Diary of a Network Geek

We went shopping today.
Hilda has always been a nervous dog and she’s never been as well socialized as she should or could have been. I blame myself, really. I should have been walking her and bringing her around to my in-laws and whatnot much more than I did. So, I’ve resolved to change that some. She’s only two years old and that leaves us plenty of time to work out all the bugs, so to speak. Toward that end, we went shopping at PetSmart today.
Hilda needed a car-riding harness, since the one I bought her last week was far too small. And, based on the two or three dreadlock-like tangles she had on the side of her face, I thought we should get a brush again right away. She’ll need to get used to that again, too. I’m sure it won’t be long before she’s primping and preening like the little doggie princess she is. And, we got her two tennis balls to chase and catch. Though, I have to admit, the returning part of fetch seems to be a challenge for her this afternoon. She still does catch amazingly well, though, which was always fun. And, finally, we got the longest tug-toy they had in the store. Hilda has always loved playing tug-of-war. For a little dog, she’s really amazingly strong. She’s only 45 pounds, but she can almost pull me off my feet!
The other dogs made her a little nervous, as did the two or three small children wandering around the store. The H.O.P.E. dogs all started barking at her when I went to see the ladies at the volunteer table. And, I found out that H.O.P.E. most likely won’t have anything at all on Sundays anymore at my closest PetSmart. Some kind of behind-the-scenes political kerfluffle. Thankfully, I’ve not gotten that involved, so I have no idea what was going on. Unfortunately, that may slow down my volunteering there. But, with things the way they are in the rest of my life, that may not be such a terrible thing right now. Well, like so much in my life, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
At the moment, though, I have to go work on the laundry and play with my dog. Have a great weekend!