Sorry folks....

I'm having some issues with my blog template so I have had to resort to using a generic blogger template until I can get this sorted. Last night, being Saturday night, I ventured to the other side of the city with Miss R and her sister Miss J to see a movie (it was Death at a Funeral actually, okay for a bit of a laugh). It's amazing how one feels out of place when taken out of their element. The south side of Melbourne is quite different to the north I have to say. Down south it's all designer jeans and white trainers, whereas up north here it's more tea cosy beanies and vegetarians. I have to say too, much less grief. Walked past a guy who had had his nose broken in a fight. Honestly, some guys need to grow up. I took the dogs to a local deserted velodrome to let them both off the leash. It was great to a point. Good old Merlin got to stretch his legs probably for the first time since his last race in February, and boy did he. Cleo ran off and Merlin took chase but couldn't exactly keep his footing over rough ground, but he did get that familiar greyhound gait happening some a good sprint. The only down side was that Cleo decided to be petulant and not let me put her collar on. Suffice to say, she went to the vet the next day and got de-sexed. Well, actually, we had had her booked in for 2 weeks.

You know you've made it when......

Yesterday was an extremely momentous day. I took delivery of my first ever batch of business cards. Yes, I now have business cards. In all my years of work I have never had them, but now I'll be able to deal them out willy nilly. How cool huh? I guess it's the little things, but to me it's a big deal. It was also a momentous day as we put our names forward to adopt a greyhound. It will be good for little cleo to have some doggy company. I spent some time at home yesterday tending to a bad bout of diarrheoa brought on by who knows what. Anyway, she was having a bit of a whimpering session and I don't know why. I was there, but I think she was just bored or something. She just loves running full tilt in the park, as I'm sure any other little whippet would as well. A greyhound would sort her out, give her a bit of competition and companionship maybe. Cleo is great with other dogs, she really is, so when we get the greyhound I'm sure she'll be happy as a pig in shit.

How to train a dog...part 1

Miss R and I went to the first of seven dog training session last night. It was without Cleo, so it was basically a theory lesson and stuff. We're being taught how to use the clicker method of training; that is click and clicker, give a treat. I'm guessing it expands on that quite a bit. If there is one thing our little whippet likes, and that is food. She scrounges and eats anything so that everyone else in the park thinks that we don't feed her! How embarrassing. Anyway, we tried a bit of the clicker last night when we got home and we were surprised to see that she didn't run away from the sound. The other thing of note is that the dog trainer brought in her greyhound for demonstration. From what I can gather, dogs come in 4 distinct sizes; tiny lap dogs, medium dogs (whippets, kelpies etc), large dogs (dobermans, german shepherds) and Gigantor size. This greyhound fit the gigantor size category. It was a towering dog and resembled a giraffe or one of those AT-AT walkers from Empire Strikes Back. If we get one we may need to also get a light truck in which to transport it as I doubt it'll fit in the car.

bikes and dogs!

When I ride my bike, to and from work each day, it never ceases to amaze me how some cyclists are still alive. Honestly, every day I see at least one or two run red lights, nearly get hit by cars at roundabouts because hey, you gotta give way to the right dickhead, and generally think that they own the road. Me? Well, cars are bigger and it doesn't matter if they are in the wrong or not, a cyclist is gonna come off second best. It's a pity that some don't have this mentality. Then there are other who think that the commute is a stage of the tour de france. I hate these guys. The best way to get up their goat is to keep up with them when they fly past. I don't know why I hate them, probably because of their arrogance. I can keep up with them for the most part, but after a few minutes I back off. We're thinking of getting another dog. Probably not for a few months, but probably a rescue grey hound. Such beautiful dogs and honestly, I think Cleo needs a bit of competition because there are no other dogs in the park that can keep up with her, and she loves playing chasey. You can see it quite clearly that she eases off so other dogs can keep up with her. Can't wait to see her on the track though. Hopefully we'll get her on one soon.