What IS a Bad Penny?

Okay, okay, sorry.

It's just that my NaNoWriMo book (I say book since it's not really fiction yet --which is just how I write) has me all on FIRE (I don't mean literally because that would be bad and this is good) and I'm spending my every free moment on it. I haven't been this excited about a writing project (other than this blog) in a long time.

Please forgive the scarcity of posts for a few weeks. Unless I continue drinking VAST amounts of coffee, in which case, please forgive the enormous backlog of posts suddenly appearing all on the same day.

Meanwhile, look what happens when the puppy gets bored: Yes. He ate part of our couch.

Apparently, he (and Scout. Mostly Scout) also barks a lot when bored. While Coop was in the hospital getting his appendix removed, the dogs were outside a lot more and were driving our neighbors crazy. So we've installed this device that hangs on the fence and emits a high-pitched frequency when the dogs bark. Humans can't hear it but dogs can.

It seems to be working.

However, Scout, never the poster child for canine mental health, now refuses to go out into the backyard. Is that a problem?

Here are a series of YouTube videos that I took while trying to take the dogs on a walk this morning. If you are receiving the blog via e-mail, you have to click on the post title and actually visit the blog to see them. (Mom, I'm talking to you. The videos are full of fall foliage! You'll love them! There are a lot of them but altogether, it's only about five minutes long!)



















I didn't actually mean to take this one but oh, what the heck.



Comments

Tiffany said…
I can't decide whether Scout's reaction is funny or tragic. I often have that problem with Scout, but in this case it might be because I'm stuck on the part where your neighbor apparently said, "Gee, sorry your husband just had emergency surgery and has toxins spilling all over the inside of his body, but your dogs are sort of annoying me." Is that really what happened? Please, tell me I read that wrong.
Kathy Ireland said…
I haven't even watched them all yet but that one of Scout hiding behind the wall had me laughing out loud. Remind me to tell you the story of my co-worker's neurotic cat and all the things she needs to do for her to "chill her out".

Poor Scouty.
Kathy Ireland said…
Brilliant! (I just watched the rest of them). It's like The Blair Witch Project, only not in the dark. And with dogs. And funny.
Mokihana said…
I really enjoyed walking along with you! And all the while I was thinking how wonderful it is that you can walk!!

Even if you got lost.
Bullwinkle said…
OMG! That was so much fun! (Note to self: record Aurora digging.)

Seriously - Scout and fears: You don't want him so afraid of the noise that he won't go outside at all, do you? (Don't take that the wrong way - the first thing I did in the new place was fence the back yard for Aurora. Aurora takes 3 walks (min) a day.)

I had one of those units - Boris, a wonderfully intelligent sweet giant samoyed, when he saw me come outside with it would go under a tree and lie down and pout. It made me feel terrible - but it got the point across. If you can't quit barking, this fun-killer comes out.

Scout needs to know that it is not a random screech but something he has control over. Does yours come with any adjustable settings? Does he even know it is there?
Anonymous said…
I finally got around to watching all your videos. Aside from the fact that Scout is hysterical, what I want to know is, where the heck in Huntington is all that land? It seems everytime I drive through there they are building another house in another postage stamp sized lot. Is that all your property?
Anonymous said…
And that would be me that forgot to sign my name on my anonymous comment. Still can't figure out what my google account name and password is.

Bethany
Bethany said…
Well, I finally got around to figure out this whole Google account thing. Maybe I won't be anonymous anymore!
Mrs.Q said…
That puppy is HUGE! What a lovely walk. I hope you consoled yourself for getting lost with a nice glass of wine.
Susan said…
I want to get one of those devices to deter our neighbor's dog from barking ALL DAY LONG.

We put a bark collar on our dog years ago but she would hide in the pantry and look pathetic. She never got the connection between the barking and the shock. We gave up.
Kathy Ireland said…
So, we just finished watching that Denzel Washington-John Travolta movie called Pelham 123. In the movie, Travolta uses the term "bad penny". So, I asked Jessica "what IS a bad penny anyways?" and she said "you know, old and not shiny".

So, now you know.