racism okay? {My desk is getting a work out and my forehead is starting to hurt.}
• This Georgia pastor prays for the opportunity to kill first.
• Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (oh, yes, I'm so freaking proud) has criticized President and Mrs. Obama's parenting skills because they allow their daughters to listen to Beyonce. Perhaps he shouldn't be so quick to judge someone else's parenting skills. In 1998 Huckabee's then 18 year old son, while working as a counselor at a Boy Scout camp (you know, as a mentor and role model for younger boy scouts), tortured a stray dog by hanging it from a tree, threw rocks at it in an attempt to beat it to death, and finally slit the dog's throat. Someone please tell me what kind of parenting skills it takes to raise a child who would do such a horrible thing. Oh, and yes, the Boy Scout camp director apparently thought it wasn't the best example for younger boys and his son was fired from his job.
• And finally, this.....