Chris Marquette Message Board

Elinor is still acting like a puppy but she's calmer for longer periods of time!  She's 8 months now.

Great pictures!  Glad you met them!

4 more weeks of school.  Thank goodness!

^ good

What a week - between Boston and West Texas there was lots of tragedy and sad news today to hear my director of 5 years is leaving us for another charter school.  Pooped and am in bed.  Prayers are with those in Boston!  Thankfully I was already asleep by the time the explosion in West happened, I didn't hear or feel anything until I heard it on the news the next morning!  Scary news indeed this week.

congrats! You must be on cloud 9!

okay so I've been in the predicament of how much time I should give Elinor and how much time to myself.  Last week I had something almost every night and it seems like the same this week.  Is that bad for a pup?  I've made sure to allow time between work and these events to walk and play with her for an hour and I have a friend check on her three times a week for me but I still feel guilty leaving her.  I took her on a 2 hour walk this morning and she was the perfect pup!  What are your puppy boundaries? 

Hi Simon    Hope you are okay!  Almost the weekend. ...

So Elinor is SERIOUSLY misbehaving.  When we go on walks she won't stop playing tug of war with the leash and jumping.  Its really frusterating.  It takes 20minutes for her to stop and then we walk literally a foot and she starts up again. 

Second problem: she wouldn't go behind the baby gate and I was late to work several times this week trying to catch her in the apartment to put her behind the gate to get to work in the morning.  Treats, toys, using soft voices commands wouldn't work. So I started taking her on our early morning walks before work and immediately putting her behind the baby gate.  BUT I would spend some time there to make her feel comfortable making my lunch for the day getting coffee and playing with her a bit.  She wasn't crying when I left so I thought she was okay.

Well now, for the past couple of walks when I pull out the leash she starts going crazy, running around the apartment because I think she feels like she's going back behind the baby gate.  Not on that, but when I open the door for any reason she runs out and tries to play "tag" or "chase" and tests me to see what I will do.  I got so frustrated I eventually just started walking away and she did follow me.  She was just trying to test me. 

What do you recommend?  As soon as I pay off my credit card I'm doing one on one training with the trainer at pet smart.  This is getting really frustrating.

So happy to have a 3 day weekend!  After such a heavy week I'm so thankful that I get a chance to breathe a little before the next big assessment Monday & Tuesday: STAAR. It's that time of the year: state testing!

movie looks good! Can't wait to see it!  Sad to not be able to make SXSW, lots of good stuff there this year!

Hope you had a good break Deb!  My move went well but exhausting plus a really heavy work week that will really continue until the end of April.  October, then March & April are the heaviest months in school.  Saturday school tomorrow,   always breaks my heart a little but then I end up getting a lot done and feeling okay 44 more school days until the end of the year!  Plus we actually get Good Friday off since there were no snow days this year!

A few things to rant about....

Elinor and I are making great progress on packing, however I think I'm going to have to clear some out to see what's left to pack in this small space. I'm surprised we've made it so far. I'll for sure be able to finish tomorrow.

Elinor went spastic today. I couldn't take her on her long walks as I was determined to get as much done as possible. On our evening walk she ran and ran and ran and I lost control of the leash. Thankfully I've trained her not to go into the streets so she staid in the park. I got scared because I can't run (I've got handicapped knees) and I kept crying help help! but no one came. Alas she was playing as she went into downward dog wagging her tail trying to play chase. I made it obvious that I was not playing and not happy. she got the picture.

I think she's just feeling the anxiety of the move and boxes. She's scared to enter the apartment right now with all the boxes. So I'm taking her to mom & dad's tomorrow to relax and get away from the tight quarters. My brother is kind enough to watch her the day we move. I'm thankful to have supportive family nearby no matter how much we argue and bicker Any suggestions Deb?

Also, do you know anything about grooming laberdoodles?  She desperately needs a cut but I like her muppety looking! 

^ I was enjoying seeing the sun at 6:30am since that's when I leave for work! I hope that stays the same! It was easier to get up that early with the sun out!

Restless leg syndrome acting up maybe because of the rain.  It is thundering hard and it's keeping poor Elinor awake.  She's barked a few times.