Povey Prattle

I am teaching Izzy to stay in place. Here she is near the sliding glass door to the Lanai. She is still there when I am about  20 feet away at the end of the hallway She waited until I told her to come to me. She will also sit and wait when I hold a treat in the palm of my hand, and not take the treat until I tell her do so so. When we get back home after a walk I drop her leash to tell her to wait until I have opened the porch door. She does so until I  I bid her enter the porch. Then I ask her to sit until I have removed her leash, and to wait until I open the front door.  She sits and waits until I welcome her into my home. Good Dog! Lots of work ahead especially in training her to stay in place out of the home, and to interact with other dogs, large and small. ------------------------------------------------------- Here she is at rest  in her 33" long/20" wide crate  (which she loves) -  giving you a better sense of he...

1.  Shane my USPS mailman. 2.  Eddie the WastePro guy who picks up my trash every Thursday. Both are excellent in work and friendly in attitude. I can count on them. They too serve America , for which I am glad. I depend upon their service A gratuity to them at Christmas-tide was utterly appropriate  (and gratefully received).

 My favourite football (soccer) team is the Bristol City Football Club.  I have supported them through thick and thin (an awful lot of thin) since I was about nine years old. Lowly BCFC met the mighty Manchester United in a * "Carabao Cup"  fixture today. The result?  BCFC 2 -  MU 1 We won! Such was the excitement that a Bristol Sports Reporter/Journalist posted this to our local newspaper, the "Bristol Post" "When Smith drove into the box, he almost laid the ball on a plate for Reid but for Daley Blind to pour cold water on the move, intercepting just as the forward looked to pull the trigger." Untangle those metaphors if you can! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * The Carabao Cup The  EFL Cup  (referred to historically, and colloquially, as simply the  League Cup ), currently known as the  Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual  knockout   footba...

One swallow does not make a summer.  But I had a very good first session with Izzy and Michael Harvey: The K9 Coach See https://sarasotadogtraining.com Mike told me of the shortcomings of training methods  (e.g. "treat training" rewards good behaviour, but does nothing for bad behaviour [you cannot "untreat"  a dog!]. He favours electronic collars. The idea is that you use the collar to emphasize behaviour alongside   a verbal command.  The collar emits tingles of varying intensity to teach  the dog about desired behavior. (These collars are controversial in some quarters.  Do they cause pain?  I think and hope not.    I gripped  a collar in my hand - and found that the sensation is similar to "pin and needles"). Mike equipped Izzy with a collar, and in fewer than five minutes she was responding to commands. The serious training will start on Boxing Day.  Mike will come to my home for ...

Regular readers will remember that I bought an excellent Thanksgiving Dinner from "Fresh Market". On the day itself my brother Andy and his wife Izzy (from the U.K.) enjoyed the feast, together with my neighbour Ed. Then the leftovers. My near the breadline neighbours were given enough for four meals. I made about 4 quarts of Turkey Soup. I mashed up potatoes and stuffing, binding them with an egg, for potato/stuffing cakes, (yummy fried for breakfast). And yet more leftovers! Enough to make two platefuls which I covered in tin foil and plastic wrap, and froze for future use. I ate the last one today for lunch: Turkey, green  beans, mashed potato, stuffing. Almost as good as on the day itself  (but sans Cranberry relish). Yum

I try to be a creature of orderly habits, but sometimes..... When I give Adelaide her morning and evening treats of wet food I always put the can and cover in the fridge before Izzy gets to it. Always? No not always. One of these cans went AWOL the other day. Couldn't find it anywhere. That’s until it slipped off a rack in my Kitchen Counter Oven today, an Oven I had used this morning to make toast Oh dear, there could have been a fire.  Plastic lid all melted, food cooked.