it's a sad day in the Koolio household

Right now I'm mad. Mad because I should be thrilled to pieces over my son and the rest of his 6th grade basketball team became the league champions this evening but it's what happened afterwards that has my insides doing flip flops.

You see this evening, Jasper attacked Schwartz for the last time. This time, he drew blood. Right now, Schwartz is contemplating a chew toy, while his stomach and ear drip blood. And I'm so mad right now...well, I don't think there are words to accurately describe how I feel right now.

I'm beyond furious at Jasper because this has happened every single fucking day since we adopted him. Clearly, this dog is not good with other dogs and/or cats as we were told. I'm mad at myself for allowing it to continue and everyday thinking it would get better. Obviously, it has only gotten only worse. And despite the tremendous agony and guilt I feel over this decision, I know it's for the best. I will tell you more about this situation sometime in the next day or so when I've had time to calm down.

My kids understand that this is no longer two dogs having a spat and they know that Schwartz's safety is now involved. So tomorrow, Jasper is going back to the shelter, Schwartz is going to the vet where he will probably need stitches for something and antibiotics to help him heal and I will hopefully be in a better mood to tell you all about my son's basketball championship and why big mouths and basketball moms don't go hand-in-hand.

Until then...

back and forth

The past few days have been a little better where Jasper's concerned.

He's still exhibiting some aggressive behavior with Schwartz (three attacks yesterday) but he's generally sweet and when they play nicely, boy, do they really enjoy each other!

He's become easier to keep on a bathroom schedule. In the past three days, he's been peeing in the pinestraw or at least near the pinestraw. He knows that he gets one decent walk in the morning and one in the evening and he knows as soon as he's done "unloading", that it's time to go home. I want to get him really situated with that habit before I start taking him on longer walks as treats.

And that won't happen until he stops. pooping. in. the. house.

That is still a bit frustrating although I dealt with the same shit, no pun intended, with Schwartz when we first got him too. He'd do really well with house training, poop in the house and then it would feel like it was two steps back.

Let's just put it this way...Jasper and I are definitely learning from each other.

Take last night for instance...despite the fact that Jasper hadn't finished his food, I didn't take the bowl away. Most of the time, if the dogs haven't finished their food by a certain time, I take it away so that they won't have the need to be taken out in the middle of the night. Last night I flubbed. I saw that he hadn't finished, the kids and I got preoccupied cuddling by a nice toasty fire and the next time I looked, the food was gone from his bowl. I knew that meant he would need an extra walk, which I obliged, and of course, a bit frustrated by the end of the walk that he had not done his bu'ness. That meant one thing...I knew I would find a little gift waiting for me this morning.

Turns out that little gift wasn't so little! It was once again in that same exact spot on my wood floor. He turned away as I cleaned it up. I'm not sure if that's out of guilt or if he's laughing at me! Probably a little of both. Clearly, he knows it's wrong or he'd be right there by my side, tail wagging. I suppose I should be thankful that he's leaving it in plain sight unlike Schwartz who occasionally poops on the upstairs landing and we can only sense it by its distinct scent. ICK.

Since I can see that Jasper's making progress, today I will keep him. Tomorrow could be another story. *wink*

On another note...GO STEELERS!!!

Cujo

Jasper is making my decision to take him back to the Humane Society an easy one. Tonight was the worst attack on Schwartz yet.

But before I get to that, if I do decide to take him back, I figured taking him back before the kids get super attached to him is wiser than waiting 'til six months down the road when they're absolutely in love with him. And while he has a tendency to stare with a rather unnerving gaze, he does have his moments of utter cuteness. However, I will not let that distract me from what's really going on here.

When the attacks happen, they happen quicker than my eye can register so I'm not sure exactly what Jasper is doing to Schwartz because I can't see any visible wounds. However, when I saw Schwartz limping the other day after an attack, you can imagine how awful I felt for him and how enraged I was towards Jasper. Usually I'm around to put an immediate stop to it but tonight it happened in another part of the house and Jasper's intense growling and snarling drowned out my commands to stop.

He's also taken up to torturing the cats. There were a few times that he's actually tried to lay on top of one or two of them but now he prefers cornering Buster, who is the one who reacts the most negatively to his advances, and barking at him while Buster, in turn, is growling back.

I don't want this and I certainly don't need it. The cats were just getting used to Schwartz and I think I may have royally fucked that up.

Should I do decide to take him back, I'm most definitely going to wipe up the floor with those Humane Society fuckers who told me that this dog gets along with other dogs and who supposedly did a cat test in which they presented Jasper with a cat and the cat didn't react negatively to Jasper nor Jasper to it. If you recall, this is the same shelter that told me that Schwartz was six months old when he was really a year and a half and who never revealed to me that he had a metal plate in his hind region from an accident. I could understand them failing to disclose all pertinent information to prospective clients if there wasn't a veterinarian on the premises but there is. If she weren't getting compensated for her services, which I'm certain she is, I could understand her blatant disregard in examining the animals and, for instance, being able to tell between a six month old puppy to a one and a half year old dog. The only conclusion I can come to is that she either earned her degree in Veterinarian Medicine from one of those bogus, non-accredited online "universities" or she studied at Imastupidtwathole University, neither one adding very much to her chosen career.

I am no Dr. Doolittle by a long shot but I think I'm a fairly experienced pet-owner to be able to read Jasper's actions and reactions. Here is a dog who, from a young puppy, was spoiled by a young couple who stupidly chose not to train him. Up until they had a baby, he was their baby whom they probably allowed to rule the roost and they never encouraged him not to. Along with my guilty conscience, it is for that reason I have kept myself from returning him to the shelter. I know with time his negative behavior can be broken but it's just how much time I'm willing to give him that comes into question.

He has his good qualities although I'm having a hard time giving him credit for them at this time because of my anger towards his hostility towards Schwartz. Since my last post, his bathroom habits have surprisingly become more accommodating. Twice now, he has willingly been lead towards the pinestraw area to pee mainly because I've made him wait a little longer than usual to relieve himself. He's actually still resistant to be lead completely to the pinestraw bed but he's getting closer. As for #2, I have had to continue with the walks but he has been "completing his business" closer to home and as soon as he's done, the walk is over and we turn back for home. For now, the longer walks will be used as treats probably just a few times/week. I can't continue to spoil him as I did when we first brought him home because frankly, his behavior has not been deserving of them in my opinion and because Schwartz needs to spend even more time out in the sunlight than Jasper because of his skin condition. Since I cannot walk the two together because of the separate paces they keep, Schwartz's needs take precedence over Jasper's.

I'm done! All this brain damage is proving to be exhausting!

more a little bit of this and a little bit of that

I forgot to mention the other day that Schwartz's hair loss condition was finally diagnosed. He has bilateral flank alopecia. It tends to be a seasonal allergy, usually from September (which is when we first saw signs of hair loss) to March. A good part of the time the dog regrows its fur but sometimes, the dog doesn't regrow it at all which would really be ashame but nothing we can do about it if that's the case with Schwartz. You can read more about it at your leisure, but basically it is caused by a lack of sunlight which completely throws me because with all the walks I take him on and all the sunny days we have here, he should not be suffering from this. And when I say "suffering", I use that word because I know of no other word to use. He's not suffering per se because he's not affected by it other than having exposed skin that can be sensitive to colder weather conditions but he's not itchy nor has he ever been. In any case, he is on the recommended medication for this medical condition and we'll see where it takes him.

I regret to inform y'all, but adopting Jasper is turning out to be a huge regret as he's become a very selfish dog. Aside from showing a jealous side when it comes to Schwartz, he has decided that we're going to conform to his bathroom habits instead of him conforming to the schedule that works well for us. Allow me to further explain...

About ten feet from my front door is a pinestraw flower bed. I've trained Schwartz to go to the bathroom there so he doesn't burn my grass into oblivion. Schwartz wakes up, goes to the bathroom where he should and all is wonderful. For the first few days we had Jasper, he followed Schwartz's lead and at least peed in this flower bed, but once I started taking him on long walks, he started refusing to go in the flower bed. He'll stand there, watch Schwartz and then look at me as if to say "Take me on my fucking walk, bitch!".

I have been taking Jasper on daily walks, sometimes up to three times/day depending on his food intake. He and I have both enjoyed the walks but he has now grown too accustomed to them, that he wants them at all times of day including first thing in the morning. His stubbornness is truly irritating. I'm a stubborn woman with two stubborn children, I will not deal with a stubborn dog, too! We have this walking/jogging path throughout our community and he has decided that the path is his one and only pit stop. In the first few days we had him, he would mark every leaf, branch and blade of grass and even poop a few times as we walked up and down my street. Now, I can walk him up and down my street for 20 minutes and he absolutely refuses to do his business on anyone's lawn.

This morning was the first and last time that I will leave my kids alone in the house at 5am to walk him, I simply refuse to do it. It's bad enough that they came home last night with their dad and had to let themselves in because I was on a late night walk with Jasper and then, upon returning home, found them waiting by the front door because they were afraid to be in the house by themselves. With my luck, I would be out at 5am and my kids would wake up looking for me. As much as I love my pets, I'm not doing that for any animal.

A few days ago, and this is only what I believe to have happened, Jasper got into Schwartz's food bowl which is where I put his medication. Schwartz is used to being on medication for one thing or another so it doesn't affect his digestive system. Unfortunately, it is greatly affecting Jasper's and for the past few days he has done little eating and has had many bouts of diarrhea. He is not in any physical danger and this will eventually pass, but he has crapped out mounds at least four times on my bathroom tile floor and has nearly ruined the carpet in my family room. The other night, I woke up to a heap of shit in my bathroom, cleaned it up, went back to bed and woke up in the morning to rinse, lather, repeat all over the bathroom floor again. As much as I hate the crate, I've decided that it's time to train him. I gave him too much freedom in too short a time by allowing him to roam free while we're away from the house whereas Schwartz had to earn that trust, so now Jasper will have to earn it as well because my house is not a toilet nor will I allow Jasper to think it is.

All I can say, is thank God for this little guy! It's greatest feature is that it has a self-cleaning option in which you can set it on a spot, leave it for the six minute-cycle, come back and the stain iand smell are gone. Life fucking Houdini, man! It definitely was worth the price and has probably already paid for itself in just one day of use! My family room carpet is far from looking perfect but it certainly looks better than having smeared shit stains all over the place. I would have taken a picture for y'all's viewing pleasure but you probably wouldn't have eaten for the next month. Blech!

So Tough Love has been activated! If Jasper does his business in the house, accident or not, in the crate he goes. And before any of you animal-lovers and/or activists out there dare scream at me that the crate should not be used for punishment, I am not punishing him, I am training him as I mentioned above. I am not doing anything different than what I did with Schwartz and Schwartz learned with no emotional scarring that requires weekly dog therapy!

As for peeing outside, that is going to change with super lightning speed as well and it's a good thing that Jasper's a quick learner! As a single mother with twice the load of tasks to do than a married couple can share, I do not have the time to take him on 30-minute walks numerous times throughout the course of one day. I'm certain that he will learn rather quickly that early-mornings are reserved for the flowerbed and walks are for later on or he will have no choice but to learn how to hold "it" for longer periods of time.

The one good thing about the walks is that they have helped Jasper shed some weight. I know this not from weighing him but because I had to cut short a walk yesterday when he decided that chasing after a squirrel was a fabulous idea and he was able to wriggle out of his collar with ease. I've also enjoyed the walks but it's difficult at the same time because I cannot take both dogs out together. Schwartz prefers a leisurely stroll to Jasper's marathon run.

Another good thing is that Jasper and Schwartz are becoming more familiar with their play habits and Jasper's attacks on Schwartz have lessened.

I'll leave you with that positive thought and all I ask for is your prayers that my carpet will survive The Dog Shit Extravaganza of 2009!

a little bit of this. a little bit of that.

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged or visited many of your blogs but I've had a lot of shit going on here.

It's been one week since we've had Jasper and in that time, I've taught him how to walk with a leash, he' responds to his name, he's learned which food bowl is his and he's taken 4 heaping shits inside the house, one of which has probably permanently stained my family room carpet. In that time, Schwartz has regressed some much like a young child would when he/she sees his/her sibling doing his/her business in diapers and has peed a few times in the house right in front of us.

Jasper also has a very mean, dark side and at least twice a day, I'm screaming at Jasper when he lashes out at Schwartz and literally attacks him when playtime gets outta' hand. Thankfully, Schwartz does not have an existing injuries but if this continues past the 6 month mark, I will be taking Jasper back to the shelter. I don't think Jasper would harm any of us but I have to keep that in mind while all this is going on plus his interest in the cats has taken him to trying to lay down on them and squash them, of which he gets reprimanded for as well. I'm thinking that I should change his name to Damien because he definitely has an evil side to him.

For weeks now, I have been trying to refinance my mortgage through my mortgage company but early last week, the guy I had been working with stopped returning my phone calls and Emails and I missed out on locking in a 4.625% rate. Since I will not be ignored (thank you Glenn Close for that perfect line), I called the mortgage company to start over with someone new only to find out that no one could speak to me right then and there because all the loan officers are so extremely busy with other clients wanting to refinance and that I'd probably hear back from someone within 10 business days. Probably? I don't think so.

I then decided to contact my bank thinking that since I'm a long-time customer, they could hook me up with something decent only to find out that since I'm not employed, there's probably little chance that I could get a mortgage through them.

My only other option was to put my tail between my legs and talk to my parents about helping me refinance since that's really the only other option I have and I have to do something now because my 5 ARM/6 month deal is about to be up in the next few months and I'll be damned if I keep giving this shitty mortgage company my business.

*takes a deep breath*

Then, if all that wasn't enough, I got a call just a little while ago from the lower school guidance counselor that my 8-year old daughter has been singled out by quite a number of girls in her grade as saying bad words to them and talking about "hairy body parts". My daughter, who's been instructed by me since she started Pre-K at this school, that she will not be mean to others, is being a social bully and I am absolutely mortified and horrified at her behavior.

Do you know why she's doing this? Because the person who shall not be mentioned here and his lovely (cough, cough) bride of just over a year and a half are getting a divorce and my daughter is pissed off. She doesn't care that she knows she will feel my holy wrath when she comes home today because if she did, she would have never done what she's done. She knows she can't get away with this shit at school or at home, yet this is the kind of disturbing behavior she's exhibiting.

And, although I should be thankful, the person who shall not be mentioned here is once again his old social self with me, going out of his way to talk and be nice to me. Why should this bother me? Because the guidance counselor told me that she was going to call him when she was done speaking with me and when he called to mention that they had spoken and I mentioned "hairy body parts", he thought it appropriate to ask me if I was having "grooming" issues. Nice, huh? Here is a man who has treated me with such disrespect while he was with this woman only to continue to treat me with more disrespect after the fact. I'm glad he thinks it's funny.

I hope the person who shall not be mentioned here is happy with himself and his dysfunctional, ugly fucking cunt of a tramp soon-to-be ex gold-digging whore of a wife.

As a side note, I don't know who my daughter has heard say bad words. It certainly isn't me. Heh.

I need a nap.