Category Archives: uncategorized

…or mere laziness?

Lomax has discovered that while he’s “at work” underneath my desk at the office, he can lie down on his bed in such a manner that all he has to do is stretch his neck a bit in order to reach the water bowl. Doesn’t even have to get up.

Unless he’s exhausted from a weekend at the kennel, or physically in another geographic location, Lomax is at my heels every waking moment. Whether he’s walking, running, pacing, circling, playing, sitting, lying down, wiggling, wagging, rolling, leaning, snorting, whatever — I look down, he’s right there. Rarely, if ever, more than a couple of feet away.

Until I turn on the stove and get out the pots and pans, that is. See, he’s got this thing about smoke. And it doesn’t matter what I’m cooking (you’d think bacon might convince him, right?), he deems the immediate area too dangerous and finds his new “happy place” in the hallway.

Notice he still wants to know where I am, and what I’m doing. He’s ever-vigilant in that way. And I’m convinced that if an actual fire were to start right there in the kitchen, effectively preventing me from making an unassisted escape, Lomax would be the first one to call 9-1-1 from a neighbor’s house.

Puppy’s got a brand new bone. HAH!

I bought him a new Nylabone because the old one — which has lasted a year and a half, even having been subjected to the enthusiastic jaws of many a Labrador puppy — has become too disgusting to take to the office with me. For a while, it simply looked phallic and wrong (no photos, to spare you)…but now, Lomax has chewed the smaller end down to a sharpened nub. Our theory is that he’s making a shiv, and he’s gonna bust outta this joint and run off to Mexico with the cute little Jack Russell/chihuahua mix who lives in cell block two.

Today was graduation day up at the school, so Lomax and I went to celebrate the matriculation of Bella, another dog from our puppy raiser group. Afterward, we got to spend some time with Lomax’s first puppyraiser, Joanna, and her friend, Christina, who had attended the ceremony as well.

And if there’s one thing Lomax enjoys, it’s the company of beautiful women. Look how happy he is here:

Dreary and overcast day… bleah. So I’ve posted a photo that I took on a sunny day, to make me feel better. Doesn’t Lomax appear to be looking back at whatever it is that’s left its looming shadow? “Can I eat it before it eats me?”

I realized this evening that I haven’t updated you with regard to Lomax’s turn-in date, when he’ll go to live at the school for formal training (we call it “IFT”). He’s nineteen months old now, so he’s theoretically of age and due to go in during the May turn-in, but he’s been given a reprieve — hooray! I get to keep my boy another three months or so. The next turn-in is in late July.

His brother Liam isn’t going in May, either, which I’m guessing means the entire “L” litter is going in July. There must be too many dogs this time around, and I know the school is looking to hire another person in the training department. It’s apparently a very busy time.

That’s excellent news as far as I’m concerned! It gives me more time to work with Lomax on his distracted ways; it gives him more time to mature. It also gives us more time to cuddle. Three months seems like a long time now, but I know it will pass in a flash. I’m sure gonna miss this silly little dog.

“No, Lomax, that’s NOT a man with a dog. That’s a man with a rolling suitcase.”

On my other blog, I like to post the occasional list of odd Web searches people have done that have led them to my humble online abode. The stats for this site aren’t usually as bizarre, though they always — and by always, I mean every single day — show at least one or two searches for some form of “dingo ate your baby,” which I find hilarious in itself. I didn’t realize that phrase had become such a pop culture reference…but I guess that’s what happens when Seinfeld is in syndication such that it airs fifty-seven times a day.

Today, however, brought a collection of real winners:

* tame the tongue
* baloo costume
* river beastie
* minute long pee
* tights are no big deal
* longest pee ever
* be he man or be he beastie

I especially enjoyed that last one.

Though we’re long overdue for blogging about it, Lomax and I took a trip last month to the Page Museum at La Brea Tar Pits for my friend James’ birthday.

About three million fossils of extinct Pleistocene ice age plants and mammals have been excavated from the tar pits since the early 20th century. Natural asphalt still bubbles up to the surface, so you have to watch where you step around the park grounds, especially on a warm day, or your shoes end up a mess. I have no idea what one might use to clean tar off little paws, so we were extra vigilant.

The place wasn’t too crowded, and Lomax did fairly well…at least until he spotted people walking other dogs in the park. Dog distraction is still our biggest challenge, though nowadays unless the dog comes right up to him, it’s easier to get his attention back. Regardless, he was calm and collected during the educational film, and he didn’t seem at all bothered by the ancient bones of hulking mammoths and the like (you just never know what’s going to freak a dog out).

The above photo shows my little man posing in front of an “antique bison.” What you don’t know is that it was a whole bison…until Lomax terminated it. Click on the photo if you don’t believe me! I’ve told him he should be careful about showing his crazy sci-fi eyeballs in public, but whaddayagonna do.