Pedalling Uphill

Bonnie - My problem rescue dog and our happy ending: Hyper active, pacing, jumping all over us, pooping and peeing inside (even when she knows she will be punished and after having been taken for a walk) – just all around an exhausting, demanding dog (even though she’s only 10 pounds).  When we would walk Bonnie (on one of those retractable leashes which might be good for some dogs, but not ones behaving as this one was), she would run ahead weaving back and forth across the street in a dizzying pattern, constantly pulling. The good side: She’s very affectionate, cute as all get out, excellent with young children, very smart and totally non aggressive. The solution: Just by luck I stayed up late to watch a British program about unmanageable dogs who were at the end of their line.  One, a bearded collie fit the exact profile of Bonnie – sweet natured, smart, healthy but hyper active -  the only problem was that when he was herding sheep (his job), he would get the uncontrollable urge to kill one at the same time.  This cuts into sheep owner’s profits L and needless to say was frowned upon.   So this very nice British lady undertook the retraining to save his life.  The first thing she did was make him walk BEHIND her.  You hold a stick, like a walking stick in one hand and a short leash in the other.  Placing the leash hand behind your back, you tell the dog ‘behind me’ and use the stick to block their way if they try to get in front.  The next morning, I tried this on my hyper active dog and it was like a complete transformation!  She fell into line behind me and calmly walked meekly along.  Today it’s 7 days since I started doing this and she is a changed dog.  No peeing or pooping in the house, the pacing has stopped and she is a much more relaxed dog.  She still has a lot of energy, but it’s not the frenetic kind she exhibited before – it’s a playful type. I’m really hoping this little piece of knowledge can help other desperate folks that are having trouble with wonderful but uncontrollable dogs.  Try it!  It costs nothing – and the effects can be seen almost immediately.  The dog psychology behind it seems to be that the dog has to see you as the Alpha (lead dog of the pack). They become very stressed – hence the pacing and irrational running around on the leash – when they have to assume that role by being out in front of you on the leash, or by sitting higher than you (on the back of the sofa for instance) or even by running out the door ahead of you.  These are actions that should be attributed to the Alpha human, not the dog.   Further investigating these theories led me to a very informative website called www.dogbreedinfo.com  - look over at the categories on the right side of the opening page. 

I just hope this little piece of information can be as helpful to some other troubled dog owners as it was to me.  If you think it can, please pass it on. 

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Last week, Abe and Tazzie got up early and Chester and I slept in.� When we finally got ourselves together, I saw Ches start down the stairs with his usual boink a boink to each step and then�we both�heard Abe in the kitchen�chastizing Taz� “Bad dog Taz, bad dog!”� Without missing a beat he made a U turn and boink a boinked back up the stairs and stood at the top with his head through the railing listening for more details.�

He really cracked me up…that’s his job - to make me laugh and look at him with intense�love in my heart and know that he’s the cutest dog in the world.� But judging from some dog magazines, maybe I’m not expecting enough from my dogs.

Recently I picked up copies of the two most popular dog magazines and as I read through them, it started to dawn on me that as with everything in our society today, a good thing taken to extreme can be pretty ugly.� Dogs are riding the crest of popularity, but that means there are plenty of people ready to exploit them to make big $$$.�

I feel sick looking at the Pitbull ads so obviously created to appeal to the ‘macho’ among us.� “Monster dogs with large heads (tiny cropped ears making it look even more fierce), wide chests, thick bone structure.� Extremely athletic for the ultimate in working ability” they read.� The ads and the dogs both look like something out of a nightmare!� What type of work are they doing?� Herding sheep?� Leading�the blind?� Surely not working with the police…even they would be afraid of them!� So what else can there be?� I’m sure you can guess.

And then there are these trials to evaluate terrier and bull type dogs - something new to me.� From what I understand, it says�they fling rats�into a large pond and let the dogs swim out to hunt them.� In other trials, rabbits are released and as soon as�the animal�has found cover�the dog is released to hunt it down. “The actual catching and killing of the rabbit�is immaterial, as any untrained dog will often do that” they say.� Yes, dogs will do things like that, but do normal people�usually encourage that type of behaviour?� As usual, it’s really not about the dogs, it’s about the egos of�pathetic little�human beings and dogs end up paying the price.

And I guess I’m left scratching my head wondering if these things being published in a mainstream magazine makes them seem ‘legit’ to the readers.� Not to me.

�

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For those of you who have been unfortunate enough to get entangled in a never ending mess with 3Web/CIA supposedly fast speed Internet service, there’s hope for you.  We had a 3 month ordeal with this company  - they had our credit card and we were powerless.  Two years later we ended up going to court and we won a $7,000.00 judgement against them.   So there is hope for you.Â

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We see a lot of stuff today in the media that is quite horrifying but somehow, just when you think you’re becoming immune to it all, something pops up that can just make you sick to your stomach!  Guillermo Habacuc Vargas.  Remember that name.  He calls himself an artist but he’s really a sicko and a possibly a psyhcopath.  Take a look at this link  http://aspcacommunity.ning.com/group/stopping and see what he considers part of his exhibition.  I think what troubles me most is that no other person stepped in to put a stop to it.  They just turned their backs to the misery.  Costa Rica should be really proud to claim this guy as their citizen.Â

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We’re often asked by friends and customers,  “so what type of art is selling out there today?”  And truthfully I tell them, Fart (Fast Art Real Trendy) is what it’s all about in today’s market.

The Merriam Dictionary defines art as “the concious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects” or “a skill acquired by experience, study or observation”.  They seem to have left out the word ‘passion’.

Fart on the other hand is defined: “to expel intestinal gas from the anus.” 

So how do I equate one with the other?  Well, even if you go back to the early cave man drawings and throughout art history, art in it’s most simplistic form, was something that a human being did to leave behind a record of their thoughts, experiences, visions and passions.  It came from deep within their sometimes tortured souls, something that drove them on, sometimes through incredible personal physical or mental struggles, to recreate an image that would inspire or shock, like a slap in the face, or even compel people to hand over hard earned income to be able to possess a piece of that passion.  Amongst those artists, there were always a few who were lucky enough to find that their vision corresponded with the visions of the masses and very fortunately for themselves, they earned a good living from their work.

But to get back to today’s Fart… if you break down the definition of ‘fart’,  the dictionary cites expel as meaning ‘to force out’, intestinal as meaning ‘affecting, occuring’ and gaseousness, ‘lacking substance or solidarity’.  And herein lies the twist;  today, with money being the new god, people who would ordinarily not give a hoot about art but are skilled craftsmen, are producing or forcing out products lacking in substance, but being labeled art and that has affected the art market worldwide.

However, this is not meant to be a bitter observation…merely to point out that times change…when a big televison over the fireplace mantel replaces a fine piece of art;  when people want ‘big’ ‘cheap’ and ‘matching the furniture’ things to hang on their walls, the market must serve and true artists must be prepared to take a back seat.  But just like any gas, this trend will eventually run its course and we will see if the market will once again come to value that which can’t be mass produced. Â

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Interesting movie.  Much more sympathetic to George than I expected…however, pretty frightening to see a man so tormented and unable to find himself being expected to lead a country.

It just confirmed that people are so wanting to be lead and are easily swayed  by catchy words and phrases rather than common sense.Â

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 This is a ‘must see’ movie.  Touching, informative, heart breaking but ultimately uplifting.  It makes you wonder if hell really doesn’t exist right here on earth - it also made me feel ashamed to be part of the human species that can create so much misery even if the good do somewhat triumph over evil in the end.

The actors are excellent, the script well written and although there were a few parts where I had to look away, there was no gratuitous violence involved.  It’s important to support worthwhile movies like this one.

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Went to see it when it came to the theatre.  Yes, I had to!  But you definitely have to be a Simpson fan to enjoy it.  It started with Homer appearing on screen and saying “Ha! Ha! - You’re paying for something you could see for free on TV” and I was hooked. 

I’ve seen better, sharper and wittier episodes on televison and a lot of the usual characters weren’t in the movie which was disappointing,  but the time flew by, so it must have been interesting.  And I did laugh out loud several times.  Not often I do that at todays so-called comedies.

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I was amazed to see that this movie got panned by newspaper reviewers in our area.  I think the critics have become too used to the ‘junk food’ movies they’re fed a constant diet of.  I mean even if this movie was terrible, it would still stand head and shoulders above any of the mindless garbage that’s being put out there.

I thought the movie was excellent.  The costumes, the sets and the photograpy all combined to make it visiually interesting and  the actors and the characters they portrayed were superb!  I found it very moving to see how courageous and strong this woman was while showing her frailities as well and what a good monarch she was considering the way the times were so stacked against women and the many people that conspired against her. 

It’s a must see for people who want to support some kind of quality in movies.   

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A movie worth watching.  I saw it at the beginning of the summer, so it’s faded from memory a bit, but I would recommend it to anyone who is desperately looking for a movie of substance.

Angelina Jolie was just excellent in the lead part!  And since it’s a story about the beheading death of captured journalist Daniel Pearl I was hesitiant to see it because I’m not a fan of blood and gore.  However, there not being a dearth of wonderful movies out there… and while it did allude to his fate, it was mostly about international realtions and the way governments manipulate situations and how they can either be helpful or not.    I came away feeling I had learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes in kidnappings like these - for better or for worse.

It was fast paced and kept my attention the whole time.  I didn’t have to cover my eyes once and the time flew by.  See it - support a good movie.

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