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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Little Guests and Spinning Maddness

I've decided that the size of the dog is inversely proportional to the amount of that dog's 'tude. Of course, I only have one data point, and I have met several well mannered littles that blows my hackney theory out of the water, but boy oh boy was yesterday rough.

Meet Precious.
Upon our first meeting, I could not help but think that her name was some huge joke, because her behavior wasn't, um, endearing. I have never had a dog lunge at me before and try to bite me. She was on a leash, thankfully, but she was trying to bite through my shoe at my toes. Oy, I think it was at about that moment that I realized I was in for a looooooong day. Since I couldn't handle her without getting beat up, the person who transported Precious to me had to put her in her crate and help me load her into my car. Upon which Precious started yeowling. Thankfully, my house was not far away from the pick up point.

I was keeping her at my place for a day until her foster mom could pick her up. This little girl came all the way from Reno, where she was formerly a princess living with an elderly couple. One of her persons died, and the other went to assisted living, leaving poor Precious in a lurch. A kind person with a much bigger heart than mine decided to take her on as a foster dog. Precious didn't do well in the shelter environment because she would pull that same stunt pulled on me (lunging, biting, screaming) to potential adopters. Not good. It's obvious that Precious was never socialized with people and other dogs.

While I was driving back to my house with a screaming doxiwawa (dachshund and chihuahua mix) in my backseat, I was wondering how the hell I was going to let her out of her crate for a potty break. I was fearful that she would try to bite me as soon as I let her out. But guess what? The little miss became all smiles and sunshine when I was carrying her crate into the backyard. She was wagging her tail and making little whiny let-me-out noises. Since her body language was friendly, I let her out and she bounded over to me for some pets. Huh. Maybe Precious is bipolar.

Vespa is great with the little dogs. She thinks they are all puppies since we occasional foster puppies from the shelter in need a crash course in doggy and human manners. So, I took Vespa into the backyard and let her meet Precious. Vespa gave me this horrified look, raised her hackles, and yelped as Precious charged at her and tried to bite her in the nose when Vespa was about to do the "nice to meet you" butt sniff. A little barking ensued, but the two of them worked it out and Vespa kept her snout away from the little bitey one. By the time Precious had to leave, she was following Vespa around the house. That's my girl!

Precious went off with her foster mom, and peace returned to the house. I was able to get more work done (hard to get work done when there is a super reactive dog screaming). I was also able to, you guessed it, spin!

Okay, so this yarn isn't going to win any beauty contests, and I probably won't even knit with it after I ply it, but it was good practice. It looks a lot better than my first attempt...

I'm used to a drop spindle, so all these things to adjust (tension knob, whorl, bobbin) takes a while to get used to. As embarassing as these first attempts are, I'm hoping to chronicle my improvement. Someday, I'll look back on this and laugh. Someday... Just not now.

6 comments:

  1. wow! i just found your blog from Elaine's blog Kim Chi Crafts, and i just love it. i also wonder if we've ever met, but i can't find your name anywhere...i live in oakland but haven't been able to get to the tuesday eve berkeley knitting night yet, if that's how you know Elaine.

    anyway, my absolute favorite posts of yours thus far are the animal ones, esp of Greaseball! He has a kindred spirit over at my house in the form of a small female kitty named Zuni. She is also fond of warring over home territory, and your various photo series capture that dynamic exquisitely!!!

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  2. Haha, we think Lexi's a chihuahua/daschund too - "chiweenie" some people have called her. How nice of you to transport little Precious. I have a theory on why most little dogs are the way they are - if I was small enough that someone could chuck me across the room, I'd be a little cautious of everyone that came near me too. Vespa seems to be like our lab, Nikki. The interactions you describe between her and Precious are just like my Nikki and Lexi. Oh yeah, and your spinning looks better than anything I could ever turn out! GREAT job!

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  3. I think it has always been that the smaller the dog, the bigger the ego/attitude. Celeste regularly meets dachshunds and smaller on the ciclo via (umm...bike path) who have claimed the whole path for themselves. She's not an agressive gal, but I'm not sure how it would go if one of these little bullies actually got off his leash.

    Ha! I KNEW you were emmersed in spinning...did you get the office cleaned before you started? Does this fiber felt? If so, why not use your first attempt to knit a hat or bag to felt? No one will every know that you used what you thought was substandardly spun yarn!

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  4. grumble

    why do I always forget to copy my comments when I need to change which google account I post from..

    anyways congrats on the spinning wheel! I can't wait to see more of your hand spun!

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  5. heehee! and you know that small dogs always, ALWAYS have the Biggest Personalities. I'm glad that Precious finally got in line and that Vestpa was the leader! what did Mingus do during all of this? and re:spinning on a wheel--dude, you are doing a great job! when i tried to use a friends wheel my stuff looked like your first attempt. and still do! that's why i've stuck to a drop spindle. :o) can't wait to see how it progresses! way to go!

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  6. That is one of my main reasons for not liking too many small dogs. It's just a good thing that Vespa is so easy-going!

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