Our house sits on the corner of two streets that jut off in sharp angles. This creates a backyard shaped kind of like a triangle. Our house forms the base of the triangle, and the other two sides… well, it’s a shared fenceline with the house on either side.
One of those two sides, the left side, got a puppy.
A teeny little wiry thing that loves to screech at the top of his lungs at Cooper through the fence.
So, that’s awesome.
And while THAT statement is sarcastic, what is really, truly awesome is Cooper…
He stands at the fence and wags at the little guy, like, “Hey, friend! Wanna play?” When he gets frustrated that no play is commencing, he starts whining or barking back. But here’s the truly awesome part:
When I call him away from the fence, away from a potential playmate, he actually comes. And quickly, too! The couple times either he or the dog on the other side started digging at the fence, a behavior I do not want to encourage, I used our emergency whistle, and he FLEW! #soproud
These people next door… we haven’t exactly gotten a handle on them or who actually lives in that house. There are a number of people of varying ages who seem to come and go. I’m hoping we’ll encounter them someday and have a conversation, like, “Hey, maybe our dogs can play together!” Or maybe, “Hey, if your dog is outside barking for like three or four hours at a time, could I just lift him over our fence and let him and Cooper play before I go completely crazy, or…?”
***
Of late–or, maybe all of 2016 is more accurate–I’ve been feeling this incredible sense of overwhelm. Some of it’s irritating (will this election ever end?!) and some of it’s heartbreaking (will this election ever end?!).
My blog was hacked. Legit hacked. It took about a month and several hundred dollars to repair and restore. I’m on the other side of that debacle now, but… I was feeling so unmotivated, and that zapped me of the remaining energy I had.
I applied to two different sponsored campaigns for next week for two reasons: They’re both products we use and love, and I needed an actual, legitimate, nailed-down deadline to get posting momentum.
I need a push.
Do you ever feel like that? Like if a project or a task doesn’t have a date associated with it, it just keeps getting pushed out into the ether? I think because my writing life is entirely deadline-driven, that when I don’t have those dates for this space, nothing happens. Whoops. Look for those next week! 🙂 (And, thank you as always for supporting/liking/commenting on those sponsored posts! Blogging is a tough business, so we’re grateful to show sponsors support!)
Watching Emmett age and dealing with the hacked site and working on the house and working through big changes in my business and on and on… and I’ve let this space get pushed aside. Which I regret because I love chronicling their lives and telling our stories.
***
All that said, and to put some accountability on myself, I’ve been reading through your comments, questions, and emails. I’ve compiled some FAQs that will become posts.
Most notably, everyone wants an update on Emmett’s acupuncture. Coming VERY soon. I have lots to say on the subject after we experienced a major setback last week.
I also want to put something together about the emergency recall I mentioned above. It’s probably the most valuable thing I’ve ever taught Cooper, and it occurred to me that I never wrote about it!
If there’s anything else YOU would like, please do let me know in the comments!
***
Finally, I leave you with this story:
Since I started this post expressing pride in Cooper’s training, I have another similar story, though the “pride” bit got a little muddled.
Last Saturday, my sister and nephew, Owen, were over here, along with my brother, his wife, and their six-month-old baby.
We had lunch for everyone, including a big box of chocolate chunk cookies. Owen was dashing around the house, and when he picked up his cookie, I asked him to park it on the sofa to eat it so that the dogs couldn’t get it… their faces are at about cookie height for Owen.
As he was walking to the sofa, he stumbled and the cookie flew out of his hand.
Cooper, mere inches away, snatched it up.
“DROP IT!” I yelled.
And… I’ll be damned… he did!
Then Owen snatched up the cookie that had fallen to the floor and then into Cooper’s mouth and then onto the floor again… and shoved it in his mouth. “It’s my cookie, Cooper!” he said through a mouthful of cookie.
Guess I need to work on “drop it” with my nephew.
I’ve had that same struggle with lack of motivation recently. I just posted my first blog post for a few weeks! Your blog is always amazing to read. Whenever I see a new post is up, it feels like a little gift has just landed on my lap!
Have a good weekend, Maggie!
You are so sweet! I read your post and will head over to comment shortly, though now I get the DGP giveaway! 🙂 Hope all’s well and you and your have a great weekend, too!
I gave my toddler nephew a dog biscuit to give to Emilie to “encourage” their friendship. As soon as she took it from his hand, Christian started screaming bloody murder because the dog took “his” food. The funny thing is, like many toddlers, he is a terrible eater. Who could have predicted such drama?
HAHA! That’s so funny! 🙂 At least he didn’t eat it??
Pat — give your toddler nephew some carrots and spinach to give to the dog and see how that goes next time 🙂
Thank you for the post! I’ve thought about it but as of now I don’t have anything I can contribute to your Q&A.
Thanks for commenting! My ideas list is pretty darn long… just need to dig up the motivation to write! Have a great weekend!
Clearly the three second rule applies even when dogs are involved. 🙂
I rarely blog anymore but mostly because my dogs and I are boring and I don’t want to make the blog all about the adoptables that we place. Just an occasional one is more than enough in my opinion.
The whistle is a good idea though. We have an emergency recall word that we haven’t practiced too much lately due to Ray’s leg issues, but it reminds me that we should get back to it.
I tend to be a firm believe in the three-second rule (and usually extend it much longer than that…) as long as it didn’t first fall into someone else’s mouth! HA! 🙂
Maybe practice it with shorter distances so he doesn’t have to overuse his leg? It is tough to figure out a balance. (Hey, are you going to the Indy Pet Expo in Nov?!?!)
OK, that last story really had me laughing out loud!
I am with you on being overwhelmed,( and gosh, I can’t wait until this election is over). Sheba’s cancer, Cricket’s arthritis, the need to work with Luke on everything. I often feel so overwhelmed with everything that I need to do that I end up doing nothing.
I am also completely deadline driven. When everyone else is writing and scheduling their blog posts ahead of time, I am doing them the day before (or even that morning!). It’s the only way I can be creative, by focusing on one thing at a time and being under pressure.
While I am consistent with writing for the blog, I can’t get motivated to do all of the other stuff; the promotion and maintenance I should be doing. Recently all of my blog post notifications are going to spam for anyone that has a gmail address. I keep hoping it will just fix itself because I just can’t get motivated to try to figure it out myself.
Our neighbor got a kid. Actually, the house next door has been empty for quite a while. The neighbors who just moved in have a kid – an obnoxious little boy. As soon as I hear Glock barking, I run to check because nine times out of ten this kid is out, yelling at Glock, running at the fence, and waving a stick or throwing something at him. Luckily, our lot sits head and shoulders higher, there are trees along the fence line, and the boy can’t actually get nose to nose with the dog. We’ve worked hard at making Glock fence friendly, but this little guy next door pushes all his defense buttons. So far, I’ve been able to shush Glock and call him in. I think he also finds the kid obnoxious and would rather avoid him.
I’ve spoken to the mom. What I’ve also noticed though is the kid is aggressive with her as well. The bigger issue for these folks may be their back fence line, which they share with four black German Shepherds. can get nose-to-nose with those dogs, which are a lot more fence aggressive than Glock and not at all well-supervised.
I love getting the email in my inbox with the preview of your post, once a week, once a month or whenever, I’m sorry to hear that your blog had been hacked and that it’s cost you money out of pocket, what smucks!
I am not very motivated these days. I know I should be prepping my garden for my fall planting but because it’s been so mild I keep saying “oh I’ve got lots of time, I’ll do it next weekend” I really should be taking hints from the chipmunks and the squirrels who are working overtime getting ready for winter. I have to repaint my fireplace and touch up my kitchen cupboards but I’m putting that project off too. I’m supposed to be looking for a new job, haven’t started. I’ve been so lazy that even though, I read and love all your posts, I haven’t replied to any until today.
Love (I use that word a lot when talking about your blog) your stories, only thing better than animal stories are animal aaaand kid stories.
Glad you are up and running again
So proud of Cooper’s obedience but I can’t stop laughing about your nephew snatching back that cookie!
Hah! I know! BLECH!
Oh, Maggie, I’m sorry I’m so late commenting on this post! I’ve been a bit overwhelmed myself these past few months. Especially with this freakin election. Will it ever end?? The actual day is just over a week away, but feels like a century.
I love your posts and while I’ve been weeks behind reading them, I have missed seeing the email previews in my inbox. Sorry your blog got hacked! (The buttholes!) And sorry you had to pay so much to get it fixed/restored/whatever. That is truly a bummer. No one would want to hack mine – there’s nothing there worth money to anyone but me. No sponsored posts, no contests, just photos of my own furry kids. I am grateful for that. I have enough to deal with as it is these days.
I love the story of your nephew and the cookie! It reminds me of a story from Shadow’s puppy days. I’ll have to share it one of these.
Love you my friend! And Welcome Back!!
In Owen’s defence, I’ve eaten a cookie that I made Kol drop. It’s still good! It’s still good!
I also am lacking motivation. I can’t seem to get this memory book project out of my brain and onto paper. What are you working on? Maybe we can cheer each other on somehow?