Archive for September 21st, 2008
The Boston Globe has a remarkable collection of photographs from hurricane Ike.
In its brief lifespan of only 13 days, Hurricane Ike wreaked great deal of havoc. Affecting several countries including Cuba, Haiti, and the United States, Ike is blamed for approximately 114 deaths (74 in Haiti alone), and damages that are still being tallied, with estimates topping $10 billion. Many shoreline communities of Galveston, Texas were wiped from the map by the winds, storm surge and the walls of debris pushed along by Ike – though Galveston was spared the level of disaster it suffered in 1900.
Both shuttles (Atlantis on Launch Pad A in the foreground, Endeavor on Launch Pad B in the background) are on the pads for the Hubble servicing mission slated for October 10, 2008. When the ISS is not available for rescue purposes, as it might not be for this mission, a second shuttle is made ready for a quick launch. Tom’s Astronomy Blog has some additional detail.
The last time such an image could be seen was July 2001, for the STS-104 and STS-105 missions. Unfortunately, we’re not like to see it a 3rd time, as the shuttle fleet is being retired in 2010.
It’s been two weeks since Sherman returned from Camp Diana, and he’s doing well. In the last 14 days, we’ve gone walking in the park 6 times. Using Google Earth, I plotted the path we walk, and it comes out right at 0.83 miles. We walk a minimum of 2 loops, and usually 3, which gives a nice 2.5 mile walk.
On our walks we practice “Let’s walk” (heeling), sits, and downs. Some days we’ve had a lot of distractions, with baseball games, tennis players, screaming kids and bicyclists. Those are not Sherman’s best days. He’ll do the sits and downs, but the walking can be another story. He’s either constantly running into my left knee, trying to see what’s on the other side of me, or trying to spin around to see what’s happening behind him. There’s gradual improvement, but with his low pack drive and higher prey drive, the distractions can prove to be a challenge.
Other days, he does darn near perfect. The day after I was getting frustrated with his progress (which I try not to let him sense), we went up there and he was near perfect. Sometimes he was getting a little far ahead on the walking (which means his neck is past my knee, which is where it should be), but some minor corrections brought him back. I was pretty proud of him! He did his sits pretty quickly, and the downs not quite as fast, but I didn’t have to step on the leash to pull him down.
Much of the problem is mine. Sherman is the first dog I’ve had that really required some firm corrections to get his attention. We use a prong collar for training, and I’m unwilling to put some of the force behind the correction that I should. Diana says two or three good corrections are worth fifty small corrections, and I don’t doubt that.
On a couple of our walks, we’ve met some fairly young kids. One time a couple 4 or 5 year olds came up to him, and were petting him and telling him how pretty he was. Sherman seemed to enjoy that, and I have no qualms about letting him meet people (just not other dogs). I do wonder where their parents were, as I sure wouldn’t want my kid to run up to a strange dog without me being, at the very least, aware of it, and preferably approving the kids action.
On another walk, a couple of two year olds (or something like that, I can’t tell kids ages worth a damn) with their grandparents met Sherman. I could tell the grandparents weren’t *quite* sure about it at first, but rapidly warmed up to Sherman as he sat to be petted. The little boy had no hesitation, but the little girl had to be convinced by her grandpa that it was OK.
For all of Sherman’s improvement, there’s still a couple problem areas we’re working on. When he gets wound up he likes to get grabby, and there’s an issue with the dish towels being stolen. We’ve purchased a Dogtra 280 NCP training collar. Sherman is fixing to discover the kitchen counter has developed magical powers that know when he’s up there and shouldn’t be.
Generally, I’ve always been adverse to the idea of shock collars (or “e-collars”, as the more P.C. term). Unfortunately, there are just some behaviors that it’s a more appropriate tool for. Actions that require a rapid response, where the window for correction is small are the primary type. And when he grabs your ankles, other than shouting “No!”, there’s not much in the way of correction you can do that doesn’t involve striking the dog. And that’s a MAJOR no-no.
Later today we’re going to try to get up to the park for some more training. Sherman isn’t feeling well today, apparently having ate something that didn’t agree with him. Since we know what he eats, we’re not sure what triggered this. We changed his food from puppy chow to adult chow a few days ago, so he shouldn’t be having a reaction to that this much later. He also managed to bang his hip while horsing around with Makeeta, and he’s limping a little bit as a result. I’ll let him rest a while longer, but walks are important for both of us. Can’t have that 50 pounds coming back!