Here is where I confess that one of my life goals is to be able to do a cartwheel. I could never do one when I was a kid, and now at 45, I want to! It's still pouring out, otherwise I'd go out back and give it a try right now!

i cannot do a cartwheel either! i have a list of things i want to do... cartwheel is on it... handstand (against wall at first, then, eventually freestanding)... and ONE STUPID CHIN UP!!!!!!! I have been training for 16 months and still no chin up!!! i am even gonig to install a bar in my basement so i can practice!!! :)

I wouldn't recommend a cartwheel for those who haven't done one for a while! The last time I did one I was sore for a week!

Jessica~just a note on the prong collar. IMO they are necessary for some dogs. They are a lot more humane than choke chains or regular collars because both of those can restrict the airway (cause coughing and wheezing) and worse (my brother's neighbor had their doberman on a choke chain while tied up in the back yard. He leaped the fence and couldn't touch the ground and choked to death--poor decision on the owner for having too long a rope, but still). We used a prong collar for a while on each of my dogs, just to get them to stop pulling while on a walk. The prong pinches the dog without restricting the windpipe. It's uncomfortable enough that they'll stop pulling just to stop the pinching. You can test it yourself by putting it around your leg or arm and pull tightly. It doesn't cut, just a pinch that really isn't all that bad.

Crossing my fingers-- but I think I have good news on my job front. I got a letter today from HR (intent to return form) that says I have a "reasonable assurance to return to work" for the next school year. They've changed the wording to give themselves an out but I think I'm safe for now! Hooray!! Dh also finds out his employment status this week hopefully (his company is restructuring) so I'm hoping for more good news!

And I have used prong collars too-- especially with my doberman as he pulls like an idiot. I now use a harness with him and a gentle leader (halti) with my Great Dane. They also both help with the pulling.

I graduated Chico to the halti, too. He dislikes it. He' paws at it to get it off, but it's so much better than most collars. He'll walk with a collar and leash, but I don't keep either of their collars tight because of what happened to a friend's dog (2 dogs, got in a play fight while no one was home, one got caught in the other's collar and neither could get out and the one dog accidentally strangled the other.) So he'd be able to get out of his collar in a split second. I don't think he'd do well with a harness, either.

I start all "my" dogs on haltis ASAP. Little Havi started wearing his tiny red one at 14 weeks and, one week later, he's totally used to it. This will save me a lot of grief when he weighs 90 lbs. Some of the dogs who came to me as older dogs pawed at the haltis quite a bit but they eventually got used to them.

I use haltis and ask my clients to get martingale collars (combo of flat collar and sliding chain) or flat collars. The leashes are attached to both collar and halti at the same time.

Jessica Base solely on your post I think sitter #1 would be my choice. The questions about Carter dying are just form. We tend to use the same paperwork for all clients' pets. In this case this clause won't apply but it would if I were sitting Allison's Buddy (who is very senior).

I am going to go and watch my boxing video now. Going to try to wake DH up to watch it too. Better put on my gloves first :p - he can be cranky when awakened from naps.

Have a good evening all!

Dagmar :sunny:

Boston water no longer has to be boiled; Thank You water crews who usually work without recognition until there's a problem.

Secretly, I've always wanted to be able to do a cartwheel. Alas, I've never seen Cartwheels for Dummies so I can learn how. Never have figured out how all the eight year old girls in the world just figure it out on their own.

Bill, glad to hear the water is safe again!

Michele, yay for good news on the job front! I will keep my fingers crossed for your DH.

Happy, they say that 3500 calories = 1 lb, which means you would have to reduce by 500 calories per day. However, this really varies from person to person.

Thanks for the dog advice guys (and :fr: about the strangling dogs, how frightening and depressing!). I didn't have time to call sitter #1's references yesterday but I will call them tonight, and if everything checks out we will go with her. FWIW Carter usually doesn't wear a collar when he's in the house, but when we go out he has his regular snap-on flat collar with his tags, then we either use a martingale collar, gentle leader, or a Sporn mesh no pull harness. Usually I use the harness -- he can't pull much with it and is getting better about walking with a loose leash, but although it doesn't control him quite as well as gentle leader he really doesn't like wearing gentle leader. He will put up with it if we put it on him, but when we used it all the time it got to the point where we said, "Do you want to go for a walk?" and he would go hide in the corner because he didn't want gentle leader.

Carter and I had quite an adventure last night. I was planning to take him for a run, and the forecast in the morning had been for a sunny and warm day. Well, when we got home I saw some ominous clouds rolling in and checked the forecast again -- severe thunderstorm watch. I looked outside again, and figured since there was a watch but no warning and it was still sunny over our house, I probably had time to go for my run before the storm rolled in. So I got changed, got Carter ready, and we headed out for a planned 3-mile run. The sky started looking darker, so I decided if it started raining before I got half way I would turn around, assuming that there would be some rain before the storm really came in.

Well, a bit over a mile in, there started to be massive wind gusts. Carter and I were still doing okay though, and there was no rain, so I kept going. When I got just over halfway, it started sprinkling a little. I was already past the halfway point so I kept going. Little did I suspect that that sprinkle was going to turn into HAIL in about 2 minutes! :faint: The lightning started up (not right on top of us -- about 5-10 seconds between lightning and thunder), it started pouring, then it started hailing. Poor Carter and I got totally soaked. He was extremely well-behaved about it though, he just put his ears back and kept trotting along with me, shaking himself out every so often. When we rounded the turn onto our street though he wanted to sprint to the finish and started tugging, but other than that he was great. DH had actually gone out in the car to find me (I left him my route map before I went out) when it started thundering, but we somehow missed each other and I arrived home about 1 minute before he got back.

So, lesson learned. Do not go for a run when there is a severe thunderstorm watch and you can see the storm clouds rolling in. On the other hand, I shaved 20 seconds off my personal record for 5k! Fear of being struck by lightning will do that to you . . .

thanks for the 3500 cal... no way i can reduce 500 per day! that is insane!! guess i will have to regroup and rethink... hmmm...

i've never ever done a cartwheel...this handstand thing is hard enough for me and i am using a wall and havent done it completely successfully yet :P I will get there though! I am nothing if not determined!!!

jessica - wicked job on the fastest run!!! doesnt that feel amazing!!!

have any of you tried kick boxing? do you like it?

Dagmar~Chico usually only paws at his halti once or twice during the walk. He's quite used to it. I think when there is another dog around, and he pulls a bit on the halti, he paws at it to loosen it up a bit. I don't know, but he's okay with it.

Jessica~scary rain! I've only run with Chico once in the rain, and it was just a drizzle so we didn't get soaked, but he kept looking at me like "why are we doing this, mom?" I agree, if there's a warning or a watch, you should stay inside!

DH had a great time at the golf tournament yesterday. He was very impressed at how organized they were. It was a fundraiser for the local autism chapter and they had over 250 participants. I joined him for the banquet afterwards. The food was quite good, but I didn't eat, and neither did he. He said there was so much food all day on the course that he just wasn't hungry for dinner. Me? Well, I got home from work and while waiting for him to call to say they were done with golf, I managed to eat a couple handfuls of tortilla chips (dry). By the time I got there, that little bit of food (I had had an apple just before leaving work) made me not hungry either. Anyway, it was good food, they had salmon, grilled chicken, BBQ ribs, Ceasar salad and mac and cheese. I think there were sausages, too. They had so much food left over, but as I said, there was so much food during the day that a lot of people weren't eating. That was too bad. We bought $100 in raffle tickets and DH won a set of 3 wedges (he says they're worth at least $100 each) and I won a silent auction item. Of the foursome DH golfed with, only one didn't win anything. Well, not he himself. Two of the guys won Ping putters, three other guys at our table won things, and the guy who invited us won nothing, but his wife won one of the grand prizes--a golf cart! It has to be a $5000 golf cart. Very nice. And she doesn't golf! We had a wonderful time, and now I'm back to work for what appears to be a long, boring day...

In my experience most of the people who own golf carts just ride around town in them and they never see a golf course! Many people let their (underaged, unlicensed) kids drive them around the roads, and you'll even see the 10-year old kid holding a baby or toddler in their lap, just driving down the road. I like to blame it mostly on tourists but there are locals who do it too. Dangerous and illegal! OTOH it is fun... feels so much more "free" than driving around in a car.

My office is tense and busy right now. There's a lot of "hurry up and wait" going on. It's giving me a headache. :headache:

Jessica, sorry you got hailed on! Ouch! Glad you & Carter are fine. Sounds like he behaved very well. Congrats on swimming a mile!

Michele, I'm so glad you got some good news from HR!

Bill, glad your water is back. I hate boil-water notices, they're so inconvenient.

Meg, congrats on your rotator cuff healing so well! All physical therapists should use you as an example - if you live a healthy lifestyle look at how your body can heal itself.

Off to "wait" for the rain to stop...

Add me to the list that never could do a cartwheel. Or a chinup or a handstand. I’ve never had upper body strength. I’d say that today I’m the strongest I’ve ever been and wouldn’t dare try any of the above for fear of injury.

Michele, that’s great news on the job front even though there is an out clause. At least your position isn’t in imminent danger.

Allison, I have all the above mentioned collars and no-pull harnesses for my huskies. The halti works best but my pups are champs at pawing it off in one swipe, before you even see what they’re doing. So we’re now working on clicker training.

Dagmar, hmmm, my next puppy will start on the halti very early. Great idea. Kai Pixie is walking with hers and fights it a little less every week. She’s my smartie-paws as she figured out if the steps on the leash right under her chin, one swipe with the other paw removes it. She is so quick it’s comical.

Bill, I’m glad you have water not needing boiling. That’s got to make life easier.

Jessica, I loved your running story. Before I head out for doggie walks on bad weather days, I click on wunderground dot com and look at the local radar. I click the in motion link and watch the green blobs to see how fast they’re moving and whether I can get the walk in. DH got me started on that and it has made walks much drier.

It’s a pretty day out. I’m sitting at my desk and gazing at Mt. Shasta longingly. I love having a 14,000 ft mountain in my sights. It’s so pretty with the blue sky. No haze. And it’s cold (22 degrees when I was ellipticalling) but it’s supposed to warm up to the 50’s. When it’s 100 degrees in July I will be thankful for our elevation because every night it gets cold and my house cools off. For now, 22 in May seems ridiculous. But it is pretty from my warm office and Mr Sun is shining. The only way the day could be better would be if I had the day off. :D

Marie

Megan~due to the fact that we're such a huge golf valley, we have golf cart lanes on many of the roads. They have to be street legal (headlights, signals, seat belts, mirrors) and they have to be driven by licensed drivers although the carts themselves aren't licensed. We don't have much of a problem of kids driving them on the streets, thankfully. We own a golf cart ourselves, and it is street legal. We don't use it ourselves, we let my inlaws use it while they're in town and they use it a lot in their RV community, but they don't drive it outside there at all. If we had one at home, I might consider using it for short trips to the grocery store or mall. I agree, they're fun to drive!

wunderground...I'll have to look at that. We usually rely on accuweather.

I think I caught this guy doing a cartwheel in this video. Amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNvJy0zoXOY

SIGH. I can't even spin around while standing up without starting to wobble. Or feeling :barf:

Dagmar (cartwheel challenged)