I don't know if I can handle the pressure of keeping a blog.

It really is stressing me out. I don't see how Greg can do it. I suppose I really could post more often but what if I don't have anything to say?

Actually I have to praise a product that Raquel and I bought recently. As you may have previously read, we have a MinPin and a Min Dachshund. The Dachshund is really quite calm and when we are outside with him, he generally doesn't need a leash or chain. The MinPin, however, is quite spastic. Given the opportunity, he will dash away to see what the world has to offer in the way of smells with absolutely no regard to his safety and oblivious to our calls for him. Usually, the only way to catch him is if he finds something really interesting to smell or has to pinch a loaf.

Anyway, after a few escapes, one of which took him all the way to a busy road (luckily there was a cat nearby to distract him long enough for Raquel to snatch him), I decided to look into a shock collar. Not for me, for the dog.

Okay, I know some of you may think a shock collar is cruel, but let me explain a little first. This collar has a remote with two buttons. One button will cause the collar to emit a warning tone. The other button is to deliver a "shock". The idea is that the dog will do it's bad behavior, you send a warning tone. If the dog continues with the bad behavior, send another tone. Finally, if the dog still doesn't respond, zap him! Trust me, Pavlov had it down pat. Our MinPin quickly associated the warning tone with the shock and he responds to the tone. He's rarely disregarded the tone and is a different dog. He's so much calmer now and we feel confident letting him loose outside under supervision. Sidenote 1: the shock is adjustable and should only be turned up enough to get the appropriate response from the dog (pissing himself or yelping is not an appropriate response--TURN IT DOWN!) Sidenote 2: I put the collar on my leg and tested it before putting it on the dog. I turned it down after yelping and pissing myself.