life, the universe, and donna

Awful:

So, last week, I’m feeling like crap, but regardless the dog still needs to be walked. Nick & I head outside, he goes to the gas station to buy some junkfood, and Justice & I wander around pooping. Well, she poops, anyway.

As I’m scooping said poop, a cyclist comes out of nowhere (on the sidewalk, grumble snark) and Justice lunges — she’s really not a fan of being surprised. However, she’s on leash (which is the only time she ever has a problem) so she can’t really go far. Except, as I was literally in the process of scooping said poop, the leash had been transferred to my left hand, and loosely wrapped around my hand. She lunges, the leash tightens, the cyclist stops (good, since there’s now a dog in the middle of the sidewalk, damnit) but in the process, half my fingernail is bent back. Ow ow ow.

Did I mention I stopped biting my nails a few weeks ago? This? This is why I should just bite them. Argh. Breaking a nail I can handle. Bending it just plain hurts.

Anyway, dog is brought back under control, poop continues to be scooped, and I take the little rat home with a scowl.

Awesome:

So, I changed the car insurance on my car. For a measly $12/m, I lose my 10 year driving discount, but now Nick can drive my car. He’s a little inexperienced at driving a standard, so the idea on Saturday was for me to drive us down to the dog park, we hang out there for a while, then Nick takes off to go practice (it’s better if I’m not in the car while this happens as I get FAR too tense when other people are driving my car) and Justice & I walk home.

Justice is a freaking DREAM at the dog park. She’s obedient, she plays wonderfully, she’s fricking FAST, she gets a good run and a good work out, she rolls happily around in every stinky spot she can find, and makes lots of other doggy friends. Honestly, you wouldn’t believe that it was the same dog on leash.

Eventually, it came time for us to go. The garbage can was on the other side of the park, so I got her to heel (off leash) as we crossed over… and she’s always very, very good at heeling off-leash. Better off than on. Hmm. Well, let’s try this. We walked home, and I kept her leash off (unless I saw other people — when there are other people around, I re-leashed her.) And she was perfect. She had to be reminded a few times, but a quick “tsst!” and she’d get right back next to me where she was supposed to be. An absolute angel.

We had one minor issue where she spotted a squirrel — Justice has a CRAZY high prey drive. But even then, you could see her tensing up and trying to figure out… listen to Mom, or chase the squirrel? listen to mom…chase squirrel… mom… squirrel… FUCK! SQUIRREL! She bolted (not far) and the squirrel went up a tree. She was still a bit crazy, but she meekly came back pretty quickly and I snapped her leash back on for another block. Then we made it the rest of the way home just fine.

So, so impressed by my little girl. Good job, Justice. Try not to rip off my fingernails anymore, eh?