Smart Dog. . . Not so Smart Dog. . .

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Please ignore the fact that my yard desperately needs mowing.  First, it's too darned hot here right now, and second, I'd rather take the time to play with the dogs and walk with them than to terrorize them with the mower.  It will get done.  Besides, they like the long grass to play in.  My husband says Penny looks like an Ewok running in the grass.

Anyway, this cracked me up when I saw these two napping outside.  Penny is like me.  She doesn't like being in the sun.  Silly Ninja, on the other hand, will lay out in the sun until he comes running inside and nearly burns my hands with his blazing black coat.

Goodness, it was over 100 degrees today!  They did this early this morning, then the afternoon was spent in the air conditioned house with both pups spread out on the cool tile. And I have to admit I did a little napping myself this afternoon in the nice cool house.

Speaking of sleeping (one of my favorite topics!) I bought the pups a huge dog bed last week at Costco and they are so cute curled up together on it together.  It has special foam in it, just like my bed so they can be comfy when they sleep.  :) 

One of my favorite things is to come home to see them running to greet me.  Penny is a "talker."  She grunts and play growls in greeting.  Ninja whines and snorts.  But dogs are always happy to see you, and mine are especially sweet. 

I like water!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

If you have water in any form that can be splashed, this pup will find it.  She even splashes in her water bowl!

I don't know if you can see if, but her little chest is all soaked.  I was watering the sprouting pumpkins seeds (we're hoping for Thanksgiving pumpkins) and our trees and she found a little puddle to splash.

Unfortunately, Ninja is terrified of water (go figure) so she splashes and plays and he cries and barks. I'm sure the neighbors love us. :)

She's so smart to go lay in the shade to dry out.  She's got a bit of a cross face in the picture, so unlike her usual adorable doggy grin.  I don't think she liked having her picture taken today.  Maybe I interrupted her nap. . .  She was probably dreaming up more ways to splash about!

Dog Behavior and Famous Trainers

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

So, I like to read. That's and understatement. I love to read. And since I have a new pup who has a fear issue, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about dog behavior and training concepts. I've ready several of Cesar Millan's books, such as "Be the Pack Leader" and "A Member of the Family" as well as his first, "Cesar's Way." I really like his ideas.

I also read Jan Fennell's "The Dog Listener." These two are very similar in their approach. They say that most dogs do not want to be the leader and will gladly give up leadership status to you if you show them leadership. Both agree that you should ignore your dogs for the first minutes when you walk in until they are calm. This has worked wonders for me with Ninja. He used to nearly knock me over every time I walked in the door. I thought this was just , "I'm happy to see you" behavior, but after reading about it, I discovered it's more a dominance thing.

With Penny it's not an issue. She'll come to greet me but she'd never jump on me. The first day I decided to do the No Touch, No Talk, No Eye Contact (as Cesar says) Ninja jumped on me once, looked bewildered when I gently pushed him down and went on my way, and eventually went and sat down to wait for me to acknowledge him. At that point I was happy to greet my calm, submissive pup. After a few days of this, Ninja and Penny are both waiting calmly for me when I come home and no more jumping and acting crazy.

I wanted to see what the criticisms of this method are (mainly because I'm such a bookworm and I always want to see both sides) and people complaining felt it as cruel to ignore your dog. I don't get this criticism. I ignore them if they are misbehaving, and it stops. When they are calm I greet them. How can that be cruel? That seems like positive reinforcement to me. They behave, they get attention. They don't, they don't. I wonder if people are thinking of taking this to an extreme. I just don't get it.

Another book I'm reading is called Culture Clash which looks at how dogs really are, as opposed to how we "Disneyfy" them. It seems like a book all dog owners should read.

There's more to Cesar and Jan's methods, and I'll talk about them in later entries. I just thought it was interesting to see how quickly this one technique worked.

Walking Off Leash

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Ninja loves to walk off leash and I never have any concerns about him coming back to me. If we got to a park and no one is around, I often let Ninja off leash to run and burn off some of that energy.

The first time I tried that with Penny she took off up the hill. That was my fault because it was the first day we had her and of course there wasn't any bonding yet.

Tonight I gave it another try. Ninja took off and ran and ran (although he always comes back), and Penny stayed by my side. She didn't take off but she wasn't much into the running thing either. She walked right by my side the entire time. I do think she is much more comfortable with the leash on. She seems to feel much more secure with it on.

I thought it was cute that she stayed right with me. I think it shows that we are definitely making a connection.

Fun in the Car!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Ninja is pretty fearless in the car. He waits at the door when he hears me pick up my keys, and if it's safe I pretty much let him come along. By safe, I mean that it's not hot out and he won't have to be in the car for more than a couple of minutes when I'm doing whatever it is I need to do. Usually he comes along when we're going to a drive thru, or when I have a quick trip to Wal-Mart or something similar.

Ninja is starting to train Penny to wait at the door when I pick up my keys. It's pretty funny when I'm heading to the door and both dogs are at full attention, ready to take off and get in the car.

Tonight I took them both with me and my daughter to grab a couple of tacos. Ninja has no manners in the car. He'll sit in the back with his paws on the center console and bat at my hands with his paws (hoping for petting) while I'm driving. I'm sure Cesar Millan would be horrified. I've been better about making him stop and not rewarding that behavior lately, but it's hard when you want to love on your pup. It makes driving tough.

For the past couple of weeks Penny has been riding on the floor in the back, where the rear passenger wold put their feet. I think she feels secure there. She climbs in and out of the car with no issue. She even will come along without a leash. Tonight she decided to sit on the rear seat and look out the window. And then I found her with her paws on the center console with Ninja in the back seat! Oh, the bad habits he's teaching her!

It's still good a good sign that she's not so afraid of us and is not hiding as much. She's so smart- she found a blanket in the back seat and moved it around with her paws and snout so she could lay down on it. My daughter and I laughed at that. Apparently she doesn't much care to lay on leather seats. What's next? Having her paws done at the Paw Spa? :) She's a lady after me and my daughter's own hearts, that's for sure!

Wonderful Progress!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Things are going so well! Penny is using the dog door as if she's been doing it her whole life now. She hasn't had to be kept in her puppy pen at all since Monday night and she's had no accidents. Yippee!


She and Ninja are so funny. Every night Ninja used to sneak up to my room in the middle of the night and sleep on the floor next to my bed. Penny's other parents said she slept in their room under a chair. So I figured they'd both come up and sleep in our room. Nope. They seem to be really into snuggling with each other downstairs at night. I guess they don't need me at night. :) Well, that's OK. Whatever makes them happy!


Penny seems like she's starting to trust up a little more each day. I've found that she gets very frightened when you stand over her and try to reach down. Like when you want to reach down to pet her. So, we don't do that. Instead, we let her come to us and use her natural curiosity to want to come closer.


The other evening I sat on the floor and called Ninja over and began petting him. Penny came over and watched what I was doing, just out of reach. I talked to her while I petted Ninja, saying things like, "I'd pet you too if you wanted me too." I didn't reach out to her at all. After a few minutes, she came and laid down right next to me. . . and let me pet her! I had one dog under one hand and the other under the other. So cute!! The key with Penny is to sit down and let her come to me.


Last night I brushed Ninja with a great shedding brush and Penny did the same thing - came over and laid down next to me while I brushed Ninja. I guess she wanted to be brushed too. So both pups got loved on and brushed.


She's funny- when you pull out the leash she lays down and lets you clip it one her collar. We went to the dog park tonight and when we were ready to go home, she laid down and waited for the leash to be put on her.

I think we are really bonding because tonight at the dog park I walked around the track and both dogs followed me around and walked right by me or just behind me (off leash). I didn't make them heel or stop from running off -it's a dog park, for heaven's sake- but even when they went off to investigate, they headed back to me every time.


And Penny even let my husband cuddle her tonight and that's a first. He's a very tall guy and a little pup probably finds him a bit intimidating. But tonight she let him pet her and even came up to him at the dog park, looking for some attention.

Tonight makes two weeks since Penny Lane came home with us to keep Ninja company and brighten my family's days. I read earlier that two weeks is the honeymoon period for a new pup. Let's see how next week goes. I have a feeling it's going to continue to go well!

The Protector

Sunday, July 27, 2008

I've always said that Ninja was more likely to lick someone to death rather than hurt anyone. But I've definitely seen signs that he would protect his family, especially recently.

When he was about six months old, the kids and I took him on our daily walk to the park. It was about 7 pm, but Winter so it was very dark already. As we neared the park, we started down the hill that leads to the entrance. From there you can see the whole park. I noticed a figure dressed all in black sitting on a bench. No one else was around. My warning bells went off in my head, so I made us keep far away from this person.

As we were leaving the park, this person suddenly appeared near us and Ninja bared his teeth, growled, and gave a couple of warning barks. Then he planted his backside and would not let us go near this person. It was the first time I had ever seen him act this way.

Then last month we were walking to the park and some teenage boys were bothering a couple of girls in the park. I told the boys to leave them alone or leave the park. When they smarted off to me, Ninja again bared his teeth and growled at them. My beautiful, pure bred pup turns into a fearsome beast when those teeth are shown.

Just last week I was walking to the door to take out the trash and when I opened the door, there was a young kid there wanting to sell me something. But you know how you get startled when you open a door and someone is there. I sucked in my breath and Ninja barked frantically. My guess is that he picked up on my fear and warned the visitor to back off.

Ever since that night he barks when someone is at the door, unless it is someone we know. It's a good warning system!

The other thing he does which always surprises me is that he growls at people on motorcycles in fluorescent vests. The first time he did this we were in the car. He likes to put his front paws on the center console between my seats and watch what is going on. I heard this low rumble, like a big truck going by. I couldn't see any trucks. I realized that it was a low rumble coming from Ninja. He was looking to my right and glaring at a man in a fluorescent vest on a motorcycle. I've seen him do this several times since. I'm not sure where it came from or why he doesn't like motorcycles, but I'm sure he thinks he's protecting me.

Ninja and the Carwash

Saturday, July 12, 2008

I'm starting to see some changes in my pup. I've been told that 22 months is the magic number for a Mini Aussie. All the training that you pour into them seems to click at that point. We have 10 months to go until that magic number. But good things are starting to emerge from my Ninja. He follows the basic sit, lay down, stay (for a short time), and out commands. He knows to lay down away from us while we are eating. He knows where to lay when we are in the family room and he wants to be with us. All of that is great and getting better all of the time.

I've noticed lately that he is becoming less destructive. Yes, he recently chewed up a pair of my shoes, but it's just not as many things nor as often as before. Could I hope that he is growing out of the chewing phase? I never thought I'd see the day!

As the days are longer and warmer we go on more walks too, and that always helps. Thursday night my husband played a softball game at a field right next to a regional park. The kids and I took Ninja on a walk and he was in heaven. A huge lake, beautiful trees and meadows graced this park and made it a really nice evening. There was so much for a pup to see and smell, and lots of room to walk. There were plenty of other dogs around too. Ninja is really well socialized and I almost never have any trouble with him around another dog or human. Part of that comes from puppy training and playing "Pass the Puppy" where we handed all the puppies around during class to help them get used to people. The only time I watch him very carefully is around a small child. They are so unpredictable and I'd hate to see a child get hurt because they
startled the dog.

Before the walk in the park we stopped for gas and I ran my car through a drive through car wash. It never dawned on me that Ninja would be frightened by the car wash. First he barked at the soap. Then he whined at the water spray. Then he climbed into the front seat on my lap (all 38 pounds of him) and hid his face on my shoulder. Finally he ended up on the floor of the passenger's seat at my daughter's feet. He hadn't done that since he was a tiny puppy. Poor baby was shaking in fear. My daughter calmed him by petting him and feeding him a few leftover fries from dinner. Once we were through with the car wash he was back to his old self. Poor Ninja. I guess he'd rather just ride in a dirty car.

In Trouble Again. . .

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Not the best of weeks for my darling pup. First he munched a brand new pair of shoes. He likes to chew the heels of my shoes, especially ones with no backs. The result is a misshapen back of the shoe, usually ratty and showing the inside lining that was chewed through.

To be honest, I didn't much like wearing that pair of shoes. They are very cute, but very uncomfortable. I wore them Saturday night to see Indiana Jones and to walk around Victoria Gardens(our local outdoor shopping center) and by the time I got home I was limping. Still, Ninja should not be munching on my shoes. My next step is apple bitters I think. His first birthday is Saturday and he's not showing any signs of leaving my shoes alone. So more drastic measures are required.

Tonight my husband had a rib to offer the pup, so he called him over. He motioned for Ninja to climb into his lap, and the puppy got excited and wet on him. This is a huge no no to my husband. He is absolutely horrified by puppy pee. To me it comes with the territory, like baby throw up or diapers with kids.

Poor Ninja didn't get his rib and was sent outside. I'm not sure how to solve this one. All the dog people I talk to say this wetting when excited is very normal, but it really upsets my husband. I did some research on the internet, and there are two types of wetting- one out of excitement and one out of submission. The submission one is what happened tonight, I think. Poor Ninja- he's telling my husband that he (husband) is the Alpha Dog by urinating. And by getting angry and disciplining, we did exactly the wrong thing. What I've read says that yelling at the dog makes it much worse, because he thinks he should wet more to show submission. I'll have a chat with him tomorrow and hopefully we can both agree to handle this issue the same way.

Hopefully we can all find a happy solution. The good news is that most people say that puppies will grow out of this. Let's hope!

The Brownie Thief

Monday, June 9, 2008

On Saturday I went to my ceramics class and came home to a very happy pup. There is nothing like seeing that little wagging behind (remember the docked tail) waiting for me at the door.


He had stolen one of my shoes and taken it out to the yard, but there wasn't too much damage and I can still wear it. That's a good thing.

We tend to bring lots of goodies to munch on during class. This Saturday was no exception, and I was sent home with a rather large plate of brownies. I set them on the kitchen table, told my kids to help themselves, and settled down on the couch with a large iced tea and the remote for a short rest.

About an hour later my daughter asked where the brownies were. Only a forlorn, empty plate with one black hair remained, and it was on the floor.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnjjjjjjjjjaaaaaaa!

Ninja and Bootstraps

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Why do dogs and cats not like each other? Is it instinct or is it learned? I've never been able to figure that one out, especially since you can raise a kitten and a puppy together and they are often quite friendly.

So just recently Ninja has started to go after cats. I have no idea what he'd do if he actually caught a cat. Maybe he'd lick it to death- I don't know. He makes a posture of dominance at the orange cats who live on the street below us as we pass by on our walk to the park. They just look back at him.

Our neighbors (the ones who have Bingo the Jack Russell and where Ninja got stuck in the yard) have a black and white cat names Bootstraps. He's a really beautiful cat and is often found sunning himself in the yard near where the kids are playing outside. He was wild when he adopted our neighbors, but he doesn't look like a wild thing. He pretty much won't take any crap from anyone, especially not Ninja.

Bootstraps was outside the other day with the kids when Ninja went outside with me to take out the trash. He saw Bootstraps and took off running at him. Bootstraps retreated into the bushes, but wasn't going to take any more than that. Ninja charged at the bushes and the cat came flying out, with a snarl. Ninja retreated. So did Bootstraps. Then Ninja went back at the bushes and Bootstraps came back at him. I think Ninja got his nose swiped because along with a cat snarl I heard a puppy yelp.

At this point all the neighborhood kids and I were laughing at Ninja's antics and we were all cheering on the cat. I mean, Ninja has almost 30 pounds on this little guy and he was completely holding his own. But before anyone got hurt I decided to call in the dog and give the poor cat a break.

I'm still looking to get a cat to avoid any more rodent issues, but I'm wondering how Ninja will take to him.

On another note, did I mention that my car windows are fixed? I was lucky to find the right part on eBay motors for about $150. DH fixed it in about 5 minutes. I also just orded a new cup holder (to replace a broken one) to help avoid any more spills on the center console, which is apparently rather sensitive to we spills, according to Mercedes. No kidding. We've done pretty well making repairs on our own, since owning one of these beautiful cars can be quite expensive to keep up. The labor is the really expensive part.

Ninja, Stop! I mean go!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

When Ninja was about 3 months old we would walk down to the park almost every day, especially since it was still Summer. Often we would wait until dark when it was cooler to head down. I liked this time of day because it meant fewer people and dogs in the park, and I could let Ninja off the leash to run and use up some of that famous Aussie energy. It made for better nights for us all.

Little Ninja would always stick close so, thinking that I had total control over him (ha!) I would let him off of the leash on the way to the park. At the time he was afraid of other dogs and would cower behind me if one came around rather than act aggressively.

So this evening it was already dark and we were heading down to the park. DS was on his bike and DD and I were walking. DS got rather far ahead of us on his bike, even crossed he street at the bottom of the hill and waited for us. DD liked to run down the hill, so she started flying down. She knows to stop at the corner and wait for me. Unfortunately Ninja does not.

As soon as DD started to run, Ninja did too. She stopped at the corner. Ninja saw DS on he opposite corner and just kept going. About that time I could see headlights coming and all I could think about was that Ninja was almost all black and any driver would probably miss him in the dark. I must confess, I panicked.

I was about 15 feet from the curb and I screamed and ran as fast as I could go. As I got to the corner I saw Ninja fly across the street and I made the worst mistake I could at that moment. I screamed at him to stop. And he did. Sat right down in the middle of the street (like he thought I wanted) with a mini van bearing down on him. If I had had a cooler head at that moment I would have had DS call to him and he would have just continued to fly across the street and been perfectly safe.

So I screamed louder, waived my arms in desperation, and ran into the street myself. Luckily the lady driver of the mini van wasn't going very fast and she must have seen and heard all the commotion, so by the time I entered the street waving my arms and screaming stop, she had stopped. The poor woman must have thought she had entered the neighborhood of an asylum or something.

I was able to scoop up Ninja, get DD across the street safely, wave thank you to the driver, and burst into tears of relief.

Ninja stays on his leash the whole way to the park now.

Puppies just don't. . .? (Part 2)

Friday, May 9, 2008

When we brought Ninja home, DH and I had a discussion about providing him with a dog door. Even at 8 weeks old, he had been using the dog door at the breeder's house. Using is perhaps the wrong word. Yes, he did go in and out of it. Mostly he just flopped down half way in and half way out of it, generally making a nuisance of himself because his litter mates had to climb over him to get in or out. Plus, being half way in and hallway out left the door open, much to the breeder's annoyance because this let out the cool air-conditioned air in heart of the Summer.

My plan was to have DH cut a hole in the wall by the sliding glass door and install the dog door. The hole is easily patched if we ever decide to move. DH didn't like this idea, mainly because it involves cutting a hole in the wall (well, duh. The dog isn't Cris Angel). Since he would be the one actually installing the door if we did it this way, I decided to listen. For once. . .

He suggested we get a dog door that fits into the existing sliding glass door. The only problem with this is that we have a 7 foot tall sliding glass door, and the dog door that fits in there is quite expensive. I got on Craig's List and got very lucky to find a used one relatively inexpensively. I had to partially disassemble it because it was too long to fit in my car in one piece.

As soon as I got it home I installed it in the sliding door (a two minute job). I was really excited that my puppy would have all this freedom and I wouldn't have to open the door when he needed to go out. There was just one problem. Ninja refused to go through it. He seemed to be afraid of it. It doesn't surprise me. The flap snaps shut as the dog goes through it, and the SNAP! is pretty loud. Even now it sometimes wakes me up in my room all the way upstairs if Ninja goes out in the night. Did you know you have to train your dog to use a dog door? Along with walking on a leash I assumed he would just rush right through it!

DD and I spent hours trying to coax him through it. One of us would sit outside and the other inside with treats and call him. He wouldn't go through it unless we held it open for him. Even bacon and chicken didn't do the trick. Finally I taped it open in desperation. This was in October. OK for the day, but it wasn't going to work at night. Plus I was afraid something might invite itself in from the outside. Like maybe a rat????

Ninja would go through it when it was taped open. So the routine became I'd tape open the door during the day, and as it got chilly at night I'd close it. After about three days I had had enough of this. Plus the tape kept coming loose. I'm surprised it didn't flop down and hit him as he scampered through. So when the tape gave out I ignored it. Ninja whined. I pretended not to hear. Ninja chuffed at the door and barked a little. I ignored him. So he gave up and went through. And that was that. Hours of begging, coaxing, an cajoling boiled down to me refusing to baby the puppy. He decided he needed to go out and out he went.

Now we are slightly sorry, especially when he gets bored and starts taking stuff that isn't his to his "lair." Stuff like remote controls- especially nice in the rain. Stuff like my shoes, the kids' stuffed animals, mail off of the dining room table. I have no doubt this would be shredded in the house if he didn't have dog door. It just wouldn't make my back yard look like a treasure hunt. . .

Puppies don't just. . .?

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Let me preface this story with the fact that this is my first dog. DH has had a couple, but not me until now.

On the day I brought Ninja home I had to pick up my daughter from school. If you recall from my earlier posts, my darling pup was delivered to me at work just as I was leaving. He was little enough to fit in a small animal carrier. A friend got a ride home with me and she held Ninja in his carrier for the commute through all the traffic. We even opened it up so he could poke his head out a bit.

After I dropped off my friend, I was on my way to pick up my DD from her after school program. I thought, "How fun! I'll put the puppy on the leash and walk him to where she is and she'll be so excited!" I had the leash and a bunch of other toys and dishes and things I had been collecting for the past few days with me.

When we got there, I scooped Ninja from the carrier, set him on the ground and attached the leash to his collar. Did you know you have to train a dog to walk on a leash? What made me think I'd put the leash on him and he'd come along, I'll never know. I'll chalk it up to inexperience.

It was another cartoon character moment. I set him down, attached the leash and started off. He didn't move. I tugged a little. He dug his paws in. We weren't going anywhere, unless it was for a drag rather than a walk. So I carried him to get my DD and carried him back to the car. He was happy. He was only about 11 pounds then. DD and I spent an evening at the park with him, coaxing him to come along to treats and toys on the leash.

It didn't last long that he wouldn't go on the leash. But long enough. The weekend after he came home, we took him to Dana Point, a local harbor and beautiful spot for walking and picnicking. I walked. Ninja would either be dragged or carried. I opted for the carrying. Soon DH asked me why I was carrying the puppy. I explained he was refusing to walk on the leash. He shook his head and said, "He'll walk for me on the leash." Fine. I caught up to the kids. A few minutes later, DH caught up to us, carrying Ninja. I gave him a look that said, "So? What happened?" He just shook his head and muttered something about being tired of dragging him.

He was the first puppy to show up on a leash to puppy training with his litter mates. I remember the other puppy parents exclaiming, "Look at Ninja! He's so good!" And of course he basked in the praise (didn't hurt my ego either!). He did very well in puppy classes with sit, stay, home, and so on. I was so proud!

Now he's a champion walker. He'll even walk himself if you let him. Put the leash on and off we go. If you set the leash down, he'll pick it up in his teeth and walk. It's funny to see.

Tonight he'll go to the park with us while DS practices baseball. Those are good nights when we come home from long walks and lots of running. Then I know my shoes are safe.

The Frisbee

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

How to teach your dog to catch a Frisbee (condensed version):

1. Roll the Frisbee on the ground and get your dog to retrieve it, like a ball.

2. Begin tossing it in the air lightly in front of your dog until he gets the idea to catch it and bring it back.

3. Begin throwing it like a Frisbee for short distances until he learns to go get it and bring it back.

4. Continue to throw it further and further until he is a champion Frisbee catcher!!

Aussies are known to be great Frisbee dogs. Perhaps Ninja is the exception. Perhaps I'm just a crummy dog trainer. Either way, the Frisbee thing ain't working for us.

Throw a ball and Ninja will bring it back. Most of the time. Usually he'll bring it back about 10 times and then take off with it into his backyard "lair." Then the game is over.

But the Frisbee? He grabs it, he wants to play tug of war with it, he'll sit on it. When I toss it he watches. . .and lays down. Or he'll watch me toss it in the air and let it hit him in the head. I was afraid that he'd get scared of it and not want to play, but that hasn't happened. Probably because I'm tossing it lightly in the hopes that he'll snatch it from the air.

He likes the rolling it on the ground part, just not the sailing through the air part. DH says it's because I can't throw a Frisbee properly. I toss, it goes- what more is there? He won't catch food you toss in the air either. So we keep trying. And trying. . .

Oh, an update on the rat that started the whole rat poison incident. We smelled something foul in the kitchen last night. The poor rat had died in a crevice between two of my kitchen cabinets.

The bad news is that DH's hand would not fit in the crevice to pull the carcass out. Guess whose did? As I donned those HUGE yellow gloves I told him he owed me big time for this one. But it was that or a late night trip to Walmart for a new shop vac to extract it out. Either way, it had to come out last night. No question.

I still cringe over this one, but I just stuck my gloved hand in, pulled it out and tossed it in the trash bag and DH whisked it away. Then I spent about an hour in the shower trying to scrub away the disgusting memory. Blech.

I wonder how Ninja would like a cat for a friend?