Laura Seabrook's Ramblings

I thought that I'd take photos of the all the dogs before most of them move out with Kevin and Michelle. Stripe and Bella have caused me a bit of grief and stress over the last 9 months, but it's hard not to have any affection for them. All dogs can be cute when they're inactive. Even so, I will be relieved when they go, even though I will miss Hallie. 

Hallie is Kevin's dog. He originally got her from people on the other side of barnsley who were moving out, back in 2007. She was a good companion for Pegasus, my old dog, and is mother to Stripe and Bella. There were six other pups as wel in that litter. She was de-sexed only last December.

This is Hallie's "Anchor" . Hallie was quite capable of jumping any fence without it, but with it attached to her collar she was prevented from doing so. It consists of two dog leads knotted together - one end is attached to a pot plant base, and the other to a spring clip. The clip would attach it to the collar, and the base would act as an obstruction. The original version had a steering wheel cover over the rim of the base to prevent damage to furniture and feet. Other versions had a swivel joint at the base, so that the leads wouldn't twist around.

Bella is Hallies daughter. She tends to be the quieter of the two offspring , and the smaller of the two. She was de-sexed last December.

Stripe takes after his father George, who is a big Boxer. Stripe gets into mischeif a bit, and at the time this photo was taken is still not de-sexed.

Hallie and Stripe mugging it up for the camera. In the background you can see Bobby trying to decide if he should join in.

Got home after being out for about 9 hours, to discover Bella still on the steel cable lead that Kevin had constructed for her (Stripe was also still on his) but next door - attached to an overturned round table, and entagled in a branch, so that she had about 10 cm leeway. What the hell? I can only guess that Bella got caught up and Leonie moved her into her place and thought that attaching Bella's lead to the leg of the table would do it.

Kevin and Michelle have gone to Michelle's parents for the new year (and a fridge) ao I won't see them until Sunday. Guess the dogs will be sleeping with me again tonight (grumble).

Anyway it was 32 C today in some places, and I'm off to have a bath to settle down.

I hate how those pups bring out the worst in me. I put them on chain leads (rope ones are chewed through)  under the trees with shade and water this morning while I took Bobby and Hallie for a walk. Didn't want them getting out or getting into other people's yards and fighting dogs (both of which they've done regularly). Cam back 1/2 hour later and they'd ripped up several seat cushions from the sofa I had there for their comfort.

Was going to let them off when I got back. Instead I let them understand how angry I was. I've left them there. They have food and water, so they'll be OK.

Last night I fell over one and injured my knee. Fuck this for a joke. Just under a month before it all ends, thankfully.

Whenever I get doubts about what I'm doing having K&M move out, the pups do something to confirm that I'm doing the right thing.

For example, I gave Kevin a "Notice of Termination" earlier tonight. Had meaning to for a while and this'd been the right time. Anyway the pups had seemed to settle down, only, well really they hadn't. They're able to jump the fence-line from #46 to #44, and have been doing that off and on for the last week. Once they're in the backyard next door they play with Demon, the malamute there. Or more likely they jump over the low gate and go out on the street. This seems to happen when they are bored, and sometimes doesn't seem to happen at all. 

Well tonight - about 20 minutes ago at 12:30am - not only did they jump the fence, but they went to the fence line with #42 and started barking at the dogs there (a Doberman and a brown dog I think). A real racket, and Hallie jumped as well and joined in. Very noisy in the middle of the night and potentially dangerous if they jumped that fence line and got in that yard. Didn't sound at all playful, more like "I want to rip your throat out" aggression. Now on the weekend I went shopping and happened to buy extra leads and choke chains, and K & M just put these on them (and Hallie on her anchor) and have them tied up in the backyard. Hopefully this will hold and stop further trouble (at least for tonight). Have no idea what will happen tomorrow.

A bit of weirdness here too. Maybe it's the geography  or something but dogs in #46 and dogs in #42 have a history or hostility and fighting. The block is at a T-intersection facing Bendigo St, and regardless of who lives there or which dogs are they, they have always barked at every dog to walk by in the street. When Pegasus was here he twice got into the front yard and had fights with the dogs there! The first was embarrassing and the second, a few years later was farcical (he had no teeth to speak of, and one of the dogs there was blind). Either way they all had to be prised off each other.

So what the fuck is this? Is it the location, which causes this? In the case of the pups, they've needed to be restrained somehow. I had a "friendly warning" from someone in the street that if they kept on escaping someone would grab and dump them, which is what happened with Pegasus (though I got him back). As much as sometimes they are quiet and even cuddly, the sooner they are in a new location the better. Maybe they'll be put on runners until they calm down.

I did a "library run" yesterday where I returned a good twenty items I had out from two local library systems. The previous day (Sunday) I never got out from home because I got distracted by the pups - they'd started to jump the front gate and follow me up the road - and missed the buses I needed to catch to get to the Rainbow Visions Picnic. I was going to go shopping on the way back from that, so I really needed to go out Monday.

Didn't get out until just before noon, and caught the bus to Charlestown to return stuff there. The next stop was going to be Wallsend to go to the library, and do a small amount of shopping. Only they'd changed the bus routes and stops at Charlestown. The bus stop I normally went to in order to catch the 100 was now "only for school buses"  and when I went back to the (new) stop I'd got off on the way in, someone directed me to a stop on Pacific Hwy. Seemed reasonable, because I'd also caught 100s there before.

Only - it was entirely the wrong bus stop!

I waited for 50 minutes, spending the time reading a comic discard I'd bought from the library for 50c (A DC story called "The Nail") when the woman sitting next to me started chatting about things. She pointed to a sign right behind me which said that only two buses stopped there now, and made a comment that maybe "she been sent to tell me that". Found the correct bus stop - which was directly opposite the one I'd arrived at - and continued on for the rest of the day's business without further complications.

But you know what - I think she was!

When I got back yesterday I found that K&M had indeed returned home, and that the pups I left in the pen were out. Then I discovered a whole pile of my stuff strewn about in the backyard - jumpers, a pair of $40 shoes, my favourite shoulder bag, and so on. One of the main reasons I put them in the pen (in addition to not having them escape while I was away) was that I couldn't trust them not run off with stuff from my lounge or bedroom and play games or chew them. Seems I was right.

This morning I discovered the library copy of A Lion among Men that I'd just finished. I'd placed it on top of a plastic container on the lounge floor before I left. It was on top of a monitor - cover missing - and the corners thoroughly chewed (a bit later I found the cover, chewed up, on the floor). Clearly it had been placed there by either Kevin or Michelle - but no mention of it at all last night. Instead I got a hasty "How are you?" and Kevin offering to lend me a monitor (which the no longer need to watch TV, for sure) so I could run a dual screen on my study PC (I want a wide screen monitor anyway).

Maybe they were embarrassed, maybe they didn't know how to tell me, or maybe they were hoping that I'd only notice it after I'd accepted the monitor.  BUT THEY DIDN"T TELL ME.

This just reinforces my belief that I can't trust them, and that they are unreliable. I WANT THEM GONE.

I will be seeing my counsellor today and will talk it over with him. IN the mean time I've left the book on the kitchen workbench with a note saying "THIS IS A LIBRARY BOOK - PLS PAY FINE" We'll see what happens. If, like has been done recently, I come home and discover that Kevin has written over my white goods in texture (and then claimed that he was drunk and it was a joke) The eviction period will be the shortest possible.

Otherwise I might negotiate.

I may not see two of these pups ever again, so I thought I'd take some last photos: