Barking Mad: "Howling Lessons"

BARKING MAD

The Adventures of Napolean, a Very Anxious Therapy Dog

"Howling Lessons"

Napolean, being a wolfhound, has the blood-curdling howl of a wolf. Actually it sounds more like something out of a horror movie like "Hound of the Baskervilles" (Clink link below for an accurate audio representation)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5V012rB1Iw


Napolean likes to take every opportunity to practice his beastly howl. Including the days when I take flute lessons from my house. It begins from the moment the student and parent arrive at our doorstep..

After this warm welcome, we then proceed with the lesson. However, Napolean likes to join in the music:

The student's parent usually waits in the lounge room, where they partake in various fascinating activities like reading books and tablets. Napolean, however, has a memory span roughly equivalent to that of a goldfish. This means that he constantly forgets that the parent is still in the house. As a consequence, every time he wanders aimlessly back into the lounge room, his tiny wolfhound-mind is blown by the apparition of a random human.

Eventually, he will get used to the presence of the parent again, and will wander back into the music room.

This cycle repeats indefinitely...

           
                                                                                                       ..... until the end of the lesson:

... and I wonder why I don't have more students...

*THE END* 

~Tam

BARKING MAD: "New Year Ruffolutions"

BARKING MAD

The Adventures of Napolean, a Very Anxious Therapy Dog

"New Year Ruffolutions"

Napolean the Very Anxious Therapy Dog had a ruff time on New Years Eve. He was forced to accompany me, his Very Anxious Human, to a small party. At first it was scary for Napolean, because he is a Very Anxious Dog, but then, it became rather boring. Quickly, however, Napolean found himself extremely drawn to the large amount of delicious-smelling food on the party table - in particular, some greasy meatballs impaled on small wooden skewers. Napolean had been strictly forbidden to investigate these tantalising dishes. But Napolean was smart. He knew that he only needed to wait for the opportune moment to arise...

Unfortunately, he was spotted by a meddlesome human just as the meatball - skewer and all - disappeared into his mouth.

This caused a flurry of panic amoung the humans, as they seemed to think he might be silly enough to choke on the toothpick. However, Napolean was way smarter than that.

He spat the single toothpick daintily onto the carpet, then tried to look really happy and loveable so as not to be told off for disobeying his human's rules. 

As usual, his good looks won out and after a quick scolding, his human quickly forgave him. However, the night didn't end there. Napolean was then forced to accompany his human down to the river, which was okay, until  explosions suddenly sounded all around him!! Napolean was seized by an utter panic! He ripped his lead out of my hands and began racing in mad circles up and down the river bank. To Ndog, it seemed as though the world was ending, in great explosions of sound and light. How could the humans stay so calm at a time like this?? 

It took half an hour after the fireworks had ended for us to calm Napolean down. But it took another day of rest for him to recover from the emotional trauma of Years Eve, and for me to recover from the draining effect of social interaction. Next New Years, we have decided we are staying in bed and eating meatballs (or maybe tofu in my case). Without the toothpicks.

*THE END (of 2014!)*

~Tam~

Loving Myself And Dogs :)

Last few days I've been feeling a bit down in the dumps. I felt like a wet blanket on New Years Eve, even though I force myself to go out with some friends. Napolean came too and was a bit naughty...  I'll tell that story later complete with computer-drawn comic :D 

Anyway, I felt crappy all day, and I avoided going out for my mother-in-laws birthday by lying and saying I had a stomach bug. But then, this evening I actually got some stuff done. I was proud of it, so thought I'd make a list.

PROUD LIST (Sat 3rd Jan 2015)

1. I have been feeling upset by a few family members lately, but kept it all inside and never spoke to them about it. So, tonight, instead of wallowing in sadness/hurt, I sent some assertive emails about my feelings and explaining why I was feeling hurt by them, but also intimating that I would like to move on from it. I've decided that in 2015 I'm going to respect myself. Keep it classy, but also stand up for myself when I need to. Spent way too long with zero confidence or self respect. No more. If someone steps over the line, I need to assert myself and my boundaries. My friends and family are important to me, but I am also important to MYSELF. And thats okay.

2.  Following on from that... I made my New Years Resolution:  Respect and appreciate myself. Stop hating myself, stop hurting myself and stop kicking myself to the dirt. My existence is on par with anyone elses, I am equally as important.  I CAN and WILL be healthy.

2. Cooked the dogs some yummy mince meat for dinner (Yummy for THEM, I mean, since I'm a vegetarian... :P

3. Walked dogs - two laps round the block.

4. Watered the garden (My plants have been looking pretty dead lately due to neglect)

5. Re-potted some plants, pulled out dead plants (sorry plants, i killed you)

6. Sat down to write a blog entry about my achievements :D

TO DO TONIGHT

7. Make myself a coffee and snack

8. Practice some orchestral excerpts, and the 2nd movement of Nielsen Flute Concerto. I may not have been offered an audition for my current Masters applications, but I will be applying for more soon and I'm going to be prepared to do an impressive performance on short notice.

9. Take sleeping tablet in order to get a good sleep... and cuddle up with my doggies for a good rest and happy dreaming! :)



Below: Am babysitting my Mums dog at the moment, so the two of them have taken over my bed! :P <3 (Can't figure out how to get rid of the date imprinted on the photos... new cheap camera..)

~Tam~