Cats & Dogs

I hate getting sick on the weekends. Last night I could tell that my sore throat was probably not the result of too much wasabi with my sushi dinner, but being me, I tried to convince myself anyway. Cut to me at 5 am fumbling for Nyquil on the floor in front of my bathroom cabinet. I slept like a rock for 6 hours. M. let me know this morning that the Nyquil I had taken expired in 2006. This is something that would not have mattered to me at 5am, even if I knew. Since my job is talking, and talking for hours straight sometimes, I am going to take a vow of silence today in the hopes that by 8am tomorrow morning, I am ready to go. Ugh. No more sick days for me, so I gotta suck it up.

The latest dilemma around here is a rambunctious pup named Radley (see manipulative cute mug above). He is a year old and is starting to do an adolescent reversal. He knows he's not supposed to go in the house and he knows that he shouldn't nip the cat's ears when they play, but he's doing it anyway. He is also starting to bark whenever anyone gets let in the security gate at the front of the complex. Or if someone walks down the hall. I'm trying to get all "pack leader" on him, but it is very frustrating to have to be a disciplinarian all the time. He totally knew this stuff not more than a month ago. What happened? I am shaking a can full of pennies at him, clapping when I see him about to go in the house, then running downstairs to take him around the block. He's spending a few days at my mom's for Thanksgiving while M. and I head off to Philadelphia. I am hoping he starts showing some improvement by then.

Cool things he can do? He knows his toys by name and can retrieve them when you ask. He can "high five." He can get up on his hind legs like a bichon friese and beg for a biscuit. He knows the basics (sit, stay, lay down, relax, get down). He is super sweet to little kids. He is social with dogs and people. He looks like this when he gets tired:

Hard to remain vigilant in the face of such cuteness, but vigilant I must be. So yeah, in case you were wondering, we're probably not having kids for a while.