Is it really insomnia if you're tired?

April 5, 2007. 2007 people! SEVEN! And we still don't know what we're calling this damned decade.

I'd say it's a favor for my sister, but it's more because I just figured it out and I don't want it to escape.


Onto the strip.



I'm going with RabbitLady - those are pretty big ears.

So pluggers are cheap.

Not really, taking care of a dog can get quite expensive.

I like the sweatband. Classy. So we're in the '80s. Cool, Prince is relevant again.

I'm a plugger, I guess, though my mom wants to sign us up for the Y.

Why?

The dogs are not much for joyously running with their owners behind them. You get a good pace going, then wham! something must be sniffed and peed on. And don't get me started on mole holes, Dixie.

I agree with the sentiment - puppies are the best damn thing in the world when it comes to exercise. And staying young, having entertainment (there's this thing coming out of their butt, see...), and just having fun.

But an exercise club offers more than chasing idiots and picking up poop. I hope, at the prices they charge!

The best time to get a puppy - before your old dog dies. Dixie's 10, but you wouldn't know it, the way she plays with Wickett, who is 4. She was fixed after her first heat, but he just got his chopped off (more entertainment - he'd be splayed out on the couch, decide to get up, jump down, take a few steps, and whomp! drop his butt, it felt funny - since then he's become determined to catch his tail).

They play so much, and then she licks him - I think it's the size that makes me think of a mommy animal with her pup. They both have curly tails and they're both too, too cute.

But um, if we ever join the Y again, I'm still walking Dixie.

And it is not cheaper to buy a puppy than it is to join a health club!

Trust me, we just got two idiots fixed. What we paid is enough for a year or two at the Y. And Dixie needs her summer shearing soon, that ain't cheap.

So if you buy a dog instead of gym membership to get in shape because it seems cheaper, you're an idiot.

If you buy a dog instead of a gym membership because you want to get in shape outdoors and have one of the best friends you will ever have, you're not.

And seriously, get two if you can. They have so much fun, and they're less clingy if they've got each other to harass while the humans are doing... human things, like petting other dogs. I swear, come home from a dogless school, and you're sniffed for ten minutes. "Yes, Dixie, I spend 7 hours playing with other dogs."

And also, bad RabbitLady! Puppies need harnesses for running. Collars are only good for short walks, or just slow walks. Harness - no choking, gasping, theatrical death scene on the sidewalk and they can pull with their shoulders instead of their necks. Much better.

I do tell everyone I see walking a dog on a collar that they should consider a harness. One owner listened, and Misty the Golden Retriever always has her harness on - it grows with her, so cool.

And of course... it would make more sense if it was DogLady chasing her "pet" rabbit. (She's on the no-carb diet.)

And no, none of ours have killed a bunny. Becky had one for less than a month (it was eeeeeeeeeevil) before it bounced to another teenage owner. It met the dogs once, and Dixie was quite interested in the little bouncy thing.

What I don't get is why she went to "kill" at the site of the bunny, but small dogs that act like a rabbit get a free pass, as long as they don't come near her food, her human, or hump her when she's grumpy (lookin' at you, Mikey - less than a week since his vasectomy and he already tried to renew his relationship with her back. Wickett was classic - he humped her leg once.)

So no, not a plugger here. We got Dixie because we'd left the base and could have more than 2 dogs and she was a gorgeous, chubby ball of red fluff. Mikey - I'd just had my first surgery, Jasmine had died a couple months ago, we needed a trio. Wickett... well...

Every dog we got we got because we loved them at first sight and because we're dog people. I didn't get a new bike for my 16th birthday because I wanted to lose weight, I got it because I love riding my bike.

So, I hope no one is a Plugger in this case.

When you discover that Puppy grows older and costs more than a health club membership, it's not my fault you were an idiot, and it's definitely not Pup's. You do not buy a dog for 'exercise' alone - that can be a benefit, something on your mind, but you get a dog because you want a dog, flea medicine rubbed on the couch and all.