Ah, yes, all was not well in the house of Sam and Nick. Fucking marriage bullshit. I won't pull any punches there. Kind of reminded me of years gone by. Ah the memories. Blech.

I initially took in Diego so they could get their carpets cleaned (Sam is massive OCD neat freak...oh, the Iceback would love her, except for her mouth...and attitude) Yet as the day wore on, bad things had happened the night before. No, no details.

Suffice to say they thought they might get evicted. So I took poor sweet, yet still oh so puppy Diego in for the night and most of the next day.

He was a sweetie. Slept with me in bed, between and on my legs. Was patient as I flopped during the night, each time rearranging himself as I rearranged myself. Waited (like my dear Yasha---the only unconditional love I ever had---oh that's not right, Z loves me unconditionally, as I do him...some of us do know what that means)for me to wake up before bothering me to go outside for his morning constitutional.

Yet he's a puppy. And I don't have the patience anymore for a puppy. I did once, well, twice, but not any more. No. perish the thought, I didn't beat him...but he wore me out. And those little puppy needle teeth...oye. I had him for most of the day, and Sam is full of BS when she says he only she-poopies twice a day. He goes at least 4 times, and he has to pee at least once an hour. For his part, he'll let you know. You just have to read the signs.

They don't walk him enough. He's fascinated by everything that moves. They don't socialize him with other dogs and we learned with Sergei this is a must. They don't have a proper training collar on him for walking although if you walk him far enough, he will fall in line with you without pulling only because it's so damn hot here. However the dog whisperer has it right, you can't pull the dog forward, he'll resist, but if you ease up on the leash, he'll follow along with ease (unless he's already ahead of you pulling)

But he was a lot of work. They don't put the work into him like they should. He wore me out. But I found, I could wear him out as well. We both took two---ok, maybe three--short naps today (uh, he snores) It's the most sleep I've had in two weeks. He had puppy dreams that would wake him up and he needed reassurance from. He was not chasing rabbits (sorry Julie) I think something was chasing him.

I now know, I don't need a puppy. I need a potty trained older laid back dog. I might have to steal Chicago Mark's dog, Axle, that's he's keeping for his friend Jaime. He's old and he moves at my speed. The dog, not Chicago Mark.

However, I must say, although his mommy and daddy always stick him in his crate, he was only in his crate for 30 mins in a 24 hour period. I hate the crate. Refuse to use it for punishment, as they often do. I've seen what that will do to a dog, and I refuse to do it. The crate should be a womb, a comfy place, not a house of horrors.

Aunt Laurie is buying him some toys and several rawhides. He needs them.

I'll miss his warm little body on my legs, but he's too high maintenance for me.

I need slow and steady wins the race.

I'd post a photo but I'm too frickin' tired.

Ok, bedtime.

;-)