Gypsy LOVES walking off-leash at The Lake but she also loves our morning walks here in Arizona....despite the Arizona leash law.

Word of the Day

Memnants - Any chipped or broken m&m's at the bottom of the bag.

I've done everything that I normally do in the morning but...I haven't eaten breakfast. I would dearly love a bagel and cream cheese. Thankfully, I don't have anything like that stocked in my cupboard or I'd be noshing on said bagel and cream cheese as I write this blog. I've been dieting since the beginning of September. Serious dieting. Bagels and cream cheese aren't on the diet. Heck! The t-bone steak that I grilled up for supper wasn't on the diet either but I only ate about a third of it so the MY diet wasn't blown. One whole t-bone steak has a heck of a lot of calories....almost an entire day of calories. I didn't cook up any carbs to go with the protein but calories are calories. I'll think about whether to have a peanut butter and jam sandwich or a bowl of cereal (1 cup w/ 1/2 cup skim milk = 200 calories) for breakfast. Neither sound appetizing at the moment.

Gypsy is doing pretty well on her training. When we start out in the mornings, she tends to want to walk a bit ahead of me rather than at my side but soon settles back to the ideal heel position with the occasional tug at the leash when she forgets. Not bad. She's not walking me. We're walking together. The perfect companion walk. However, she still has the occasional problems with insecurities and distractions. Insecurities? She really doesn't like to stay sitting in one location while I walk away and stand for long periods of time several feet away...even if I'm within sight and standing there tethered to the other end of her leash. Mostly, she remains sitting but then there's the occasional time that she scoots forward, belly to the ground, looking like someone has been beating her. Poor baby. We're working on it. Distractions? She really loves people! Never mind that she's supposed to be walking at heel, if a person walks by, she wants to run over and greet them. And then there's the occasional slip if that person has a dog with them. She really hasn't figured out that an Akita may decide that a Gypsy might make a nice pre-breakfast snack. After witnessing a couple of Akitas kill one schnauzer and seriously maim another...I've decided to give Akitas a wide berth. We're working on these occasional overly friendly advances. She's doing better at remaining at my side then staying put on a sit/stay.

I finished reading both of the Heather Graham books that I mentioned in my yesterday's blog. I'll have to rummage around in my bookshelves to see what might want to be re-read today.

Murphyism of the Day

Murphy's Law of Punctuality

Being punctual means only that your mistake will be made on time.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

You can't choose the ways in which you'll be tested.

- Robert J. Sawyer