12/4/03 During an early morning walkee-walkee, Rosie reared up on a (deliberately--and with foresight) shortened leash, and snarled reasonably ferociously at a rather shady-looking person on the bike trail south of the Johansen Expressway.  Rosie protects me from unsavory people---she's a Good Girl! :)

   12/7/03 "Rocky" and "Charley" ("that rottweiler" (above)) got loose, and ran over to where I had Rosie on her leashie-weashie.  She put up a reasonably incredible--what I think was a--threat display.  Snarling, gnashing her teeth together---it sounded pretty ferocious.  :O I think what was going on, was that she was upset they they were allowed off their leashie-weashie's---and yet she was not.  -That, or she had just smelled another doggie on my PAHNTS! (I honestly can't remember which one that was---maybe ***** [a wolf-hybrid]), and was just in general "jealously mode." :) (Rosie is surrealistically of me.) :O

   12/8/03 Rosie tried to take down was appeared to be a yellow Chevette---cruising by at 40 m.p.h.  She has a real thing about motorcycles, snowmachines, and noisy pickup trucks---but this was something pretty new.  FORTUNATELY, I was still quick (and strong) enough, to pull her back in time.  -Even so, I wish when they'd cleared the sidewalk, they had given us a bit more space, so we could've stayed further from the road. . . .

   12/14/03 Sunday -Two things of note happened today.  Firstly, early in the morning, as I was taking Rosie for a walk on the bike path south of the Johansen Expressway, she spotted a largish stuffed animal (a rabbit).  Her senses (and possibly her instincts) told her that something was there, and so she approached cautiously.  When she reached and sniffed it, she quickly realized that is was just a stuffed animal, and looked up at me with a look as if to say, "Now isn't that weird?" I thought that this was the end of it, but then when we went to leave, she suddenly grabbed it in her jaws, shook it back and forth rapidly, went "Rrr-rrr-rrr-RRRR!"--and then threw it into the middle of the walkway.  I don't think I am relating the story adequately---as it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen her do.  :)

   Secondly, later in the day, as I was walking her and "Mr. Bubbles" around the apartment complex, she spotted a reasonably largish rottweiler, loose on an elevated porch (a different rottweiler than the one mentioned above).  She instantly went into totally aggressive "snarling mode," and I had to take a firm hold on her leashie-weashie.  I don't know what tripped her off---maybe it was because the rottweiler was free, and she wasn't.  -Maybe it was because I was speaking kindly to the rottie-dude; I dunno'.  (Rosie is almost surrealistically possessive of me---it's kind of flattering.  :) ) This was bad for two reasons: One, I really like rottweilers---and two, she's just been a little too aggressive around other dogs, lately. . . .

   12/21/03 Sunday As I was walking Rosie and "Mr. Bubbles" along a clear area in the apartment complex, Rosie suddenly "went off." Now, the last time she did this, at this particular location, there was a MOOSE--just on the other side of the fence.  (I have to put up a web like about that one some time. . . .) Thus, I quickly took an increased notice of my immediate surroundings.  Fortunately, it was only the rottie-dude mentioned in the 12/14/03 entry, above.  Rosie's reaction was a lot less savage, this time: Her tail remained up, and it was mostly just a half-bark, half-howl type of thing going on---and I think it was all due to the fact that the rottie-dude was free, while she had to be on her leashie-weashie.  Still, I don't think it was all that appropriate behavior; after all, the rottie-dude was only trying to be friendly.

   12/27/03 Saturday As I was walking Rosie along University Avenue, she tried to take down, in succession: A GMC Yukon, a smaller some-type-of-Toyota SUV, and what looked like one of the newer green Grand Am's---all while they were tooling by at 40 m.p.h.  (!!) Right then, I had a feeling that this was going to become a continuing problem, and, surely enough. . . .

    . . . On 12/28/03 Sunday, she tried to take down any vehicle that passed by at speed.  This is *BAD*.  -Poor Rosiekins could get HURT.  :O :O :O :O We're going to have to do something about this. . . .

   12/29/03 Monday I cooked my very first "Raman noodles." (Aren't we all so pround?) Rosie kept asking for one, so I held up an approximately foot-long noodle--straight up and down.  I have no idea how she managed this--perhaps by moving her head really quickly, and simulaneously inhaling--but she managed to grap the noodle with her head cocked sideways, and made it disappear---in about half a second!!!! It was truly extraordinary to see.

   1/1/04 Thursday Very early in the morning, as I was walking Rosie and "Mr. Bubbles," a group of young men approached us.  At first, they made me a little uneasy---but they explained that they were looking for their pit bull--"Tank"--who had gone AWOL.  They were more than a little concerned--as it was about 25 below (Fahrenheit).  Now Rosie can nap on the ice when it is 35 below, and with a howling wind---but for a pit bull . . . this was not a good thing.  :( (The dog would've almost certainly survived the night; however, it also almost certainly would've been "non-trivially" frostbitten.  -For those of you without frostbite experience, this is a BAD thing. . . .) They had been at it a while, and were too cold to continue.  So, Rosie, "Bubbles," and I agreed to start looking for him.  (I had an idea. . . .) Rosie was able to sniff him out under the end of the bridge (where homeless sometimes "crash" :P )---but when I tried to grab his collar, he warned me off--not aggressively--but just enough to let me know that that was unacceptable behavior.  So, we went back and got the dudes.  They were able to get his out from under the bridge, and back inside.  Rosie and I saved a pit bull---a happy ending.  :)

   1/3/04 Saturday I gave away the last of the "Rosie yarn"--that is, the yarn that I had woven out of Rosie's shed undercoat.  (-Ever hear the expression, "Sheds enough to weave a new dog?" Well, ROS-IE shed enough in two years for me to have a pair of mittens and a scarf knitted.  I'm going to have to put up a web link about that. . . .) I gave it to my landlady.  She seemed MOST pleased.  :) -Incidentally, the problems with Rosie trying to take down passing cars, and being too aggressive around rottweilers (other dogs in general), seem to be much better.  

   1/4/04 Sunday Right before I left for England, the two rottweilers that seem to be ALWAYS loose, got a little too close to Rosie, a little too quickly. . . .  She interpreted this as aggressive behavior, and went right to "phase III." Now, Rosie fights--quite literally--like something out of a Jack London epic---and, she goes from ~couch potater', to superdog--in nothing flat.  It is something both astonishing and disturbing to see.  Now, I thought that Rosie against two rottweilers both taller than she was unfair, and I was within about a half second of dropping her leash so she could manuver, and joining the fray with all my fist still have to offer.  I didn't have to worry, though: Rosie tore up the one so badly that it had muscle damage (and should have had stitches)---and she would have killed the other one, if I wouldn't have pulled her off him.  :O

She was more than a match for both of them.

   1/7/04 Wednesday to 1/31/04 Saturday I was on a trip to England, and then Pennsylvania.  Rosie missed me dearly (and I missed ROSIE!!)---she pulled my coat off of the rack because it smelled like me, and lay on it in front of the door, refusing to move except for "necessities," for two weeks.  Poor Rosie! -When I came back, she reared up on her hind legs (which she "NEVER" does), and generally carried on like a wolf puppy.  I LOVE ROSIE!!

   2/7/04 Saturday Rosie and I were at a party (She was a big hit.  :) )---and no less than three people commented that Rosie was . . . er, heavy.  Sighhhh. -I guess I have to accept it: Rosie is portly.  Gee. I wonder how that happened? "Rosie, I love you.  -Have another hot dog." :)

   2/9/04 Monday -Due to a reasonably recent accident, I am "enjoying" a no-longer-so-endearing experiment in public transportation.  :P While waiting for the bus, Laura brought Rosie and "Mr. Bubbles" to the bus stop.  I fawned all over Rosie, and said she was such a good girl to come and visit me.  -I didn't know this until later, but apparently when I got in the bus and it drove away, she did *EVERYTHING* in her power to chase after it--and then cried for half an hour.  (!!) -I did wonder why she greated me like she hadn't seen me in a week when I got back.  -Poor ROSIE!! :O :O She loves me.  :) :)

   2/19/04 Thursday As Rosie and I were leaving the laundry room (and with me thus laden with both a full laundry basket and her leashie-weashie (Rosie likes to spend "quality time" with daddy when he does his laundry.  :) )), Rosie ran into a rottweiler.  At first, things looked like they were going to be okay; then, as the rotty-dude was passing by, she tore into him.  There were no serious injuries---but she was clearly the aggressor, and her actions were totally uncalled-for.  I am going to start calling this [her all-too aggressive behavior towards rotty-dudes] "the rottweiler problem."

   2/20/04 Friday While taking Rosie and "Bubbles" out, we noticed that there was a moose in the (Noyes) Slough (apparently pronounced "sloo").  She started to "go off"---but then I said, "Rosie that is a MOOSE; they're big---are you sure you want to be doing that?" Now normally, Rosie is a "screaming terror" on wildlife---but even she saw the wisdom of this one: After a few half-hearted bark/howls, she settled down.  The moose, for his part, looked at us for a while, then went back to munching something. . . .

   3/9/04 Tuesday Today was the day---Rosie is now officially on a diet.  I received the following (in an email) from a friend of mine that owns a kennel:

>As for advice on Rosie and her diet I think the best thing for you to do

>is not to give in. I would say that you could switch her food or do

>something else but it seems that your first problem is to find a way to

>beat her "doe eyes". Shes playing you John and youve got to do something

>about it for her best interest. Maybe if you say to yourself that with

>holding extra food is for her health and well being that might help you?

   She's right of course---"Rosie, I love you--have another hot dog" has GOT to stop.  -And it has.  The diet has been working; Rosie has really "perked up"; and think she may even have lost some weight already (She's been on it approximately a week.).  I loves ROSIE! :)

   3/29/04 Monday to 3/31/04 Wednesday Rosie got a de-worming.  :P -Although this page is about RO-SIE!!, something about "Bubbles" warrants mentioning: Although he [Bubbles] had been sick for some time, this past Saturday (the 20th) he was SOO ill, that I honestly thought he was going to die.  -Given what an *EXTRAORDINARY* pain he is, I had mixed feeling about that.  However, even yappy little ankle-biter pseudodogs don't deserve to die---at least not like that.  So, we gave him a three days course of Panacur (a super-duper dewormer).  Within 24 hours of the first dose, he . . . er, "passed" a 14 inch tapeworm.  -Given that that "dog" is--at most--10 inches long, I found that a little . . . surprising.  He's now eating about 10% of his body weight a day--and is back to his positively hyper, pathologically annoying self.  -On the bright side, Rosie seems to have perked up a bit, too.  :) Almost $400 in emergency vet bills and medicine for that other grieviously annoying bag of fluff kinda' gripes my *ss, though. . . .

   Also on 6/15/04 Tuesday: Every day, Rosie insists on her five-mile walkee-walkee.  Lately, we have decided to start taking "Bubbles" along with us.  Not too surprisingly, Rosie isn't always really keen on this.  Well, on this day, she sat on the other leashie-weashie--in the hope that I wouldn't be to pick it up and put it on "Bubbles"--and thus not enabling him to come along.  -Who can blame her? Who would want to go on a walkee-walkee with that pathologically annoying Fartnokkersaurus? :)

   6/18/04 Friday I had to go to the vet's office this day---I had to pay off the final $400 dollars for "Bubbles's" emergency surgery.  The doofus had a digestive track full of "My Little Pony" parts, what looked like Easter basket stuffing--and various other foul, unidentifiable stuff. . . .  Darwin wouldn't 'ave saved the Butt Nugget; when the time came, though, I just couldn't let him die. . . .  ANYWAY, while there, we were able to get Rosiekins up on the scale.  She had lost two pounds.  We are very happy.  :)

   Incidentally, this was also the day that our bathroom "exploded." It was pretty cool---the ceiling collapsed, and everything.  Sometimes it is pretty interesting, living in apartments that were originally intended to serve as TEMPORARY military barracks---in the '40's.  Naw---over-reglation by the government isn't preventing people from building better housing.  -Why do you ask? :P

   6/26/04 Saturday Eric and I were able to come back from the GEM (Geospace Environment Modeling) Conference early.  We wanted to be with our loved ones: He wanted to be with his wife, Casey---and I wanted to be with RO-SIE!! :) She was VERY glad to see me; I think she likes me.  :) Shortly after I got home, I took her O-U-T.  When I let her loose on the other side of the Slough, she almost ending up having a breakfast of baby duckling.  :O Momma Duck had other plans.  She, without even a split-second's hesitation, took on Rosie.  It was one of the most incredible things I had ever seen: I'm a duck, and I'm going to take on this big, hungry dog-dude.  It was amazing.  -And Momma Duck knew exactly what she was doing: She stayed just deep enough in the water that she could outmanuver, but yet close enough to be totally in her [Rosie's] face.  Momma Duck showed a lot more intelligence than I would've given a duck credit for---and she won the day: All five ducklings were able to make it to deeper waters unscathed.  -Might've been in need of some "new duck-dude underwear," though.  :)

   I talked with one of my neighbors (She owns a wolf-dog.) about the mommy and her ducklings, and she told me that Momma Duck was already more than a little miffed at the situation with her babies.  Apparently, the people "up-slough" had already killed ten of her ducklings---by throwing rocks at them.  -Now what kind of people kill baby ducks by throwing rocks at them? :(

   Uncertain Date: In the apartment complex RO-SIE and I live in, there used to be this positively GIGANTIC half-greyhound, half some sort of retriever mix named "Oliver." (No joke---he is so big, that he accidentally broke his master's wrist with his leash.  (!)) Well one day Oliver decided that he wanted to come over and beat up on (or at least dominate) Rosie.  No dice. -They "swapped fangs"--but the encounter was completely inconlusive.  -And when Oliver realized that there was absolutely NO FEAR (Rosie is like that---she has no fear whatsoever of anything she understands; to such a degree, in fact, that it can be a problem. . . .), he changed his mind about his intentions.  We've never had any problems since.