Indy got a nice, long walk on Saturday afternoon after the game. It was cold for me, good for her. I went to put her Gentle Leader on and noticed it was broken. The clip that holds the loop around the nose was gone. She needed the exercise, so I broke out her old chain collar and embarked on what I thought would be an unpleasant walk. I was pleasantly surprised when she heeled well, didn’t pull, and looked at me frequently for location/feedback. I was very happy, and she got lots of praise and love.

Indy is also allergy-girl. She appears to have seasonal allergies that are not being managed very well with Benadryl, so we visited the vet and got some potent antihistamines plus some prednisone. Well, we have learned that prednisone, regardless of how it helps her itching, is just not a good treatment for her. Between the low rider and Indy, we cleaned up so much pee this weekend, it was awful. She seemed to be affected about 36 hours after her first dose. We will be speaking to the vet today to determine the best way to lower the dose to wean her off, and will hopefully find an alternative treatment.

So that’s my randomness for Monday morning. I am sleepy and disappointed that today is not a holiday for MY office.

We had intended to go to Riverwalk in Naperville last night and meet folks from the Lake Shore Swissy club.  But it was gray and looked like it was going to storm.  It didn’t.  We usually walk around by the river a bit with anywhwere from 3-8 Swissies and sometimes a long-haired hippie freak, aka a Bernese Mountain Dog.  We will get stopped about every 10 feet or so with the “what mix are they” questions.  I had one guy certain that Swissies are not actually a pure bred breed, but are a cross of Rottweiler and St. Bernard.  He went as far to argue about it.  I do see his point, but I think we all know what type of dog we have.

After the walk, we saunter over to Quigley’s Irish pub and hang out on their porch with the dogs.  Since we missed it last night, hubby and I decided to libate a bit in the house.

This is what Indy looks like when the beer can opens.

When Dan sits down, they all clamor over him to get into the glass.  Dogs like Guinness.

Now, I also mentioned laser pointers.  Indy is the first dog that we’ve had that seems to love them.  We don’t want her to go crazy EVERY time she sees light, so we only play this once in a while.  If you look very closely, you can see the green on the floor.

I was greeted at 6am by a Swissy puppy attacking me as I left the bedroom.  I’m not sure where the energy came from that early, but she was all mouth and claws.  Not good when you’re trying to get to the loo…  I have a nice scratch down my leg, and somehow she got high enough and scratched my shoulder.

But now you get to hear the “fun” part about raising a Swissy.  They do not housebreak quickly.  If someone tells you they house trained their Swissy in under 5 months, they are either lying or they don’t bring their dogs inside until they are old enough to hold it.

As I am getting ready for work this morning, a really nasty odor comes my way.  Indy, who I saw “go” outside not 5 minutes before, has decided that she has to “go” not 1 but 2 more times in the house.  (Thank dog for wood floors…)  At least I didn’t step in it.  But when will it stop?  Granted, the 1 oops a day we’re currently at (this counts as 1 in my mind) is way better than the 1 oops ever 30 minutes that we experienced early on, but can she be house trained soon?

I’m getting really tired of the poop.