Being Alpha

Dandy is short for Dandelion, because she is a mutt. She was a stray that showed up in the parking lot of my job in September of 2010. She wasn't a normal stray, which made me wonder if she actually belonged to someone, just because she came right up to me and wanted to climb in my lap. Oh did I mention she has the biggest ears on a dog I have ever seen?

yeah, dem some big ears. September 2010, the day after I found her.

She was very underweight and I honestly think the only reason my mom let me keep her was because I didn't give her a choice. After I took her to the vet and found out she was healthy, Mom scoured the paper for someone missing a dog and I checked Craigslist every day, so finally she just slowly became ours.

Dandy in January of 2011, and still hasn't quite grown into her ears.

Dandy got bigger, as most puppies do. She still hasn't quite grown into her ears, but she grew into some very terrible habits. We had another dog at home, Lily, who is behind Dandy in the picture above. She is very old, and has bad arthritis in her back legs. Dandy would knock her over and started asserting herself as alpha, attacking Lily over food and other things. It got really bad, to the point where I thought my mom was going to make me get rid of her. I knew with food aggression she would probably have to be put down, but she was only aggressive towards Lily, not to me or my Mom.

That's when she started jumping the fence. I honestly don't even think that jumping is the right word. It's more like flying over the fence. With a good running start, she cleared our chain link fence with ease and finesse and at least 2 inches of air between her underbelly and the top of the fence. We started keeping her on a cable because we had lost a dog in the past that jumped the fence that probably wouldn't have died if we had kept her on one.

At the time I worked till 6 p.m., and by the time I got home it was dark. I didn't live in the best neighborhood so I didn't walk her. That led to her digging holes and doing other various things that were bad because she had too much pent up energy.

When my boyfriend and I moved out to a house with a nice backyard and a privacy fence, we thought it would be great for her. It was. She loved being able to run around the yard and it was nice that I didn't have to worry about her. That's until she learned how to jump the privacy fence.

And jumped over the electric fence we installed.

We're finally training her on a shock collar. I really hate it, but I can't have her running about the neighborhood, especially since she can't jump back IN to the yard once she's out. I think that's what bothers me most. My boyfriend read a blog about Dandy's behavior and it is linked to not getting enough physical and mental exercise and that half of her behavioral problems are stemming because she feels that SHE is the alpha and not my boyfriend and I, and by beginning to exhibit this during walks, we can slowly teach her that she can calm down because she is not the leader, and will look to me as alpha.

Tonight was the first night that I walked her on her new "leading" collar. I was very impressed, just because it does what it is supposed to. It gets Dandy to stay in a "submissive" walking position, beside me or behind me (allowing them to walk in front lets them believe they are alpha) and she doesn't struggle. That in itself is a miracle. While it is very tiring to "be alpha", I'm seeing the good it does for her, and hopefully I can get into a better habit of walking her as well. 

Skeeze

Today I'm feeling really terrible.Stomach cramps, leg pains, allergies, I could go on, but I think you have the picture. Since I don't have cable and can't stare at the television from my body's groove in the couch, I decide to go to the next best place: Facebook. Upon opening this website, I have also come to the conclusion that, people may change, but their skeeze always stays.

Skeeze, which apparently isn't a real word according to spell check, is a word in the urban dictionary.

Skeeze	159 up, 70 down
	Someone who excessively flirts with others, or generally treats others, in a suggestive or greasy manner.

Yes. Yes that is most definitely the word I am looking for.

Anyways, I'm not going to name names, but this particular person, I detest immensely. No, I am not friends with them on facebook. I actually have them blocked. Due to facebook's retarded, "Share everything with your friends", I am victim to seeing mutual friends talk about this person and seeing pictures of him. It bothers me so much actually, that I thought about de-friending everyone he's friends with, but I am an adult and I don't need to punish the people I like by having them miss out on my great poop stories.

The backstory:

I hate this person because my best friend dated him for a very long time. That's not really the reason I hate him, I hate him for the way he treated her. Granted, it's not all his fault. My friend also puts some of the blame on herself because she kept going back to his horrible arms, but I digress. He put her through a lot of terrible shit. He had mental problems, was only sane or likeable on medication, and when he wasn't, (which, hey, that was like, most of the time they dated) was just a douche. When they finally broke up for good, my friend had to go to mental counseling and get on pills herself for all the damage that he did to her mentally. 

The now:

He's married. The creepy part? The girl is pretty much EXACTLY like my friend. It's very terrifying. I had the misfortune of running into him last year and seeing her. I feel bad because she seems like a legitimately nice person, but it takes all that I can not to scream at her "Are you stupid? Do you know what kind of person this guy is?" but I don't, because I suppose it's not my problem. 

Anyways, the whole point of this post is because one of those mutual friends on facebook I was talking about was tagged in his wedding pictures. I looked at them, because that's what facebook is for, right? Staring at pictures of people you don't like and judging them...yeah.

Every single picture of him makes me want to vomit. I'll admit, I honestly looked at them because I'm going to be a bridesmaid in a friends wedding this summer and have been looking at everything wedding to help her with ideas. This asshole can't even look good in his wedding pictures. He's making a smug face in every single picture, his skeeze just oozing out. It honestly looks like he didn't even have the decency to wash his hair for his own wedding. 

That's when I closed the pictures, as I am already ill and I don't want his face to induce vomiting. 

I open up blogger to share my thoughts on this guy, mainly because apparently even though he's a nice guy now to his new wife (ohmygod it still freaks me out to know someone married him), that his skeeze remains, and he will probably never be able to escape it.

Fast Paced

There are times where I forget that I have things on my mind, not really to say to anyone in particular, but just things that I need a place to get all of those thoughts and feelings out there.

I feel like even though I don't really do that much other than work and sleep, that my life seems very fast paced. There are just so many things that I'd love to be able to do, and so many things that I'd much rather be doing than sitting at work sometimes. I know everyone normally feels this way, but I fear I've fallen in a rut, and it may get to a point where I won't be able to climb out.

I'm going to use this as a place to organize my thoughts, one at a time, and maybe I'll do better.