Would You Pay?

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but much of my thinking about what to blog about is done on our walks.

Not only do I depend upon the dogs to provide me entertainment and material, I often times am thinking of something one of you wrote about, whether it be in a post or a comment.  If I’m not doing that, I’m daydreaming.

Here is my latest daydream, it’s for a dog park that is completely fenced in, so all dogs can be off-leash.

There would be a nice field, for fetching or playing games and a great big pond for swimming.  There would also be wooded trails and picnic tables so a person or family could go and make a day of it.

There would always be someone on duty during hours of operation and you would check in at a little gate and get a wrist band for yourself and your dog would get a matching band that would attach to the collar.  This would be designed along the lines of the bracelets used on maternity wards to prevent someone other than you leaving with your dog.

The park would offer classes, such as rally, agility, nosework, obedience, etc.

It would look something like this:

The blue circle indicates the pond, while the dark green circle is the playing/training field.  The smaller squares of green are trees, while the brown squares would be the walking trails.  The two gray lines in the front indicate the path in to the park and the large gray building to the right of the path is the guard shack.  The red lines are picnic tables.

Of course this is just a quick sketch meant to give you a general idea.  I forgot to add a large indoor ring that could be used to hold matches or indoor training when the weather is poor.

The park would definitely be a member’s only park.  There would be specific rules and regulations and all dogs would need to be friendly and you would need to sign something saying you agreed to the rules.

Here’s the question, if something like this were available in your area would you pay to belong?  How much would something like this be worth to a dog owner?

Would a park like this generate enough money to pay for the taxes and any upkeep as well as the security and trainers, or would it need to supplement by offering classes to the general public and reduced classes to members?

Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments.

Yes I’m Back At Work

I complained to Hubby yesterday after Sampson, Delilah and I got back from our walk.

Maybe it was because I walk in long pants, with a long-sleeved shirt, socks, sneakers and a ball cap and it’s hot as freakin’ hell.  Really, within five minutes (or just as soon as I’ve reached the top of the hill) I’m sweating like a 500 pound man in a 500 degree oven.

Maybe it was because I can’t walk in the summer without  the bugs…well bugging me.  I swear to God a big sucker flew past my ear and was so stinkin loud the other day that the hair on my body stood on end.

Maybe it was because the bugs keep bugging Delilah and I’m constantly asking my dog to stop or wait while I swat at her.

Maybe it was because the dogs get hot and tired too and stop in the middle of the path and block my progress.

Maybe it was because those stupid spiders build their stupid webs across the trail and I’m constantly flailing and screaming like a little girl, and basically look like a lunatic swatting at nothing.

Or maybe, just maybe it was because it was my last day of vacation and I knew how much 1) I didn’t accomplish while I was home, 2) I’ll miss walking the dogs first thing in the morning and 3)  I’d hate going back to work.

Maybe it was all of the above.

Do you have a hard time adjusting after vacation?

Drifting….

Hubby and I have been on vacation all week.  We were also on vacation two weeks ago.  Don’t ask, he chose the weeks.

I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish while we were on vacation.

• Shampoo my carpets.
• Paint the outside of the french doors.
• Clean up my office/scrapbook room.
• Take my grandson and do something fun for a day.
• Get a couple of blog posts ready to go, to help take the stress off me when I’m writing.
• Move the blog to self-hosted.
• Design the new website.
• Clean out the garage.
• Give the house a good douching.

I managed to take my grandson for the day and we went to The Dinosaur Place.

I also started writing the daily blog the night before, so I can tweak it first thing in the morning and get it up earlier.

And that’s it.

Oh, I spent almost every waking minute on the computer, the problem was I found myself drifting.  I’d drift to my gooogle reader to see what you all were up to, or I’d drift over to facebook and check my words with friends games.

I first heard about drifting from the other awesome Jodi, over at Kol’s Notes.  Jodi wrote a post Things I Learned At #BlogPaws: Time May Change Me, But I Can’t Change Time.

Ah, suddenly I have a name for what I’m doing, I just don’t know how to stop myself.  Jodi says there’s a tool you can download to block the social media sites when you need to be working.

That won’t stop me.  I’ll just shut it off.

I need motivation.

Where do you find your motivation when you just don’t have any?  Have you ever suffered from Drifting?  What steps did you take to help keep yourself on task?

Belated Thanks

Well here I am once again a wee bit late in thanking a few blogs that chose to honor me with an award.

I love getting awards because I know that people are actually reading and liking what I’m writing about.  It makes me feel like I’m on the right track. 🙂

Today I’m acknowledging two awards, the first was presented to us by Misty Shores Chesapeakes and is called Blog On Fire Award.

Thank you Misty Shores Chesapeakes

The rules that go with this award are easy, link back to the person who awarded you, share five things about yourself, and pass it on.

1) I’m often times my own worse enemy, meaning I always doubt and second guess myself.

2) I’m never satisfied with something I’ve written.  I can always go back and think of something I should have added or a different way to phrase something.

3) Number two is why I decided to start using Follow-up Friday on my blog. 🙂

4) I’m a big Lord Of The Rings fan, I could watch those movies back to back to back.

5) In fact when I’m having a blah day, I’ll throw one of the LOTR movies on, or if it happens to be on tv, no matter if I’ve just seen it or not, I will turn the channel and watch it again.

Misty passed the award on to five blogs, so I will do the same.

Donna and the Dogs – Donna’s ON FIRE! LOL this woman has it all going on.  She recently won the AKC fiction writing contest for 2012 and if that wasn’t enough, she actually has sent her recently completed novel out to a couple of agents.  Watch out for this one, some day we’ll say, I knew her when. 🙂

For The Love of My Dogs – I started following this blog a few months back, Deanna is one of those amazing people who inspire me with their dedication to animals.  She currently has three dogs of her own and she still fosters!  She is on fire for animal rescue.

Hound Girl – I love Kari’s blog, she says it the way she sees it and in my opinion it doesn’t get better than that!  Kari is on fire, she has sponsors and give-aways and is a mover and a shaker.

Mazzie Takes Manhattan – This is one of the news blogs I follow.  Miss Mazzie is a lab mix (I think) and lives the glamorous life in Manhattan.  Join her on her many adventures, that little city girl gets around. 🙂

Thecvillean – I love this blog, Al is sarcastic, funny and just downright entertaining.  If you haven’t checked this blog out yet, I certainly encourage you to try it!

Thanks again to Misty Shores for the Blog on Fire Award.

As if that wasn’t enough, we were also presented with the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award, not just by one blog but by two!

Thank you to Collies of the Meadow and Donna and the Dogs

On July 17th, Chuck and the Collies from Collies of the Meadow presented us with this award and yesterday Donna from Donna and the Dogs gave us the second one.

This award requires I tell you SEVEN things about myself.  You’d think this would be easy since I put so much of myself out here, but that’s what makes it so hard.  I basically tell you everything about myself already.  But I’ll give it my best shot.

1) I had set Friday night aside to work on my book but didn’t do it.

2) I’m actually thinking of going back to the beginning of the book and see if I can add some more description to it.

3) After reading Donna’s AKC fiction story, I can see that much of my writing lacks description. :0

4) I walk the dogs as much for myself as I do for them, even though sometimes I complain about it.

5) I have a license to carry a concealed weapon in the state of CT.

6) I drive a Hyundai Tucson, I hate it.

7) I’m a big military supporter and think we should have better benefits for our veterans.

According to Donna’s post I need to pass this on to seven blogs.  I’ll give this my best shot. 🙂

Kol’s Notes – I get so many nutritional tips from this blog, besides look at that cute puggle face and tell me you can resist it.

My Brown Newfies – Really her escapades with Leroy are about as legendary as mine with Delilah and besides she was cool enough to give me her cell phone number. 🙂  Brave or crazy, I’m not sure which. 🙂

Long Life Cats and Dogs – I just started following this blog, she works in animal rescue though, so what’s not to love.

Rescued Insanity – Have you ever seen a tornado on a leash?  LOL yes that is Kristine’s motto regarding her rescued dog Shiva.  When I read about Kristine and how far she has come with Shiva, it gives me hope for Delilah and me. 🙂

Something Wagging This Way Comes – I love reading about Pamela and all the lessons she is learning from her Golden Retriever, Honey.

Thank you again, Collies of the Meadow and Donna and the Dogs.  I really appreciate the recognition.

2012 Goals – Check Point

Six months ago I wrote a post titled 2012 Goals, I thought it might be a good time to review those goals and see how I’m doing.

The Blog.

Subscribers. 

I wrote: The last time I published a post WordPress informed me I have 54 WordPress subscribers and 164 Twitter followers.  My goal for 2012 is to double my WordPress subscribers.

Update: I currently have 105 WordPress subscribers, and 187 twitter subscribers.  I’m quite pleased with this, if my subscriptions continue in the fashion I will reach and surpass my goal before the year is up!

Subscribers = A

Author’s Note: For some reason WordPress keeps changing the way they show their statistics, a week or so ago they began combining my facebook followers as subscribers.

When I checked the blog and it said I had 475 followers I almost fell over.  I quickly checked the front page to see if I’d been pressed.

Being freshly pressed = Epic fail.

Posting.

I wrote:  My plan is to continue to post every, single day.  If I make it, that will be two full years of daily blogging.

Update: So far I’ve been able to post every single day, and I don’t at this time see any reason for this to change.

Posting every day = A.

Product Review.

I wrote:  I would like to be able to do a product review on this blog.  Preferably a product I like, so I can write a glowing review.

Update: I’m holding off at the moment because there are certain things you can and cannot do with the free WordPress account, until I can move the blog to self-hosted, I will proceed with caution.

Product review = C.

Twitter.

Tweeting.

I wrote:  My Twitter goal is to learn to tweet.  Seriously.

Update: Yeah, I’ve tweeted some but it’s just not something that comes naturally.  My niece who is a great tweeter, says you just do it.  I haven’t figured it out on my phone and I just can’t sit there with my twitter feed open all day long.

Twitter = D-.

Twitter Followers.

I wrote:  My other Twitter goal is to get Bob Harper to follow me.   I know, it will be tough but I think I’m up for the challenge.

Update:  This has proven harder than I expected.  You’d think with a twitter name like AuntieJodi you could practically shame someone into following you!   Bob Harper, follow your AuntieJodi, I mean really, what must his followers think?  He doesn’t even follow his own aunt. 🙂

Twitter Goal Bob Harper = Epic Fail.

Writing.

Paid Writing.

I wrote:  I’m not going to say I want to get a full-time writing job, but I would like to get paid to write something.  Anything.  I don’t care if someone pays me to write a freakin’ ad on Craig’s list.  I just want to be able to say I made money by writing.

Update: I haven’t really pursued this one either.  I did enter a writing contest, which technically would have counted.

Yes it would.  But I didn’t even place.

Paid Writing = D-.

My Book.

I wrote:  I’m writing a book.  There I said it!  Now you know.  Taking a page from Donna and the Dogs, I will be posting a line at the end of each blog letting you know how many words I currently have.

My goal is to write a little bit for my book each day.  In three days I have slightly over 1.000 words, I need to pick up the pace on that, because I hope to have the book complete (in rough form of course) by the time this blog is two years old.

Update: My book has stalled, it’s not that I don’t want to write it anymore, I just kind of lost steam.  I’m on vacation this week so I hope to get some writing in.  The last time I checked I think I had somewhere around 27,000 words.  So it’s not a total loss, I’ve written 26,000 more words than I had in January.

My book = C.

Sampson and Delilah.

I wrote:  My goal for Sampson and Delilah never changes.  It is to give them the best life I can and enjoy the time I have with them.

Update: I think Sampson and Delilah are doing great, they are happy, fairly well-adjusted dogs.  They require a lot of work, but they are totally worth it.

Sampson and Delilah = A+.

How about you, have you made progress with  any of your goals, either professionally or personally?

Mock 10 With My Hair On Fire

Many, many years ago when the donor and I first divorced, I found myself a single mother with two young children.  I was sad and lonely and so I turned to caffeine, nicotine and music to keep me going.

Yes you heard that right, I’m one of those people who find comfort, understanding and motivation through music.  At that time (dating myself) my songs of inspiration came from the early years of Bruce Springsteen.

My phone is naturally loaded up with Springsteen and the other famous Jersey Boy, Jon Bon Jovi.  I don’t always find the empathy from Jon that I get from Bruce, but there are many times when he does inspire me.

Every three or four weeks I make the trip to Avon for dog food.  I used to love to have Hubby go with me, but now I find I really enjoy this time to throw on some music and let my hair down.

I plugged the phone in and rather than do my traditional I don’t feel like listening to this song routine, I decided to listen to every song and see what kind of inspiration/motivation I might find.

Of course when you’re driving it’s hard to write things down, but I somehow managed to make a semblance of a list.

Today ladies and gentlemen I present to you my musical inspirations, in the order they came off my phone.

Springsteen: Badlands – Talk about a dream, try to make it real, you wake up in the night, with a fear so real, spend your life waiting for a moment that just don’t come, well, don’t waste your time waiting.  (The time is now, I need to get my butt in gear and do the next step, not keep waiting for God knows what.)

Springsteen: Leap of Faith – It takes a leap of faith to get things going.  It takes a leap of faith you gotta show some guts. It takes a leap of faith to get things going. In your heart you must trust. (I need to take that leap and have faith it’s what is right for me.)

Bon Jovi: Raise Your Hands – I – I’ve been out on the front line. Where you’ll go down if you waste time. They’ll walk all over you.  (I’m sitting here wasting time by not taking my blog to the next level. Um…..during this song I looked at the speedometer which read 100 and I realized, this song also makes me drive really fast)

Springsteen: Sherry Darling – my inspiration from this song was sometimes you  just have to kick back and let yourself enjoy!

Gretchen Wilson: I’m Here For The Party – You know im here for the party. And i aint leavin til they throw me out. (Yup that’s me and this blog, I’m here until y’all stop reading.)

Bon Jovi: Wild In The Streets – Sometimes this town ain’t pretty, but you know it ain’t so bad. (I have a tendency to focus on the negative, but that is changing!!  More positive please.)

Janis Joplin: Mercedes-Benz – This song told me I don’t want to be someone who just sits back and waits for someone to hand me something, I need to work my butt off if I want to make my dreams come true.

Springsteen: No Surrender – We made a promise we swore we’d always remember. No retreat baby, no surrender. (I can’t give up, I need to keep trying and working it and eventually it will turn out the way it was supposed to.)

Kathy Mattea: 455 Rocket – She’s a Rocket, she was made to burn. (That’s me, I’m wasn’t made to just sit on the side-lines, I’m an all in sort of gal.)

Springsteen: Out In The Street – When I’m out in the street, I walk the way I wanna walk.  When I’m out in the street, I talk the way I wanna talk.  (I have to stop worrying about what other people think and just be myself.)

Springsteen: Bobby Jean – Now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up their nose.  (That’s you guys!  You stick with me even when I’m feeling sorry for myself.)

Credence Clearwater: Bad Moon Rising – No inspiration here. 🙂

Jason Aldeen: Crazy Town – One year they repossess your truck, and the next you make a couple million bucks.  (Things might not be so great this year, but next year the tables could be turned.)

Mary Chapin Carpenter: I Feel Lucky – No Professor Doom gonna stand in my way, Mmmmm, I feel lucky today.  (Negative is out and positive is in, I need to get out of my own way.)

Sixty miles later I pulled into the driveway screaming, All Jacked Up by Gretchen Wilson.  While the lyrics didn’t inspire me, I do like the tune and I can be all jacked up with positivity.

So there you have my insights from my music. What inspires you?

Thwarted Again

Well there’s good news and bad news.

Whenever anyone says to me, there’s good news and there’s bad news, what do you want first?  I always choose the bad news.

I figure, let’s get this over with.

Today I’ve got good news and bad news.  What do you want first?

Too late, I’m making the decision for you.  You’re getting the bad news.

I heard back from my attorney friend today.  His legal opinion is that adding “Just” to an already trademarked “Be The Dog” could be considered trademark infringement.

Poop, thwarted again.

The way I see it I have two options.  I can contact someone at the Be The Dog website and see about working on a collaboration or I can do my own thing.

I’m a do my own thing kind of girl….BUT….I really like Just Be The Dog. (Decisions, decisions.)

I’ve gotten some great advice from many of you.  Not the least being choosing a blog name should be well thought out.

I have put  a lot of thought into this and I feel strongly that the blog should somehow be associated with my name.

I sort of feel like an egomaniac saying that, but if I use my name, then I can write about whatever I want.   I’m not pinned down to writing strictly about my life with Sampson and Delilah.

And then I discovered there’s another Jodi Stone who’s also a writer.  No, no, it’s not the lady bug Jodi Stone, it’s a another one!  Yes by golly, there’s three of us….all writers.  This Jodi Stone has a facebook page and writes stories about princesses.

That all kind of sounds like bad news, but I wanted to give you that information so I could share some good news.

Here are two Jodi Stone names I’ve been considering:

thisisjodistone.com

youvereachedjodistone.com

I also thought I could stick with:

lifewithsampsonanddelilah.com

And then I kind of got a bit creative and thought of these two:

doinitdoggiestyle.com

whatsthebark.com

It’s a pretty major decision and I want to make sure it’s the right one for me.

When I started this blog I had no idea what I was doing, they said I needed a name and so I used mine.  I didn’t use my imagination because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to blog about.

As it turns out, using my own name with the Life with Sampson and Delilah tagline, worked out pretty well.  Because what I’ve come to realize is I’m selling myself as a writer, a speaker and I hope someday….a leader.

I’ve always said I’m technologically challenged, but if I’m reading all of your comments correctly, my blog will stay the same, it will just move over to the new website.  When you go to this blog site, it will just be hosted somewhere else.

So what do you think?  Did you like any of the names?  Should I have a name the website contest?

Oh and speaking of contests, have you seen the Something Wagging Match Game?  It’s pretty darn cool and yours truly is participating.  If you haven’t checked it out, well what are you doing now?  Head on over, Pamela’s giving away some awfully good swag. 🙂

 

Bang A Drum

I’m a dreamer. I have big expectations.

I get these thoughts in my head and think I can do something.  And then I don’t.

Jon Bon Jovi summed it up neatly for me in a song called Bang A Drum, that was written and performed for the Young Guns II soundtrack.

I called upon my brother
Just the other day
He said, “John I’m gonna
Die if I don’t start to live again”

I work each day and night like clockwork
Just tryin’ to make ends meet
I could kick this bad world’s ass
If I could just get on my feet

Yup, that’s me in a nutshell.

I could kick this bad world’s ass if I could just get on my feet.

I have lots of  ideas and no idea how to make them come to fruition.

This is where you come in.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my year and a half of blogging, it’s that my blogging family will help.  All you have to do is ask.

In my Be The Dog post, I indicated I wanted to take this blog to the next level.  Well that level is coming up and pretty darn fast too.

I’m planning on moving away from the free wordpress and going self-hosted.

I know, it’s scary.

Here’s the dilemma.  http://www.jodistone.com is taken.

I was shocked too.

Go figure.  Some chick named Jodi Stone wrote a children’s book about a ….lady bug.

No, it certainly was not me!  How could you even think that?  Me write a book about bugs!

I admit, when I was a child I loved lady bugs, until I saw a house that thousands of them on the ceiling and did you know they bite?  Yeah, I didn’t either.

No, I’m not including the link to her site, but I won’t be mad at you if you go and look.  Just come back here, ok?  I still have a problem.

So this blog is http://www.jodistone.wordpress.com, but what happens when I go to self-hosting?   Isn’t the blog name supposed to just add a .com to it?

In order to take the next step I need to know what’s going to happen to my blog name.  Do any of you know?  Should I just call the hosting company and run it by them?  Should I change the blog name?

Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

Why My Vet Shouldn’t Give Me Her Cell Phone Number

A few months back I had an eye exam scheduled.  About two hours before the exam, my Dr. called me on my cell phone to tell me the office was without power and they would be contacting me to reschedule the appointment.  She mentioned that she was calling from HER cell phone because the office phones were down.

As soon as we hung up I saved her number.

At the rescheduled appointment I told her I saved her number and don’t be surprised if she gets a call from me.  We both laughed, but I was dead sirius.

If you call or text my cell phone, I’m saving your number.  Do you hear that Mr. Obama?  You better make sure to dial the right number, because you don’t want me having yours.

A few years back I got a text about a bond.  I played along, asking questions.  Finally the guy wised up and called me, he said he had the wrong number, and could I just delete the text.  Naturally I asked him what he did, and I found out he’s a bail bondsman.

Hmmmm… good number to have just in case Mr. Obama does call my phone number by accident.  I stored the bail bondsman’s number in my phone, it simply says, Bondsman.

You never know when you might need to post bond…

I like having people’s numbers in my phone.  For instance, I have my State Senator’s cell number in my phone and call him when I need his thoughts or his ear. 🙂

Oh yes, I am that woman.

While I was on the phone with the vet’s office Friday night I joked with the receptionist that my vet better hope I never get her cell phone number.  If I did, I imagine I would probably text her quite a bit.

It might go something like this:

Monday

Me: Hi Dr. Soutter this is Jodi Stone, I have a question for you about Sampson.

Dr. Soutter: How did you get this number?

Me: Um… I think I saw it accidentally the last time I was in your office.  Anyway, Sampson threw up his breakfast this morning and I was wondering if you thought it was something I should be worried about?

Dr. S: Jodi, I know you worry, but unless Sampson is vomiting every meal, I think you should just keep an eye on him.  And please, forget you got this number and call the office next time.

Me: Thanks Dr. Soutter, have a great day!!

Tuesday

Me: Hi Dr. Soutter, on our walk today the dogs, particularly Delilah kept getting chomped at by deer flies.  I was wondering if you knew of anything I could give them that would repel the deer flies.  Oh and gnats too!

Dr. S: Is this Jodi?

Me: Yes, yes it is!

Dr. S: If you have a question please phone the office.  The receptionist should be able to help you with insect repellent questions.  I would really prefer to keep our relationship professional.

Me: Ok Dr. Soutter, have a great day! 

Wednesday

Me: Hey Dr. S, you know Sampson and Delilah are on the garlic tablets right?  Well I forgot to give them a dose, do you think they’ll be ok?  I hate to give them too much because it does make them gassy and oooh, boy you don’t want to be around for that one! LOL

Dr. S: I think they’ll be fine.  Again, please call the office with your questions.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have surgery to perform. 

Me: Thanks Dr. S, have a great day!

Thursday

Me: Hey Alexis, how’s it going?  I forgot to mention yesterday that Delilah is gulping her water.  What are your thoughts on this?

Dr. S: Jodi, call the office with your questions. 

Me: OMG, you stored my cell phone info!!  I’m so excited.  Are you free today for lunch?

Dr. S: I’m trying to be nice and professional but you are pushing my buttons.  What you are doing is bordering on harassment!  And please, we are not friends, call me Dr. Soutter and NO I AM NOT FREE FOR LUNCH!

Me: Thanks Alexis!  Have a great day!!

Friday

Me: Hey A, you won’t believe this, but I found two white hairs on Delilah’s back, do Chocolate Lab’s usually get white on their back?

Me: Alexis?  Alexis?  Are you mad at me?

Response:  I’m sorry, you have the wrong number, there is no Alexis here.  I just got this number today….

YEP, if she’s smart, she probably shouldn’t give me her number. 🙂

It Won’t Kill Them To Miss A Day

But it might kill them if you walk them.

That’s the conversation I had with Hubby last night about walking the dogs today.  Let me just say that Hubby’s not that big on walking the dogs.  Most days I walk them myself, in the park/woods at the top of our street.  Some days he will join us, but most times when I ask (even on the weekends) he prefers not to do it.  If I have a day where I can’t walk them at lunch or after work, I will ask him to walk around the block with me after dinner.   Most times he does this reluctantly.  It is only about an 18 minute walk, but it’s better than nothing.

Yesterday was the first day of summer and the eastern half of the country kicked it off in a big, hot, way.   Here in New England it reached into the upper 90’s and it was extremely humid.  Too hot even for my little grandson to start his first day of baseball. 😦

There was no way I was going to walk the dogs at lunch.  I debated going to work late and walking them early but in the end decided to shoot for an around the block walk, after dinner.

We ventured out about 8:40 pm and it was still hot, so hot that both dogs were panting half-way thru the walk.  Back into the air conditioning we headed.  Delilah was still panting an hour later.

About 10 PM the dogs headed out for a last potty break before bed.  When I opened the door, it was still like opening an oven door.  I have no idea what the temperature was but it was ugly.

Once everyone was settled in bed, I debated our exercise for today.  Temperatures are expected to reach the high 90’s if not into the 100’s.  Since my niece is graduating from High School at 6:00 pm my choices for walking the dogs are very limited.  There is NO WAY I would walk them in the heat of the day, which leaves later in the evening with Mr. Reluctant or first thing this morning.

As the opening lines read, Mr. Reluctant feels it won’t hurt them to miss a day of exercise.

I disagree.

I opted for a quick 20 minute walk first thing this morning.  We were at the park at 6:40 am, and it was already 73 degrees outside.  Both dogs were panting by the end of the 20 minute walk, so we went home and I had them lie in the bedroom with the air conditioning on to help cool them off, and wait for their tummies to settle before getting their breakfast.

I’m not sure what time we’ll be back from graduation tonight so eating their breakfast a little late will work to my/their benefit, and I figure when I get home I can work a little with them on training.  Specifically Delilah on her drop it command.

I’m pretty sure she ate part of a potato in the field this morning.

How do you make adjustments to your exercise schedule when the weather just isn’t cooperating?